Baby Emily - Brisbane Newborn Photographer

Emily was the third baby in the studio for 2018 (and they have all been girls so far!) and what a little rock star - she was so happy and content, she barely opened her eyes the whole time she was here. 

Her Grandad Alistair joined her parents at the session and it was so beautiful to capture his incredible connection and love for his first grandchild. Family photos are always so emotional for me, newborn babies dont fit in your arms like this for long. I particularly love photos with grandparents because you can almost see how holding their new baby grandchild takes them back to the last time they held a baby like this, when it was their own. Alistair was so proud of little Emily, his eyes sparkled as he snuggled her and she loved the cuddle too, giving us a big smile. 

Her mum loved earthy, dusky rose colours so we did a gorgeous setup with the vine basket and some rustic wraps. Emily is a really little baby and she snuggled into the centre of the nest so easily. 

Since her middle name was Rose we did a cute rose themed photo and she was absolutely perfect curled up in the middle of the felt flower. 

By the time we were getting to the beanbag photos Emily was starting to get hungry, so we took a short drinks break while I changed the room around a little. 

She got the hiccups for a little while, then after they were settled we lay her down on the beanbag for the next lot of cute photos. It was no surprise that she slept soundly through the full workflow, bottom up, forward facing, side sleeper and my favourite wrapped up in a curly ball with a stretchy wrap. Since she had been sitting breech she was extra curly and her toes were right up beside her face. Her parents told me she sometimes sucks her own toes instead of her fingers! 

The last set of the day was one her dad had been looking forward to all day.  A lovely neutral set that I photograph at each newborn session. I call it my signature setup because it is so versatile and all babies, regardless of size, gender, skin tone or age look totally adorable in it. Emily nailed it. 

To raise the bar a little higher we added in some snuggle toys her parents had brought along too, oh the cuteness! 

And that was that, she was all done! It had been a wonderful morning with a truly lovely family. 

Noah 1 Year - Brisbane Baby Photographer

It was a hot breezy summer afternoon that we met at the Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens for Noahs first birthday photoshoot. Butterflies were twinkling across the pathways and there was an air of peacefulness around. 

After photographing Noah as a newborn and at his six month milestone it was so cool to see how much he had grown since our last session. He was not quite walking, which is a great thing for both photographer and parents at a photoshoot! 

This time he had brought his Nay-Nay and Yah-Yah (please forgive my spelling!!) as well as Aunty Michelle and Uncle Keizen to join in the session. 

Let me tell you right away, everyone needs an Aunty Michelle at their photoshoot. Aunty Michelle was first in line for photos with Noah, and she had all the best tricks to get his smiles going all afternoon. 

Noah has this really cute thing he does when you ask him "Are you cute?" He will tip his head all the way to the side with a gigantic smile and say "Cuuuute?" I nearly self combusted from the cuteness of this little game. 

He also loved dancing in circles with his Dad, looking at very interesting flowers with his mum and became obsessed with some of the leaves on the ground when we sat him down for a moment. It is amazing how you can almost see his little brain looking and assessing and taking everything in. 

He loved holding on to his Nay-Nay and Yah-Yah's hands and walking himself around the pathways of the gardens, I don't think it will be long at all before he is confident enough to walk himself. 

We headed to the little jetty next and had a lot of fun dancing and walking and snuggling, a few little snacks as well to keep the hunger monster at bay since it was late afternoon. 

We finished the session on the most decadent green grass at the gardens, the newly planted lawn on the little island in the middle of the lake. Its divine. I love it so much, and look how amazing it photographs!  

With the day drawing to an end it was time to wrap up the session with a bit of a fun family photo where Noah kept centre of attention while everyone else laughed and watched him. This has to be one of my favourite images of the day - he's so tiny yet such a great expression on his face he is the star of the photo without a doubt. 

It has been a wonderful year photographing his journey from newborn to toddler, and a real honour to have documented such lovely memories for this beautiful family. 

Happy Birthday Noah!

www.brisbanenewbornphotography.com.au

Baby Evie - Brisbane Newborn Photographer

Evie was the first baby in the studio for 2018!

I can tell you, if all the babies of 2018 are as chilled out as this little girl was I would be thrilled, it was an awesome session to kick off the new year with.

Her Dad wasn't able to make it on the day of this shoot so she brought along her Nan as well as her Mum.

We launched straight into photos of Evie snuggled in a neutral wrap and she was so content to be snuggled in tight, she quickly drifted off to sleep and soon began snoring!  Every so often during the session, as she was settling down her mum would say "oh there is the preemie snort".

Evie was born quite early. In fact, she decided it was time to come earthside as her parents were packing up their home in Singapore to move back to Australia.  She arrived in Brisbane with her parents just days before Christmas, which was lovely as they were able to spend a wonderful first Christmas all together.

Fast forward two weeks to photo day and Evie had me captivated from the moment she arrived. Such a sweet little smile and the most enchanting quizzical little looks, as though she was taking everything in and trying to make sense of the world already.

Keeping her wrapped we moved on to the next setup, the circular mandala. I love this particular one as I had it custom made with a beautiful mix of colours through the pattern.

To balance the colour out we next did a white set, simple and sweet.  These white sets are also great for creating composite images where we can blend 2 photos together to create intricate setups without spending time getting the backdrops perfect on the day of the shoot.

Her mum requested a hanging basket photo with some rusty rose colours so we set about designing and creating this image also. I had her Nan holding the wreath and the rope to create the background and then photographed Evie separately, adding her into the photo during the edit process.

Lastly we finished up with some sleepy bean bag photos, and she loved it! She was happiest on her tummy, which was just what her mum had said at the start of the day, and she settled in to a lovely sleep as we fussed and primped all around her to make the perfect image.

It was such a lovely morning in studio and Evie was such a little treasure to photograph!

Ara - Brisbane Baby Photographer

After documenting Ara's first year it was a bitter sweet session to capture her last milestone - walking!

I first met Ara as a newborn, then again as a sitter and finally as a toddler racing around the Mount Coot-tha Botanic gardens, keeping her parents very much on their toes as they tried to keep up with her!

She was a little cutie giggling her way through cuddles and playing with flowers with her dad. Yellow must be her favourite colour as she was very taken with the yellow flower in particular.

It was a hot morning but she kept cool with lots of water and a cold yoghurt at the half time break.

She was in love with the little bridge we found in the fern garden, running and giggling across it, looking into the babbling water below, no fish but plenty of bubbles to keep her attention!

When we headed to the jetty she was excited to see the turtles in the water this time. The hot morning was drawing on and her smiles were getting harder to coax out, she reserved the best ones for her mum! She watched very closely as her mum raced about the gardens, she was pointing an laughing at her mum, it was the sweetest thing!

As we headed back to the air conditioned cafe at she enjoyed walking along the raised garden wall, peeking through the white agapanthus flowers and shooing her dad away, although the adults won this argument because safety is always more important than a toddlers bravery!

It was such a lovely morning and one of those sessions that I have so much fun at and then feel a little sad to say goodbye at the end because I do love seeing the families grow over the year. The little personalities I meet at the newborn session often are the same a year later, whether that is chilled out or strong willed, in Ara's case she always loved her snacks and was most content when she had something in her hand and a full belly.

I have no doubt that should she return for another session it will be the same again - and next time around she might get to meet my little Nemo toy that helps get the great smiles by giving out treats when he gets the smile he likes. I have a feeling she would love Nemo!

She waved goodbye as we headed back to the carpark, a high five for good luck and off she went for what I can imagine was a nice long nap on the car ride home.

www.brisbanenewbornphotography.com.au

Baby Quinn - Brisbane Newborn Photographer

After this family's maternity photos, I was a little worried I wouldnt be able to live up to expectations at their newborn session!

I mean, their maternity session was so amazing, on the beach just around the corner from their home, Sienna dancing on the sand as William played with the sand toys. Then a storm rolled in behind us and we captured the most magnificent images of Katherine in her stunning pregnancy with a sunset and a storm simultaneously erupting behind her.

This moment struck a chord with me as it was happening because you see, Katherine was carrying a rainbow baby.  A rainbow baby is the child born after a lost pregnancy or infant death. The term coined as without the storm, the rainbow couldnt be.

So with such an incredible maternity session already delivered, I felt I had set hte bar very high for their next session, the newborn.

The first thing I said when I met little Quinn was "Whoa he's big! Isn't he?" Because he looked so big in Katherines arms, all cheeks and squishy goodness. But he was not the big unit he appeared to be at first, it was jus the perspective of Katherine's small frame holding her baby that make him seem so large. Weighing in at a standard 7lbs and 50cm he was a very average baby boy.

When we were doing the family images I loved creating this cool butterfly shape in the middle of the family, I call this my "Ink Blot Image" because you can view it two ways.

With Sienna and William set playing with some toys we started off with some family photos before calling them in for their cuddles.

Sienna was most happy to pose and smile on cue, but William was less sure of the whole process. With the kids so chilled out after their photos we let Sienna hold her new baby brother for the sibling photos and oh, holy cuteness I think I went to heaven a little bit.

Quinn's turn for the spotlight came next and Katherine pulled out a stunning yellow blanket to show me. This was a blanket her mother had made and it had been passed on from her sister to her. A beautifully crafted pram blanket with a lovely diamond pattern throughout. I knew we had to use it a few ways.

Next we did the rainbow set in remembrance of the childrens' lost sibling.  I love this image as a gentle and sweet way to honour their little brother or sister that they never got to meet.

With Christmas just a week away we of course included some Christmas themed images during the sleeping on beanbag flow, and suddenly we were done!


www.brisbanenewbornphotography.com.au
William and Sienna were both so excited to hear that they were getting a treat for their good behaviour during the photoshoot and were out the door and buckled into the car in no time flat!

It was such an awesome morning with this gorgeous family creating memories and documenting life in this moment.

Natalia - Brisbane Baby Photographer

Occasionally I get called by Grandparents looking to book in a photography session for their grandchildren, and this was how it came to be that I met Natalia. 

Her Grandmother couldnt decide what to get her for her first birthday, and then after some consideration she decided on the gift of photography.   This has to be one of the most precious gifts that anyone could ever give, as it truly is a gift that lasts a lifetime. 

I wish I had photos with my parents like this when I was a baby. The love and the playfulness, its such a special window in our lives as children and parents. 

A first birthday is a celebration for the Mum and Dad as much as for the birthday boy or girl. The first year is hard work, making it through with all (or most) of your hair and sanity is definitely something to be commended! 

So with the party already done we met at the Mt Coot-tha Gardens for a summer morning of photos. There were clouds around and a lovely cool breeze in the air. Butterflies danced across the pathways that were sprinkled with flowers. 

It was a pretty little spot to stop and photograph our first set of photos. A shady arch under a tree full of yellow flowers. Natalia loved smelling them with her mum. She held on to her dads hands and practiced walking - I swear if her session had have been one week later she would have been off and running she was so close to walking that day! 

Her mum kept a close eye on the wildlife, not a fan of the water dragons that came out to say hello every now and again. The lake has some resident turtles in it and Natalia's mum knelt down to say hello to one that had come up really close to see what was going on - then next moment Agata had jumped right back and the turtle had dipped back into the water! I don't know if it bit her or if it just moved suddenly and gave her a fright but just in case - beware of the snapping turtles next time you visit the gardens! (They are not really snapping turtles, just so you know! But probably watch your fingers just in case... ) 

We had a lovely time at the jetty looking into the water and Natalia loved holding herself up on the structure, she even gave me lots of cheeky tongue pokes and giggled her way through it all. 

To finish the morning we headed to the grassy island in the middle of the lake. We even got out some bubbles to play with, Natalia's dad holding the wand as the breeze blew the bubbles across. Natalia was squealing and catching as many as she could. 

It was the perfect way to end the morning and we all headed back to the cafe for iced coffee and sweet treats for morning tea. 

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Brisbane Family Photographer    |     Brisbane Baby Photographer 

www.familyphotographybynatarshamarch.com.au

2018 Queensland Professional Photography Awards

It started out like any big day does.

Waking up at 3am a bundle of nerves and no chance of getting back to sleep.

By 6am I was up and busying myself making breakfast. Gold yolked eggs with golden toast soldiers.

I put on my gold glitter earrings from I Love That Necklace and some sandals with gold trim.

I had 8 entries in the Queensland Epson Professional Photography Awards this year and I had hopes of a gold award for one of them.

My entries were split with 4 images in the Newborn category and 4 images in the Family category.

As I was driving to the judging I noticed a smile in the clouds above me, and a rainbow that didn't seem like it should be there. Surely this was a sign of good fortune this year?

I drove most of the way behind a gold coloured car.  I was feeling the gold vibes all around.

The Family and Newborn categories were being judged in seperate rooms at the same time, so once I arrived I promptly set myself up in a hover position between the two rooms.



And my family were watching the live stream at home on two computer screens.



The first image to come up was my Tree of Life image in the Newborn category. This image came to me only weeks before the award entries closed. It shows newborn baby Beau in the centre of the image with his family blood lines below and his name growing fresh in the leaves of the tree above him. The two strongest sticks represent his parents and the lower names of his great-grandparents fading at the bottom of the image.  It scored a silver award of 84 and I was thrilled!




Moments later in the Family room my Home Sweet Home image came up. This image is one that came about over a coffee with a friend. She had just finished her first cross-stitch since having children and was so proud of it she had wanted to frame it on the wall. Her husband was not so keen about that. So I suggested this concept and they loved it! It came up so well I thought it might be a strong award entry, in fact this was the one I had hoped for a gold.  And one judge thought so too! She got every element of the concept, that the crosses are the different family members, that theres a homely-ness in the handcrafted nature of the image, that its soft and warm and everything that family is.   The dark letters are 4 year old Sammy, the pink heart is 7 year old Paige and the word SWEET is a mix of mum and dad.  In the end this scored 83, a silver award!


Cute little Jaxom in his overalls came next in Family category. His sweet expression and soft tones were nearly enough to get an award, missing out by just one point.



Newborn again and my twin girls Flower Garden image was up. I love this image for its prettiness. Yasmin and Lulu are non identical so I liked that the image represented that. On the day I sent this to print I stopped at the shops on the way home from viewing the proof print and there was a bunch of flowers in the exact colours of my backdrop. I immediately bought the flowers and laid them on the backdrop, then headed to the garden and collected some extra fill flowers and then realised that the garden needed some more live things so photographed some butterflies and added all the live elements to the print at literally the last possible moment.  It printed beautifully and I had a good feeling....

ARGH - I have images up in both rooms at the same time!

Family category are judging the Mandala...

Ok back to the Garden Twins.... right.... they were awarded 83 points, another silver award!



The Mandala. This has so much symbolism that I think got missed in its moment. The family are shaped like a cross, the symbol of a kiss x . The concentric circles in the middle play a trick on your eyes and look like a spiral, a symbol of infinity. Circles are often linked with the bond of love, the strongest of shapes with no beginning and no end. The entire piece is hand created to resemble a mandala, which is another symbol of infinity and the circle of life.  This image scored 84, another Silver award.


Back to Newborn.... The Ink Blot.

I created this image around a year ago. I liked it but I was worried it was too simple to enter for an award.  I don't want to give it away, so I wont tell you what it is, I will let you work it out because its more fun that way.

It is an image that photographers, especially in the newborn and family circles, are very familiar with, so the judges got it pretty quickly. They scored it a solid 84, but then....

My heart started crashing. It was being contested to go up to gold.

I was shaking, my fingers were going numb.  The discussion continued. The judges rescored...

GOLD!!

It got GOLD!!!


I could not believe it! I think I broke some unspoken rules and had a little cheer and a happy dance in the darkness at the back of the room.  Oh wow oh wow. From an image I nearly didn't enter!


No time to celebrate and recover - my Newlywed Anniversary couple were up in Family room. This was a really cool shoot where the wife had an awesome concept to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary with a photoshoot of doing everyday things in their wedding clothes. The concept is that even after ten years of daily grind, they are still just as in love as they were on their wedding day. I worked really hard on some technical issues with this one. I loved the symmetry of the wedding photo of the left with the childrens drawings of their family on the right.  I thought the disinterest from the kids even added to the feeling of "daily grind".  This received 82, a silver award.

Last up in Newborn category was Millers nine months story.  This is an image that sits very close to my heart. Miller's pregnancy was as ordinary as any. No indications over the 9 months of gestation that there was anything to worry about. But after he was born he was very quickly diagnosed with an imperforate anus. This means that his small intestines had not developed all the way through his body and he was immediately rushed off to surgery to have a colostomy (stoma) formed. I love in the final frame how Miller is so laid back about it, because it doesn't bother him, and by the time he is a toddler it should removed and all of this in his past.   I am not sure if his story was strong enough without the explanation, because in the end his image scored a 77, high professional practice but just below award level.


And that was all 8 images scored!!

But...

Thats not where this story ends.

Because I had enough points to qualify as a finalist for both Newborn photographer of the year and Family photographer of the year!

Baby Max - Brisbane Newborn PHotographer

A big ute pulled up for this newborn session, Mum jumps out and climbs up into the back seat to unclip baby Max. I said "Wow you're doing well to be getting up that high after having a baby!" and she said "Oh yeah, this is my car so we have to work out how its all going to work."  And in that moment I fell a little bit in love with Max's mum Rochelle. 

Max was also very much in love with his mum as he snuggled into his mum all content and calm.  

They chose colour images for their family photos and we started with photos Rochelle's first up before bringing in Dad and then switching everyone around some. Max was a little unsettled being handled and curled up in new ways he probably isn't used to but with a little settling he was content enough for the family photos to be done quickly. 

Then it was his turn to be the star of the show, and he certainly was! 

Since his session was just one week before Christmas we did a Christmas themed image, then I quickly re-jigged the setup for a simple classic white set. When I added in a teddy bear his mum actually did a little squeal at how cute it was. She said "He never looks so chilled out like that when he's unwrapped, its so cute!" 

I took this opportunity to capture all his special details, his sweet pout, his fingernails and of course, his incredible eyelashes! I know many a woman who would pay good money for lashes like these! 

Max fell into a deep sleep at this point and so we were able to capture the next setup with the blue mandala in record time. 

To finish the session off while he was in a deep sleep, I positioned him with some cute white shorts and then a wrap like he was tucked into bed. Aw-mah-gawsh I was melting at how cute this was. 

Since he was so peaceful we captured a set of photos in my signature setup, a neutral set that I do every session. It is mostly to capture the tiny little feet and toes of newborns but when they are in the mood to relax I photograph extra images in the set too. Max was waaay relaxed. He was most happy for me to photograph him, then he kicked his feet out and it almost looked as though he was saying "Look lady, you keep curling me up but this is how I like to relax!" and I loved it! 

Brisbane Newborn Photographer   |    Brisbane Family Photographer

www.brisbanenewbornphotography.com.au

Lambe Family - Brisbane Family Photographer

Coming up to Christmas means different things for different families.  

End of year parties, shopping rush, travel arrangements, and for many families, booking a photography session that includes the whole family!

Well this awesome family were lucky enough to score one of the very last available sessions in time to receive their photos before Christmas. Spring is such a busy time for photographers - and print labs! 

Joining the session was Nani and Poppy, their three adult sons, partners and grand children. Some of the family had travelled nearly two hours to be there which is such a heartwarming thing about family. Family make the effort for each other.  

It was a beautiful summer afternoon at the beach, a light balmy sea breeze keeping everyone comfortable as the sun got lower in the sky, drenching everyone in a golden glow. 

The kids loved climbing in the low trees and looking around for bugs and other animals they could see.  The boys, Finn and Reve, especially loved getting up off the ground and being taller than all the adults. 

It is an important part of my sessions to include photos of all the couples as well as the whole family unit, so everyone was lined up for their "loved up" photos which is always a funny part of the shoot.  I think it is important to take these photos at the shoot because often the last time people had professional photos of just them together was on their wedding day. 

We soon headed to the waters edge where the kids looked for shells and other interesting things they could find on the beach.  And interesting things there were! 

We came across some of these cool jelly egg sacks from the Conical Sand Snail, and the kids loved squishing it and looking closely to see the tiny eggs inside it. More information here.  

With the tide receding we were able to wade through the very warm sea water to a little sand bar that appeared and finished the shoot with lots of fun dancing and playing photos with a gorgeous sunset starting to take shape behind everyone. 

It was such a perfect afternoon out at the beach, the kids all had a great time, which of course meant that everyone had a great time! 

www.familyphotographybynatarshamarch.com.au

Baby Amelia - Brisbane Baby Photographer

I knew right from the start that this was going to be an awesome shoot. Sitting babies are so happy and sweet and chubby and fun to photograph and Amelia was no exception.

I had photographed her big sister Eloise as a sitter and so it was great to see her again. Eloise bounded out of hte car, chatting away immediately and pumping straight into a high five as we said hello.

Amelia was out of the car next, a little groggy from the drive. We schedule sitter sessions after their morning nap, but somehow they always know that theres something going on and more often than not the babies skimp on that morning nap on photo day.   It didnt phase her much though, she was still happy and smiley, snuggling into her parents while Eloise got stuck into the toy box right away.

With family photos clicked off we moved onto some portraits of Eloise and then the sisters together.  Eloise had found the pink pram amongst the toys and I suddenly had the idea of a super girly photo of the sisters playing with the pram. I did this image in two stages for safety reasons. Firstly I photographed Eloise pushing the pram and looking into it, then we sent her out to find another toy while we placed Amelia into the pram and kept Mum very close by to stabilise her. Then the with a wave of the photoshop magic wand, the two images were stitched together to create this stunning photo of the girls with the pram.

Amelia's room is done in purple so we started bringing in some purple tones with a lovely flowery backdrop. When we put the floral bonnet on her, her cheeks and eyes just popped so much it was the cutest thing!

To finish the session we did the natural look photos which are all about baby. The chubby cheeks, the curly feet, the push-ups and funny faces. Amelia loved grabbing her feet, so of course I had to capture that little bit of sweetness as well.

And suddenly we were done. So many stunning images in this beautiful gallery, I absolutely loved it and I could tell that the girls did too!

www.brisbanenewbornphotography.com.au