Baby Ava - Brisbane Newborn Photographer

I was so excited about photographing baby Ava. I had photographed both her sisters over the past 3 years so I knew how much sweetness and personality was coming! 

When middle sister Isla was born we had created an image of her big sister Indi pushing her in a dolls pram. It has always been a special image for me as it was a lot of work to create that photo but such a gorgeous image as a result. 

Well, we decided to recreate the image for Ava.  Its not an exact replica as the new studio has the beautiful option of backlighting, and Isla is not a fan of skirts so the two older girls kept in their jeans, but I think what we came away with was such a personal, beautiful, very special memory of these girls welcoming their new baby sister. 

With family photos and sibling photos done we waved goodbye to the oder girls and it was just Mum, Ava and I for the rest of the session. 

We quickly clicked off my cloud baby set, Ava very sleepy and content resting in the soft fluffy "clouds". 

Next we set up for a new colour set that I had never done before, green, white and yellow.  Mum went through my flower stash and selected the flowers she liked for the set, I arranged them on the gorgeous vine hamper from David Lam Designs and we nestled snoozing Ava into the setup. It was divine. I love this set so much! I love it because it was completely personal to this family, I have never done it before and it was designed with a lot of input from Ava's Mum. 

Next we were onto the sleeping on beanbag photos, which Ava was more than happy to go with. She's a little bit of a startler, her arms springing away from her body if they're not pinned down with a wrap or her body weight. So being curled up on her tummy was very comfortable for her. 

The final photo of the day was one that we had started before she was born. We took a special photograph of her mum at her maternity session with the intent to create a before/after photo at the newborn session. I am so thrilled with how this image has come up, its just so beautiful, elegant and such an incredible demonstration of how amazing our bodies are to grow and carry life from our hearts to our arms.   

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Brisbane Newborn Photographer    |    Brisbane Family Photographer

Baby Jude - Brisbane Newborn Photographer

Baby Jude loves his Mum. I know this because he was so content with her that he overstayed the pregnancy by a week.  

Luckily I always keep some wiggle room in my bookings so we were able to reschedule their session to the following week without a hassle.  

This beautiful family arrived, Jude wide eyed and very interested in everything around him. 

He stayed wide eyed through out the family photos, a little wriggly but not upset. A quick suck on his dummy and he was calmed right down.  I barely heard a noise from him the whole session actually, a little peep here and there, but despite keeping awake for the majority of the session, he is a very peaceful baby. 

The order of the day was for natural and neutral colours so I set about creating some setups in these tones. Since Jude was all about keeping awake we started with a wrapped up tight, snuggled in a bed photo on the beanbag. He has some gorgeous out takes where I swear he was looking right at me and thinking "what are you doing to me lady?" 

A little more milk and he was starting to drift off. It was about time, since his Mum and Dad told me he had been awake since 6am, it was now 11 and he was still trying to keep awake! 

Of course between the tiredness, heat and white noise he eventually drifted off and we posed him into all the pre-prepared setups without much trouble and the session flew by. Suddenly we were all done and it was time to wrap him back up for hometime. 

Of course, now he was in a deep, solid sleep. It was very tempting to keep photographing his beautiful little face but I know how much more his parents would probably enjoy a quiet cup of tea on their own couch at home while he sleeps so we waved our good byes, and I truly hope that was how they spent their afternoon! 

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Kaia - Brisbane Newborn Photographer

Oh baby Kaia, so sweet and so sassy! 

She arrived three weeks early, surprising her parents in so many ways. Her Dad had been out of the country, due to fly home a few days later when he got the call that she was on her way already. 

The brief for her session was soft colours, not much pink, not much flowers, but lots of pastel and warm tones. 

So I set to work on my props and wraps designing a session to include some of my favourite pieces in a new way. 

Kaias parents were so doting, snuggling and kissing her all the time, you could see immediately how elated they were to have her in their arms. 

We snuggled her into a beautiful cream set, a little on the girly side but fitting perfectly with the soft colours that we were aiming for today.  Kaia settled in ok, until I let my hand off her legs and she would spring them out in a nice stretch and smile at me like she had been waiting to do that. We bundled her back into the curly little shape, held for a little longer, and the same thing again! Oh she is cheeky, in the most adorable way. 

I decided to wrap her up next in a snuggly tight wrap. She was pretty quick to get her hands out though and so we went along with it, her delicate little fingernails criss crossed over her heart. 

Since she was in a deep sleep we decided to do a photo I keep just for very sleepy babies, the hanging basket. This is a tricky photo to create as it involves not just carefully posing the baby into  the gorgeous vine wreath from David Lam Designs, but also a lot of photoshop skill to blend the two photos together to create the final image. 

In the interest of baby safety, we never suspend babies for this image. The first photo is taken with the wreath solidly on the ground, an assistants hand holding it firmly in place while baby is posed and photographed. Baby is then removed from the prop, we lift it up and photograph the wreath dangling from its rope.  Then those two images are merged together in photoshop to create the final stunning image. 

Kaia slept right through all of it and was such a rockstar. With the last set of photos underway, that is sleeping on the beanbag, she snoozed through it all without a care. Until the very last photo when she unsettled a little and we agreed she was definitely due some milk! The session wound up and Kaia set off with her parents. 

I had to feel for her Dad though, he had bought a special gift with her due date birthstone in it, which was now for the wrong birth month! They decided to keep it all the same as part of the joy of remembering how much her Kaia's arrival had caught everyone a little off guard. 

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Brisbane Family Photographer    |    Brisbane Newborn Photographer

Hannah Cake Smash - Brisbane Family Photographer

I was so excited to welcome back Hannah and her parents for her first birthday photography session.

She's such a beautiful smiley little girl who loves her Mum and Dad so much.  As she walked around the room while we got through the formalities I couldn't help but think of how it was not so long ago that she was a tiny little poppet snuggled so gently in her Dads arms. 

We kicked off the session with some family photos, something I love to include whenever possible. Since Hannah had packed all of her good smiles for the session today we were through those in no time. 

Next we did a photo that we have been working on since her newborn session. We used the same vine nest and wraps at her six month session and again today to show how much she has grown. Its one of my favourite photos to create when we do a First Year Package. 

Then it was Cake time! 

Hannah was right on to it from the moment I came into the room. She sat beside it, dipped a toe in to test it, tasted the icing, and promptly got up and went to get some hugs from her Mum. 

We coaxed her back to the cake, showed her how to play with it and break it up. 

She was not happy. She was getting less and less happy as the minutes wore on. 

Plan B at a cake smash is fruit. We hide fruit in the cake and since all babies are familiar with fruit they enjoy it a lot. 

Strawberries are Hannahs favourite fruit so I cut some up and we showed her where they were in the cake. She dug them out, dusted all the cake crumbs off, inspected closely that the strawberry was now cake free, and ate it. 

Gosh she is adorable. The strawberries were a huge hit and the mess got made and the smiles were amazing. She was clapping her hands to show us how happy she was. 

Then we ran out of strawberries. But the cake was now a mess - as was Hannah. It was time for a nice warm bath and some fresh clothes and to call it a day. 

As we waved our goodbyes, Hannah gurgled something cute at me that sounded along the lines of "next time, more strawberries".

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Brisbane Newborn Photographer    |    Brisbane Family Photographer 

Izaiah - Brisbane Newborn Photographer

I need to say this first up. 

I LOVED this session! 

With the family's beautiful heritage of India and Fiji we incorporated lots of wonderful pieces into their session including Dads kava bowl and a beautiful grass mat that his grandmother had handmade. 

Little Izaiah had a beautiful head of hair and the most adorable little eyelashes. Although if you think those little bubba eyelashes are adorable then maybe dont look too closely at big sister Gabriela. I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy immediately after swooning at her! I mean, come on, curls, that gorgeous pout AND those lashes?  Wowsers. 

Dad stayed with me for a lot of the session, calming and settling his new son while mum entertained Gabriela and enjoyed all the baking coming from the little toy kitchen. 

We did their sibling photo on a beautiful rainbow mandala and while she wasn't too sure about me at first she did manage to bring a sweet little smile out and holy cuteness it made for one special photo.  As their mum is of Indian heritage it was so beautiful to see these gorgeous children amongst the colour and the circular patterns of the mandala which represent the journey through life. 

Next up we did a set of a Fijian paper bark mat that had been hand printed like a tattoo with hand made inks. I loved the colours in this although Izaiah wasn't too sure about not being snuggled up tight any more and it took a little while to settle him in to this one.

With that lesson taken on board I decided to wrap him for the next setup, in a David Lam nest on his grandmother handmade woven mat. 

This image holds two levels of significance, firstly the heirloom mat which is beautiful, and secondly the vine nest was made by a personal friend of their family! I happen to have 6 pieces from David, all amazingly earthy and beautiful pieces, but the nest is a big favourite and went so well with the woven mat. 

Next was an image I had imagined since we had first discussed doing a photos with Dads kava bowl. I love this image because sharing in a Kava ceremony is a form of welcome. Its used to bring people together and as a way to connect to Fiji's past, and those sentiments are so perfectly fitting to welcoming their son to their family. 

With the sleepy blanket photos to finish off the session we came to an end and it was time for me to wave goodbye to this beautiful family. 

It turned out that Gabriela wasn't quite finished playing with the toys here and hid inside one, which her Dad simply picked up the whole box and carried her out to the car inside while she giggled and waved goodby like the princess she is. This Dad is so awesome. 

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Brisbane Newborn Photographer    |    Brisbane Family Photographer

Eva - Brisbane Baby Photographer

This was a very special session. A gift from friends to help a wonderful family capture their beautiful bond. Photos to celebrate a beautiful little girl who has had to endure far more than any little person ever should. 

Despite her beauty, her smiles, her sweet snuggles with her parents, Eva is not well. She struggles to eat and drink as it often means choking. She has regular physiotherapy to help her stiff hips and other joints. She cant see very well, but let me tell you - she always looks for and finds her parents! These are just the things that came up on photo day. Yet she smiles and giggles just as much - if not more - than other babies her age. 

A beautiful little soul that I had the absolute pleasure of photographing. 

It was a hot day and after a bit of a slow start we finally put her down on her own on a blanket and having her own space calmed her immediately. She looked for her parents who were each side of the beanbag she was laying on, and as soon as she found them her face lit up with such a glow the whole room felt sparkly. 

We added pink flowers to her hair, a pink wrap around her body, snuggled a few different ways and captured some of her adorable smiles, both large and soft, always genuine. 

When she would get upset they would sing to her. Eva loves singing and music. My favourite part was the singing - and it was a personalised song too! 

"I love you Eva, and if its quite alright, I need you Eva, to warm the lonely nights!"  In case you haven't got it yet, its Cant Take My Eyes Off Of You, and the entire song full of lyrics is so beautiful when directed to a baby girl like Eva. Here they all are.

The next set we did was of her looking up from the beanbag, and you may wonder why I couldnt get her to look at the camera. Well, thats because she was so besotted with looking at her Daddy that she simply couldnt take her eyes off him (still singing it!).  She just stared and smiled and giggled and he did the same back to his shining little princess. 

I had wanted to create something extra special for this extra special family. I had emailed and asked for some creative input to help me come up with a concept. The email that came back from her Mum had me welling up in tears.  Reading such words of love from a mother about her daughter was so touching. So I came up with the idea of using those words in a photo. I had her Mum write a letter to Eva and used the letter to overlay into an image.  I think it has come up so beautifully. 

And let me love you, oh baby, let me love you, oh baby...

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Brisbane Family Photographer | Brisbane Newborn Photographer

Sophie - Brisbane Family Photographer

Little Sophie came to her photo session with her big sister Chloe and their parents. I love photographing all children, all ages so we kicked off this cake smash session with a super quick portrait shoot before getting the mess out. I think that was a good idea! These two girls, my gosh I cant deal with how beautiful they are! 

By the time I reset the set and placed the cake down, a cute pink rose cake with a gorgeous One topper from http://www.facebook.com/the.euphoric.seed, Sophie was itching to get to it! She has a reputation for being a good eater so I was hoping for a cracker of a cake smash at this session. 

Well, she did not disappoint! It took a little bit for her to get into, but in the end Sophie rocked her smash session so much. 

Climbing right in and patting the icing, tasting the icing and digging her hands in all very quickly, Sophie was completely spellbound by her pink cake. 

But then things slowed down, she wasnt sure any more, she started getting a little upset. So we brough Chloe in to help make some mess and to cheer her sister up - this tactic always works! 

Except for today. Today is did not work. 

Chloe did not want to get messy. Or sit down. Or touch the cake. 

So with Chloe opting out of messy fun it was time for Mum to step in! 

Once we showed Sophie that her whole cake was edible, not just the icing, and handed her big fist  fulls of cake, she was away! She must have eaten nearly half of the top layer on her own! She loved it so much, a few times she stopped eating to give a little close eyed, scrunch faced, smiley bottom wiggle dance to show how much she loved it. 

And I died. The cuteness of those little happy dances were too much, RIP me. 

She literally ate until she was full, breaking only for more cute little happy dances, then just like that she was done and was scooped off for a nice warm bath to refresh. 

So here you go, you may need to sit down for this one, the cuteness is pretty full-on. You've been warned! 

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www.familyphotographybynatarshamarch.com.au

Brisbane Family Photographer    |    Brisbane Newborn Photographer