Oh Jacob... what can I say about him? He was an absolutely adorable little pickle! He brought his Mummy and Daddy with him for his photo shoot and was ready and raring to go as soon as he arrived. That wasn't to say he was sleepy... oh no, not in the slightest! I don't mind if babies are awake, I figure they'll go to sleep eventually and I've only been proven wrong once thankfully!

We started the session whilst Jacob was checking out his surroundings and before we knew it, he had started to doze off - woohoo!

It was going so well, we made sure we kept his little tummy full so that he would be content and stay sleepy long enough to get the one pose Mummy specifically requested. We got a few lovely pictures on the white blanket before I prepared everything.

Jacob was deep in thought, deciding whether he would let me do what I'd planned...

We got him onto his tummy, and even got a couple in this pose so that I could composite Daddy's rugby ball in!

I was quietly confident that we would get the next pose, everything was in position and Jacob was fast asleep - excellent!
The 'Froggy' pose, as it's best known, MUST be shot as a composite - newborn babies cannot hold their own heads, their wrists are very delicate, the position of the neck must be just so. This pose is not easy and ideally baby needs to be very sleepy. I had Mummy help me by holding Jacob's head while I held his arms. We remove 'head hands' first for a shot, then put them back on and remove 'arm hands' for the second. The photo is made up of at least two pictures, and we remove any hands supporting baby in Photoshop afterwards (so, yes, I do Photoshop babies - gasp! I get asked this a lot!). It's my nemesis pose, I just find it so hard to shoot without waking the babies up!
Anyway... Jacob was conked, the white noise was playing... we were ready!

Here's a SOOC (straight out of camera) shot (changed to black and white just because!) of us nailing the first picture. Jacob barely stirred and was quite happy and comfy... until we swapped our hands over and it all went to pot! Jacob was awake, and knew exactly what it was we were trying to do.. and was having none of it! I wasn't overly concerned that he was awake; after all I only needed a picture of his arms! But no, Jacob knew what we were up to and refused point blank to let us finish the pose (sorry Mummy!) We even tried at the end of the shoot in the hopes he'd forgotten... memory like an Elephant this one! So this is the only picture I got, and as fantastic as my Photoshopping skills are... they cannot create arms and elbows from nothing.

Now that he was awake, we decided to move on to parent portraits before we brought in Jacob's big sisters. I wanted to experiment a little with these and before we'd got the more traditional portraits, I did this.

Look at those little tootsies!

This kind of family picture is fab for parents who aren't overly keen on being photographed, because it still gives your baby a photo of you to look back on when they're all grown up - and it's timeless! This photo works beautifully on an Orb too - and would really give your home the 'wow' factor.

We paused the photo shoot at this point, as it was school run time - eek!

This meant that when everyone came back, it was sibling and family portrait time to finish the session. Jacob's big sisters were still only little so I try to work fast (and have bribes ready!) before they get bored and lose interest. The sibling pictures are all thanks to a tiny packet of Skittles (Daddy's favourite, it turns out!)

So there you have it, a whistle stop tour through Jacob's newborn session!

If you're due soon and haven't booked your newborn session in, we do recommend you book in as soon as you can, as we can't always guarantee that we can fit you in once baby has arrived. 

If you'd like more information and a price list for newborn sessions, please click here.

To book your newborn photo shoot, please click here.

I look forward to meeting you soon!

​Emma

Oh boy, I love planning newborn sessions, helping parents pick colours, props, discussing their tastes and any wall art they may have at home; but when Thea's mummy booked in her session, I SQUEALED!

Anyone who knows me personally, knows I am a crazy Harry Potter fangirl! And luckily for me, so is Thea's mummy (daddy not so much, but he was a good sport and let us squeal during the session at the absolute cuteness!). And number one on her list were some themed shots - I was in my element!

In preparation I collected as many related props as I could get my hands on, including the most adorable little witches hat and house scarf, handmade just for this session.

On the day of the session I think I actually skipped to the studio I was that excited, and I hoped baby Thea would be nicely settled as I had a lot planned! And she was amazing!

We started with the themed photos first, as she was really sleepy and content...

^ This image won 2nd place in the BANPAS showcase, and has pride of place as a framed canvas print sample on my wall in the studio - everyone comments on it when they see it!

We did a couple of set ups for the themed images, then moved on to the rest of the session (rather reluctantly haha!) where it was all about the girly colours!

I like to get mummies and daddies included in the session, it's lovely to have the option of purchasing family pictures, and so important for children to see family photographs in their home! And little Thea will see their first family portrait as she grows up, a memory to last forever.

Of course, one of the reasons clients choose me, is for the magic I can work on their images, not only shown in the first image, but in the next, which is a digital composite (two or more images merged together, in this case, a digital backdrop with baby placed in). I can't guarantee every session will have one, but I do try to incorporate them where possible!

I am working on a video for my blog, showing how I created the magic in the Harry Potter themed image, with some before/after examples of others too!

In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed your peek into one of the most anticipated shoots I've ever done!

What theme would you choose?

​Emma

Many photographers have a time frame for photographing newborns, and turn away babies older than 10-14 days. I am different in that way, no baby is too young or too old for my studio!

We may not be able to get all of the sleepy squished up curly poses, but there are still some gorgeous images available - especially as older newborns have discovered smiling!

9 week old Adam's mummy and daddy wanted some images while he was still small, but not tiny. They came all the way from Melbourn, south of Cambridge, for their session in November.

Have a look at a selection of images from his gallery, he was such a beautiful happy little boy!

As Adam was an older baby, he wasn't up for sleeping very much, but found it hilarious when I chatted away to him, he was even chatting back to me (well, in his own way!)

I wrapped Adam up in the (optimistic) hope that he may nod off after a feed, his face told me how he felt about my plan:

Adam brought one of his best outfits to use in some photos, he looked so cute and dapper!

For the briefest of moments, after plenty of milk, cuddles and shh-ing.... we got this!

I loved meeting Adam and his family, they were wonderful to work with, and I was so pleased with their gallery.

​So, if you are worried that you've missed your window of opportunity for a newborn session, don't panic! Get in touch and let's get planning your session.

​Emma