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

Unicorns really are the 'in' thing at the moment, and seem to be getting more and more popular as time goes on, so it was only a matter of time before I was asked to do a unicorn themed cake smash! 

I'm a bit unicorn and rainbow mad (I know I know, climb on the bandwagon!) and mum asked for girly colours, so I took the theme and ran with it! We decided on a pink backdrop with complementary coloured decorations - including pom poms, which serve as a fantastic distraction when baby has had enough of the cake!

This session was a cake smash only, usually my first birthday cake smash sessions include portraits before and a splash session afterwards, so once the set was ready, it was time to unleash the cake! (Unicorn cake, of course!)

I absolutely love having a theme to work with for cake smash sessions - and I am pretty much up for any ideas! The crazier the better, after all, you only turn one once!

Read about our cake smash session and book your baby's first birthday
shoot today, by clicking HERE

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