The first of my newborn girls from last week, meet baby Kiara...

Baby Violet, I completely adore her name, it suits her perfectly.

Tiny Tilly, I could share just about her entire session we have so many cute shots but these two would have to be my favourites...

I really do love my clients, they welcome me into their homes, entrust me with their precious newborn babies, and sometimes, I’m blessed to be asked to be present when they welcome their new baby into the world. The birth of your child is one of the single most amazing moments in your life and to capture that on camera for someone is such a privilege and honour. I really, really love my job ;)

Having been on both sides of the camera (Mila’s birth was photographed by a friend and fellow photographer in January this year) My birth photos are quite simply my most treasured images – my photographer was able to capture emotions and moments that I had missed while in the moments of labour. Memories that I will be able to share with Mila when she grows.

When I mention I do birth photography, it’s usually met with a lot of curiosity, so after I recently photographed Amelia Rose’s Birth Day, I asked her mummy Di to write a little story on what birth photography was like for her. Of course I’ve included some beautiful images so grab a cuppa and read on…

“Amelia was a much wanted and longed for first baby and we feel very blessed to have her in our lives.  Our pregnancy had a few hiccups along the way with Amelia threatening to arrive earlier than expected but she did wait until she was term at 37 weeks.

I'm a midwife who works in the birth suites at the Mater in Brisbane so birth is something I am passionate about. I have the privilege of being with parents on their own special and private journeys as they bring their beloved babies into the world. I get to share with the parents and watch their special moments of different stages of labour and birth and when they get to meet their beautiful babies for the first time, hold and have skin to skin and feed their babies.  These are such cherished memories that for me I wanted to not only experience them myself, but also capture these moments on film so that I could go back and reflect on these with my child as she grows up.  

We didn’t have a specific birth plan.  Our plan was simply to have a healthy baby and mother and to go with the flow of whatever circumstances arose as to the need of the mode of delivery.  On the day of her birth we were blessed with an amazing birth experience.  It was a very calm and short 2 hour labour with no complications. 

To me the birth was a priceless experience that I wanted to be captured by someone who wasn’t my support person and who I knew would be professional and sensitive.  I needed someone who knew what I wanted captured.  During my pregnancy, my relaxation daily was to have a bath and talk to my husband and this is what I did in the first stages of labour so when Lana arrived I was in the bath labouring. She set up her camera and I was chatting  in between contractions to her and my support people (a girlfriend and my husband) and the midwife in charge of my labour (one of my work colleagues.)

As the labour progressed and intensified and I felt I was getting ready to push I got out of the bath and onto the bed onto my hands and knees.  I was aware of Lana and my support people in the room but I was in my zone and focused on what I had to do.  Having Lana there didn’t feel intrusive to my privacy at all, she was so quiet so didn’t interfere at all with what I or my support people were doing.  I felt so at peace and had such complete trust in my midwife, obstetrician, support people and Lana in that they were all there to support me and were all doing their individual jobs to help me in my birth experience.  Lana was able to capture moments that we were unable to take in.  Her images provide us a record of the events that we could not of visualised ourselves such as the expressions on our faces, the intense emotion, the concern of our carers along with their excitement.
 


When we first saw the slideshow of our birth, we both had tears in our eyes, watching such a wonderful amazing experience in our lives. My happy pregnancy hormones kicked in again. Reliving the experience without feeling the pain is a real joy. Whenever I watch the slideshow now, I still cry and laugh at the same time as it is so emotional.  I am still amazed that I gave birth and we are now a family with a beautiful daughter. 
 


My favourite moment is when Amelia is having her skin to skin with my husband 20 minutes after being born and she is staring up at his face while he is talking to her.  This still brings tears to my eyes.  The love that overwhelms me for my husband and baby when I see these images is difficult to put into words.
 
Birth photography is not just about the birth itself but the whole process of arriving to hospital, capturing the mood of the room, times of events throughout the labour, arrival of the baby and all the special moments following such as first cuddle, feed, weighing the baby and the joy that follows getting to know your baby. None of the photos were staged but were captured in the moment of time and that is what you get with a professional photographer.  This is their area of expertise and they know what to capture.

Would I have my birth photographed again? Absolutely.  I cannot wait to get pregnant again if I am blessed, and do it all over once more.”

I take on a very limited number of birth sessions each year so if you think birth photography might be for you and would like more information on having your birth captured please email or call, I’d love to chat to you!

Can you believe there's not one but 2 baby girls tucked up in there? I said it yesterday and I'll say it again, Lisa you are looking so fabulous, I can't wait to meet those bubs in a few short weeks.

This gorgeous girl was a complete joy to have in the studio this morning. I have to say I had a soft spot for her before we even met, we share the same birthday! Ava was perfectly sleepy and curly and happy to play along so we were finished her shoot in no time.

Serious adorableness in the studio today! 7 month old Maggie had some of the cutest expressions, boy was she noisy but we don't mind that one bit. And those cheeks! So pinchable.

Celeste's very clever and super stylish mummy Daniela owns my absolute favourite online store Baby's Got Style. When she told me she was expecting bub #2 (and how she would love some shots) I knew I had to clear some space in the schedule and fly down to Sydney to meet this latest style child.

Lugging a suitcase full of blankets and swaddles, a beanbag (yes I actually flew mine down with me!) and my Nan's heater over to Daniela & Gian's was well worth it, we have some beautiful shots. Daniela's reaction when I sent her some sneak peeks via email was priceless: "I’m crying into my salad. Literally bawling all over my lunch. Oh my lord!! Amazing amazing amazing- you are amazing!"

Sarah is an avid blog stalker of mine so I am thrilled to be able to post images of her very own bub today! 6 day old William was super duper chilled and such a lovely little guy to spend my morning with. Enjoy these Sarah!

Being the 4th baby in the family, Sophie was such a peaceful and tiny little doll (weighing in at just over 5lb) She played along happily for her photoshoot, I loved having her in the studio!

I had one very awake little boy on my hands today. 10 day old Baby Charlie's mum warned me before we started that he was a very alert little man and I have to agree! ... he'll be coming in again one more time this week to see if we can get some sleepy shots to add to these gorgeous awake images we captured today.

Oh my gosh 11 day old baby Stephanie was so cute and chubby, I loved her little arm rolls and sweet pursed lips. Nikki thanks so much for coming in today, you're going to love these!

A bit of a double up this one - my two girls are asleep (the holy grail!) and I am madly multitasking.

Yesterday I had the gorgeous 4 week old Jai in for a baby session, I don't normally shoot this age so it was a nice little challenge.

His beautiful little piggies...

And then Charlie came back in for the 2nd half of his shoot - I bet his mum and dad are now relieved he's no longer my first and only baby that didn't sleep for me because with a bit of work, we managed to get him into a lovely little slumber to finish off his session.

7 month old Oliver came to visit this morning, doesn't he have the most gorgeous blue eyes? And his mum sure knew how to dress him up to make the most of them!