I love at home sessions with all the family! I’m always a little bit nervous and excited beforehand as you never quite know what to expect – from what the lighting is like in a house you’ve never been to, to will the kids play ball so I can nail those shots for Mum and Dad! Every shoot has it’s challenges, but that’s part of the thrill and why my job is so rewarding.
I’ve known this family for a couple of years now and I’ve done a few shoots for them, but this latest one was a newborn shoot now they are a family of four. Although, because of lockdown and life in general, Jude was actually 4 months old when we did the shoot. Not so much of the squishy newborn, but some beautiful smiles and some personality from Jude so better late than never!
With a newborn shoot, I often make a fuss of the older kids – it’s a huge change for them when a new baby arrives in the family so it’s important to show them a bit of love, especially if you want some cooperation later! Nate showed me his room and we talked about his favourite books, and his favourite thing, dinosaurs!
On this session, we started in Mum and Dad’s bedroom. We actually nailed a beautiful family photo immediately which was amazing (and unexpected!), but it wasn’t long before baby Jude needed feeding so I kept snapping away whilst Mum fed on the bed and Dad played with Nate who was almost 3 years. He had a lovely time giggling with Dad, getting plenty of attention, and I got some images of Natalie feeding Jude, something that was really important for Mum. This is always something I offer my clients, though I understand not everyone would be comfortable with this.
In between feeds we got some great interactions with brother and sister and then Mum was feeding again so more attention on gorgeous Nate, as well as some individual photos of him. I love capturing the chaos of a family, because let’s face it, family life is hectic especially when you have a toddler and a baby! Once Jude was nicely full and contented I took some photos of her looking at Dad and we got some beautiful smiles.
Now Jude was fed, Mum was able to give some attention to Nate, so it was lovely for them to have some quality cuddles. The connection between these two is magic. There really is no strict posing in these sessions, it is led by the children, keeping toddler happy and entertained whilst baby has a feed or cuddles.
We had a change of scenery and headed to the living room, where Mum got more of a play with Nate. It was important for me now, to get some individual portraits of Jude. Being a little older and not newborn, she was nicely alert after a good feed and some interaction with her family and she gave me lots of gorgeous expressions and even some smiles. As she was so happy, we got Nate to jump in next to her (she was lying on a blanket on the floor) and we captured the most magical shot of the two of them together, looking right at the lens – I couldn’t have been happier!
The joy of lifestyle photography for me is just going with the flow, as if I’m just hanging out with you on a lazy Sunday morning. It’s a pleasure for me to capture the little details of your family! Please email me if you’d like to discuss a family session in your own home. Prices start at £60.
“I have had four shoots with Tanya, one in a beautiful woodland bluebell setting, one on my front doorstep for a lockdown shoot, one pregnancy shoot with my eldest, and my most recent one, with my newborn daughter too. She is becoming one of the family! Tanya shot such natural pictures of my family, even getting my grumpy toddler to smile! She is so warm and professional, I can’t wait to use her again. We liked her so much we have chosen her as our wedding photographer for our postponed ceremony in 2022.” Natalie
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