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Maternity is one of my favourite stages to capture

I am just loving maternity sessions in the last few months!! With our maternity special through the website, when our mama’s book their full newborn session with me, they receive a free mini maternity session in the studio!! It is so great to meet before this newborn session, we can plan colours for baby’s session, everyone gets to visit the studio and it is a lovely way to start getting to know each other. 

The maternity stage is one of my favourite times to capture. We usually have mamas in when they are between 34-36 weeks for their pregnancy pictures. Mom is often still moving around quite comfortably and has a beautiful baby bump! 

I wasn’t fortunate enough to get newborn photos done with my owns kids (newborn photography was not readily available here when my kids were born) but I did have maternity photos. Our kids love guessing which belly held their sweet baby selves and I am still in awe of how a mama can carry a baby around for 9 months-our bodies are truly incredible!

This mama’s baby has already arrived and they are coming in for their session this week so I thought I’d better share their maternity images!! She and her daughter had the most incredible hair and this family THE sweetest bond. I loved seeing how excited big sister was for her baby brother to arrive!

If you would like to book a maternity photo session, please give Amanda a call at 250-885-6860 or send her an email to amandahaddow@gmail.com

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How to Prepare for your Newborn Photo Session

If you’re reading this you may be expecting your little one very soon or are already booked to join me in the studio for a Newborn Photo Session! I always like to make sure that my clients know what to expect before their session, from the location of my studio to tips for your baby in the morning to help us capture incredible photographs. So, with that, I thought I’d put together a few notes & tips that are helpful before you arrive.

We ask that the morning of the session mom and dad bathe baby and have a little playtime, try to keep babe awake a couple of hours in the morning, then dress into clothing that will be easy to remove prior to our session (snaps or buttons on the front works well). It’s best to give baby a full feed at home so there is time for their tummy to settle. Hopefully in the car ride over he/she will fall asleep!

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Firstly, myself and my assistant Nicole, want you to have the opportunity to sit back and relax for the 2-3 hours you are here. Whether it’s sitting down with a hot cup of tea, reading a magazine, catching up on social media browsing or even just shutting your eyes for a few moments, you deserve a rest!!

When you arrive, we have the foundations of your session all set up – as well as a pre-curated set of accessories, blankets, props, wraps and more based on the colour palette you’ve chosen before your session. We’ll take a few moments at the beginning to walk you through what we’ve chosen, and make any minor adjustments needed throughout the session. You are more than welcome to bring your own soothers & change of clothes for baby at the end of the session if that is something you would like.

If baby did not fall asleep on the car ride over and is a little fussy in the beginning that is just fine! We understand that these first few weeks routines are not always yet established and baby has just arrived in a new environment. We have lots of little comforts to help your little one get settled in as quickly as possible. We make sure that the room is comfortably warm and that our white noise machine is on, it works like a dream!

Expect that baby will need to have a feed about half way through the session. This gives you a little cuddle time as we transition from our floor prop set-ups to our pose flow on the beanbag.

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The most important thing for you to know is that your baby’s safety is our number one priority during your session. In every pose, we make an extra effort make sure your precious little bundle is secure, or has a set of extra hands and watchful eye on them at all times.

We’re all human & let’s be honest – there may be a bit of poo and pee along the way! We have plenty of cloths & wipes and extra diapers if need be. If you’re having family or parent photos at the end of the session, always bring an extra change of clothes just in case things get messy!

If you have any questions before or during the session – we are more than happy to answer and help make this a wonderfully memorable experience!

Hopefully, these notes will help you in preparation for your session. If you would like to book a newborn photo session, please don’t hesitate to call Amanda (250-885-6860) or send an email to amandahaddow@gmail.com.

Follow the circle to visit Bumps Baby Beyond & see how they prepare for baby photos and newborn photography sessions in Leicestershire, East Midlands.

 

Beautiful Baby Girl – Pinks, Whites, Creams and Grey Win Again!

This sweet baby girl came a few weeks early to surprise her mom and dad. We waited a little longer for her to grow and establish her feeding routine at home before she came in for her newborn photo session.

I love how she woke up at the end, completely bright eyed and full of wonder. She just stared at me, completely relaxed, blinked her eyes and didn’t fuss at all!!

The prettiest combination of whites, creams, pinks and grey wins again!! Here is a peek into this gorgeous baby girl’s studio session.

This newborn stage is such an incredible time to capture and have for your memories! If you would like to book your baby’s photo session here in Victoria, please contact Amanda and 250-885-6860 or at amandahaddow@gmail.com.

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Why I love Albums!

Here’s the thing!! As a mom, I have such a hard time deciding for which photos to put up on the wall that I never get ANYTHING put up!! I would LOVE for someone to help me make those choices and to offer me a photo product that is completely ready to use and enjoy from the moment it is placed in my hands. There are many photo products to choose from, from framed prints, canvasses to wood mounted prints, I always encourage our families to choose one product that will be created by a professional photography printer. There really is such a huge difference in quality between printing at a machine printer and a professional photo lab and the printed product is completely ready when they pick up their galleries of photos. 

My favorite product of all is our albums. Our albums are so beautiful!! Printed on premium professional grade Fuji photographic papers, each page being 1mm thick. Every little detail is considered. The linen cloth covers are amazing to the touch and have a luxurious look and feel. Clients get to choose their linen cover (all in the loveliest neutral tones) and they also get to see the album proof and make any changes before we send off to our amazing printer!

victoria-newborn-baby-photo-album-Blog1Then head on over to Emily Frances Photography to see her favourite photo product! She is a beautiful child & family photographer in Preston. 

Choosing Colours for your Newborn Baby Photo Session

A little share of this gorgeous newborn baby girl’s session here in Victoria, BC. As a newborn photographer I ask parents (or in this case grandparents) to choose their favourite 2-3 colours to incorporate into their sessions. Colours they may be decorating the nursery with, or colours they may use in their homes. This session was creams, whites and pinks!! Pretty easy for a girl and looked so sweet with her peachy complexion! Grandma also brought along a pretty crocheted blanket that was a family heirloom and we were able to work that into one of our set-ups, which ended up being a favourite!!

I am loving the new props we received from Rozzi Rayne Studio Props. The pink bucket (baby even smiled when she was in there!!) and sweet cream little bed were both from her, she has so many gorgeous things to choose from! 

If you are looking to book a baby portrait photo session here in Victoria, please don’t hesitate to call Amanda at 250-885-6860 or email at amandahaddow@gmail.com

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Newborn Photos-Before & After

One of the biggest things that sets us apart as newborn photographers is our editing style. Some love a bold, bright aesthetic, some like a dark and moody aesthetic. I have always gravitated towards a light, serene and airy aesthetic in my finished images. I primarily offer neutrals and soft, muted tones for the studio’s newborn blankets, wraps, hats & headbands. Often they have an organic feel and lend themselves to a soft & classic look in the studio before I even take my images into photo-editing software. 

When I began editing newborn images “by hand” an image would sometimes take me a full hour to edit and the process was very tedious!! As time has gone by and my experience has grown (as well as hours upon hours in Photoshop! ;), I try to get my exposure, white balance etc. as close as I can in camera (I use a Canon 5D-MarkIII). I often take up to 200 photos in a session so the first step is to choose around 35-40 of my favourites. The raw camera images are then opened up in Lightroom, where a few minor adjustments are made and then they are imported into Photoshop for skin touch-ups, any colour balance changes and to put the finishing touches on each of the images before the gallery is complete. 

The other editing work that takes place is the merging of two images together to create one (composite). This is done in the poses where my assistant Nicole holds baby’s head for safety. Newborn safety is our top priority in our sessions, we would never want to leave baby in a position where he or she could potentially startle and not be supported. The pose below shows the 2 images used to create one final image with baby on his little hands. Voila!!

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Then I get to present the finished baby session images (fully edited) to mom & dad in their viewing session. I love meeting with everyone again and seeing how much baby has already changed in only a couple of weeks! This is such a precious time to have for their memories.

I love Jenna Marshall Photography’s sweet newborn images. To see her beautiful editing style, head on over to her page, she is a newborn baby and family photographer based in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. 

here’s her link: http://www.jennamarshallphotography.co.uk

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