‘Which type of shoots are your favourite?’ It’s a question I often get asked and the answer has changed over the years. I do love a good wedding and I feel very at ease photographing families outdoors but one of the aspects of my job I love most, is forming relationships with clients and following their journey into parenthood. My favourite type of shoot combination is to photograph a couple’s pregnancy with a maternity shoot, and then to capture their family once their newborn has arrived with an in-home lifestyle newborn shoot. I really do consider this a privilege, as pregnancy and the first few weeks of parenthood are incredibly special, emotional and exciting and I get to share and capture a little bit of this chapter of a couple’s lives.
Martyna and Louis heard about me from some friends in their NCT group and liked the maternity photos I had taken of their friends. Martyna told me that she hadn’t planned to book a maternity shoot, but after seeing her friend’s photos, decided that it would be great to capture her pregnancy.
We met at Botany Bay, Margate for the maternity shoot - a location that I absolutely love! We scheduled the session at golden hour and Martyna treated herself to a professional makeover so she looked and felt amazing. The couple brought their fur baby Bella who was admirably well behaved. Involving your dog in a shoot can sometimes go either way! But I fully embrace photo shoots involving dogs and we always manage to get some cute photos with them.
We had a great time together and I enjoyed chatting with Martyna about their future plans, in between photographing her.
Fast forward a few weeks and after a safe delivery, I got to meet and photograph their new baby Zachary. Zachary was a dream to photograph and I captured him in a variety of settings and natural poses. His Mum and Dad selected some wraps from my collection and also had some favourite outfits ready to dress Zachary in. I always bring a variety of muslin wraps to newborn shoots and have a bit of an addiction when it comes to buying them!
They were thrilled with the final images and I hope to meet up with this lovely family again when they need some updated family portraits.
Scroll down for some of my favourite shots from Martyna and Louis' in home newborn shoot.
