It feels like only yesterday that I photographed little Greer’s christening, so when Karen asked me to do a documentary newborn home shoot, I was momentarily awestruck at how quickly two years have passed – and then immediately very excited to meet the newest member of their family and document her at home with her big sister and parents.
In the first set of photos below, you’ll see a gorgeous oatmeal-coloured knitted hat that Karen pulled out from Neave’s immaculately styled wardrobe (what else from the owner of SA’s number one ranked fashion blog, The Daily Shoe?!).
‘This hat has a story’ Karen told me. It turns out, that when Karen and Rowan first discovered they were expecting their eldest daughter, whilst holidaying in Canada, the first thing they bought, in that glow and excitement of their discovery, was this beautiful, gender-neutral, knitted hat. Their eldest wore it when she was a baby, and now her little sister has inherited it. A gorgeous memento and reminder of the thrill of knowing new life is coming – I am so glad we got capture that during our shoot.
These documentary home shoots are becoming more and more some of my favourite jobs to take. My intention is to capture the newest arrival in his or her own environment, dressed in their own clothes, alongside their siblings and parents interacting in a natural, relaxed, authentic way, and just BEING. I want parents to look back on these images in twenty years and feel overwhelmed with nostalgia – for that hazy, bliss-filled, sleep deprived time in their lives; the impossibly small clothes; the favourite bunny that baby wouldn’t sleep without – or that bunny ordered from overseas that baby refused to ever look at (it happens!!). The bits of new baby-hood that we never really remember with clarity unless we look through our photo albums.
My favourite images of baby Neave and her lovely family are below – have a look:
