I thought I’d just do a little blog post on our recent photo shoot experiences; mainly to help anyone else who may be sitting on the fence about booking a new-born or family photo shoot (and it gives me an excuse to post some of our favourite shots for you all to see)…

I myself, was one of those people on the fence about whether or not to book a professional photo shoot. Don’t get me wrong, photographs are so so important to me, anyone who knows me, or has seen my social media, will know that I LOVE taking and posting pictures of everything, especially our boys and our family life. In fact, I feel that photos are crucial to keeping memories alive – from an early age I remember us getting the big box of photographs down off the loft and looking through them as a family every so often; it became one of my favourite family activities. The way a single photo can bring back a thousand memories and feelings is just magical. Looking back at times before we were even born, when our parents and grandparents were children is so special and being able to see a deceased loved one on a photograph, as they were, is absolutely priceless. I once read a quote which said “if you don’t think photographs are important, wait until it’s all you have left” and it is so true!

So, why was I sitting on the fence about getting a photo shoot of our family, I hear you ask? Well, in this day and age we can take and store photos so easily – the majority of us have mobile phones and most modern mobile phones have decent cameras built in – no more running out of film or paying for and waiting for films to be developed, we can snap away when ever and where ever we like. So you can understand, that when debating whether or not to book a professional shoot, I wondered whether it was a waste of money when we could just take our own. (My husband, Damon, especially wasn’t sold on the idea of spending so much money on photographs when we have the means to take our own – I’ll come back to that later).

Let me tell you how I made the decision to go ahead with a photo shoot… obviously being on my third baby, I was more aware than ever of how quickly they grow. I wanted to capture this time of our lives perfectly. I also wanted some photographs of the boys to display in our house. We do have photographs already, but not ones that we’d want to hang on the wall. The thing with professional photographs is that they are brilliant quality compared to the photos we take on our phones – the lighting, the angles, the detail is all captured much more intensely in professional images. I also justified our decision to go ahead with a photo shoot as professional photographs of the boys would make perfect Christmas presents for all of the family (our extended family are always after an up to date photograph of the boys to proudly display).

I had been following With Love Photography on social media for some time before I was pregnant with our third little boy, and every time they posted a photograph of their recent sittings I was blown away with how they captured the shots so beautifully and naturally. So, when deciding who to book our new-born session with, it was an absolute no brainer for me – With Love Photography were (and still are), without a doubt, my first choice. From the moment I first contacted the With Love ladies they were so friendly, yet professional, and made us feel excited and relaxed about the shoot immediately – which is very important, because the minute the words photo shoot and kids are mentioned in the same sentence there is stress and pressure felt by us mums, who know all too well how difficult, almost impossible, it is to get children to cooperate in these instances. (FYI We booked our new-born shoot a few months in advance – I mention this because if you are planning on booking a shoot with them, you need to know that they get booked up so quickly… and now I know why)!

We have now had a new-born shoot and a sitter shoot with With Love and both times I’ve been in awe of how patient Victoria and Samantha are. For our new-born shoot they took control from the outset, welcoming us all with friendly faces, making us feel at home and putting us all at ease. They made us all feel very special and were so enthusiastic throughout the whole session. They ensured I was comfortable with them handling Kylo, before proceeding to wrap him and settle him – seriously, these ladies are baby whisperers; I hadn’t seen Kylo this peaceful in the whole ten days he’d been earth side; I mean, they put him in a bucket and he was so content just sitting IN A BUCKET, imagine I had put him in a bucket? I couldn’t even put him in his crib without him crying to come back out!! I was so amazed that I even asked if they could be hired for the 3am feeds (unfortunately they don’t provide this service but it was worth a try). New-borns are so unpredictable as we all know, and even when Kylo did begin to stir and become unsettled half way through the shoot, Sam gave him some milk from his bottle and got some wind up for him before settling him back into position for some more shots (I didn’t need to lift a finger, it was like a mini break)! As a mother of a brand new baby we can sometimes feel anxious or uneasy about other people handling our babies, but at no point did I feel this way about Samantha and Victoria handling my baby; there was no rush or stress to get perfect shots, they just worked with Kylo and captured his tiny personality beautifully. I took comfort in the fact that they are professionally trained, and have attended multiple courses in handling and photographing new-born babies. I felt that my baby was 100% safe in their hands – so much so that I could have fallen asleep on their comfy sofa while they captured the images (that newborn tiredness is real).

Did I mention that these ladies are miracle workers? Not only did they capture the most beautiful images of our new born, but they also incorporated a 3 and 7 year old in to the mix too. They made the whole experience fun and engaging for Joey and Dayton; I didn’t once have to bribe either of them with sweets or a new toy like I have had to do from time to time when taking their photograph myself (c’mon we’ve all done it)! The boys did receive ‘points’ from Samantha and Victoria for doing the best smile or points were given to whoever could keep looking at the camera while they got the shot they wanted but very minimal bribery was needed (I’m sure those two have magic powers). I knew the photographs from this shoot were going to be good (you tend to get a preview of how they might look when you’re spectating), but I didn’t anticipate just how stunning they would be. Do you remember at the beginning of this post I mentioned that Damon wasn’t sold on the idea of a professional photo shoot? Well, when we went to view the photographs from our new-born shoot, he got a tear (or two) in his eye at how truly beautiful the images turned out and proceeded to announce that we would be buying them all as there was no way we’d be able to choose… I even loved the family one of us all, which I was so adamant I was going to hate at the time we got it taken; I was 10 days post-partum, with what felt like 4 hours sleep since the birth, and I just wasn’t feeling remotely attractive at all, so to say I was pleasantly surprised when we chose it as our main print is an understatement. All thanks to With Love Photography and their fantastic lighting and photography skills, I didn’t look at all how I felt.

So, following our extremely successful first photo shoot, you wouldn’t be surprised to know that we jumped at the chance when we were given the opportunity to book a free sitter session (if you book a new-born shoot at With Love, you automatically receive a free sitter shoot – how good is that?) Just to give you a little insight in to our “sitter” shoot, I imagine this shoot to be a whole lot easier if your baby can sit and sit only, so I think it seems more fitting to refer to ours as the “crawler” shoot! Anyway, I mentioned earlier that a new-born can be unpredictable? Try an 8 month old, curious, crawler in an unfamiliar, new environment, with lights and prop boxes to explore – getting still photographs of him is a brand new challenge in itself, right? – Nope, not for these ladies anyway. Again, they took it all in their stride; they took having patience of saints to a whole new level and knew every trick in the book to get those kids smiling directly at the camera, all THREE at the same time. Even when Kylo was crawling away off the set they were still snapping away capturing his true personality yet again, and never once lost patience or stressed about a single thing… just AMAZING! Their vision is on point, they positioned and posed us all to perfection, just like they did in the new-born shoot; not too posed that we looked stiff and unnatural but enough so we were all picture perfect whilst retaining our natural posture at the same time.

The older boys loved having their photographs taken again, perhaps even more so than the first time as they knew what to expect the second time. I am so proud of how well they behaved in the studio and how they both helped and engaged with Kylo in his photographs (basically trying to get his attention so he would sit still long enough for the camera to capture him). In fact, they both enjoyed the photo shoots so much that they have since said they want to be models and do photo shoots all the time – don’t worry Sam and Vic, I’ll make sure they remember where their career started! Haha!

If you are still sitting on the fence about booking a photo shoot or you’re undecided on where to book your shoot (or if you just want to have a nosey) then I have posted some of our favourite shots from both our shoots below which should help make your decision a little easier.

Thank you With Love Photography for providing us with such a wonderful experience and creating these stunning, timeless photographs that we will cherish for years and years to come – I cannot recommend With Love Photography enough and I can’t wait for our next shoot.

Here is the link to With Love Photography’s website for you to take a look or find out how to book your shoot:
http://www.withlovephotography.co.uk/

PS: any pregnant ladies out there, you need to check out their maternity shoots, they’re stunning! Almost makes me want to have another baby so I can have one – shhhh don’t tell Damon!!!!!

T x