It’s certainly been a strange time for all of us, but particularly so for all the families that have had babies in the last few months. If you’ve had your first baby, you might have been looking forward to planning those precious first photos as a brand-new family and may feel like it's too late. Whether it’s your first or your fourth baby, here are my five favourite reasons why it’s still so important to capture your family and your new baby (or babies!) right now.
1. Your home is your castle....If lockdown has taught us anything, its the importance of home (Anonymous). Your family, feeling relaxed and at home, literally in the place you call home is the ideal place for a socially distanced shoot. Add that to the fact that its summertime here in the UK, and it’s the perfect recipe for relaxed baby and family photographs. I’ve been capturing families at home for over eight years now, and I love finding ways of using your home as the perfect backdrop. All of the babies in the images on this page were born during lockdown and had their first shoot in the gardens of their family homes.
2. We’re living history. Yes! Your baby was born during a global pandemic. In the future, this will all be in the history books. Your brand new baby will be blissfully unaware of these early years. They won’t remember having to stay home for months, or the rainbows on the windows by their siblings. One day you’ll be telling them their birth story, the one where things were so drastically different. Add a few images of them to that story, and suddenly it all comes alive for them as they get older. They were there too and you can show them they were.
3. Your gorgeous little baby is growing soooooo fast. You may be thinking, ahhh never mind, we’ll book a shoot when they’re a bit older and all this has calmed down. But it’s a well-known fact that babies grow the fastest during their first year of life. Some time next year, your little baby will be a walking, talking toddler and these love filled (and sleep deprived) days will have passed. Do they have older siblings? The images of our first born with her brand new baby brother are still amongst our most treasured possessions. (The above picture was taken by pushing the sofa right up to the patio doors, and me shooting from outside, where there's a will, there's a way!).
4. Mum – You're the real star! Most new mums have a camera roll full of beautiful new baby perfection, with the occasional selfie, but you so deserve some lovely images too. You grew this baby! My husband has a million lovely pictures of himself with our four children (which is really handy for Father’s Day), but I have less than a handful. I’m sure your baby would love to see you in the pictures too, their beautiful mum. Trust me, you might feel too tired, not feel like you’re looking your best, but your child won’t see or feel any of that, they’ll just see the total love in your eyes, and that is definitely worth capturing for them.
5. It takes a village to raise a child....Grandparents, aunties and uncles, nephews, nieces, cousins, second cousins, best friends, neighbours, work colleagues. The list goes on. If you’ve had a baby before you’ll remember the long list of visitors just waiting to come over for new baby cuddles. I still remember taking my babies into work when they were a few weeks old to show them off. When I asked my lovely client Rebecca why she decided to book a shoot during lockdown she said….
‘‘Having a baby in lockdown was so different in comparison to having my first in normal times. Whilst the priority was always the health of our baby, family & friends, there was a sense of loss for all the normal things. Not having visitors allowed bonding with our new daughter but also meant that people didn’t meet her or see the interaction between her & her big brother. Having a socially distanced photo shoot that captured our new family of four was so important to us. We wanted to cement the memories. Himalee made us feel completely at ease & captured some beautiful moments which we will be able to cherish & share, especially with those who haven’t been able to meet our new baby yet.’
While your extended family and friends may not have been able to visit you as yet, some beautiful photographs of you all as a new or growing family, is one way of helping them share in your good news and feel part of the story. And if you are lucky enough to have grandparents that live locally and are in your bubble, why not get them in the shoot too? My sessions cover up to 6 members of the same family.
So, if you’re realising it’s time you captured your beautiful lockdown baby, I’d love to hear from you. I’m a Cardiff based newborn and family photographer, specialising in relaxed, authentic, timeless shoots in your own unique surroundings, the place you call home. And to make it even easier, I’m running a lockdown mini session for just £125 which includes a 30 minute session, a private online viewing gallery, 5 digital images of your choice and one 7’x5’ professional print in a deluxe mount, with the option to purchase more images.
If you have any questions or would like to check on my availability, feel free to get in touch by DM on Instagram or Facebook , on 07825 130765 or email himaleephotographer@gmail.com. Alternatively drop me a quick message through my contact form here
Terms & Conditions:
All my shoots adhere to social distancing guidelines and payment in full is required to confirm your booking. These sessions will be limited in number, and the offer may close early if all available sessions are allocated.
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