So one of my closest friends (known for almost 10 years!😳) had her first baby Alannah just over a month ago, and dropped me a message to see if I would do a mother daughter photoshoot. I was so excited to meet alannah and have a good catch up with my friend, but also to see what photographs I could create with them.

Anrika wanted a natural style shoot, in the woods, which worked well for me as thats my location of expertise, but as I always do before any shoot, I looked up a couple of shot ideas to get the creative juices flowing.

I normally start with instagram hashtags to see what people have done lately, and then move on to pinterest for some extra creative shots. A lot of them were indoors in studios etc, which I didnt quite understand, until I completed the shoot. (More on that in a minute).

I couldn’t find many in the woods, but I did find a couple of field shots, and looked at how the mother was standing/facing compared to the photographer, and the variations in focus, and visually made note of them before the day.

I was pretty nervous before the day, as ever I am constantly doubting myself and my abilities despite proving myself wrong every time. I was concerned I hadn’t done enough prep/got enough ideas up my sleeve, and was frantically searching the house for any props I could use (which was quite hard as being only a month old there’s not a lot a baby will interact with nor put up with!) however I did find a perfect sized basket, so I brought that along.

At around 9:00 we got to the location which was just down a walkway, featuring some big birch trees either side of the pathway that had begun to change colour for autumn. It was nice and private so we didnt have to worry about people walking into the photo or disrupting the shoot, especially as we were limited with the time/light.

Anrika had brought some blankets and bits for Alannah to wear which was perfect, and we got to work taking some shots. It was a chilly morning, and I had decided to put on my bright pink puffa jacket (it was half price in the sale compared to the full price black one, you can’t blame me 🙄) and to my surprise Alannah was fascinated by it, so I got some great shots of her looking directly at me. We did a quick change and then took another couple of shots, but after a while Alannah was getting a bit grouchy despite having some milk, and we realised she was probably feeling the cold a lot more than we thought. Which made me realise why so many baby shoots were done inside – with temperature control.

We still managed to get some great shots which I was so chuffed about, especially after being so nervous. It helped that Alannah was perfect though! I’ve seen those ‘perfect photos hilariously ruined’ shots going around on social media where the baby has been sick down the dad etc, which I’m sure will end up happening to me at some point! But until then I can only hope and pray it doesnt.

I managed to go through and edit a lot of them pretty quickly, and was excited to share them with anrika to see her reaction. She absolutely loved them, and so did her family, who all commented on the shots on my facebook page, complimenting me and my work. Nothing gives me more happiness than people’s reaction to photographs of themselves or loved ones. It’s like a drug I can’t get enough of. If I could bottle it I’m sure id be a millionare.

I loved my first babyshoot and can’t wait for the next. My aim with every shoot is to try get more creative each time. My next photoshoot is with Hannah this weekend, I’m praying the rain will go away but we shall see!

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