I’ve really got to stop falling in love with the families i photograph.
I’m not making any promises though.
The first time i stepped into Nikki and Alex’s home i felt my heart expand a little bit. Nikki was heavily pregnant with her third baby, and we were meeting ahead of my photographing her birth. The gentleness of their home was intoxicating in a way that made me not want to leave- to sit on their sofa and drink tea and talk about life while their two year old (gently) terrorised the brand new fluffy white kitten.
Predictably, the day of their birth was gentle and divine, and then months later when i went back to photograph them as a family of five i stepped into a picture of the most exquisite chaos. Here’s a little glimpe into their world… see if you can’t help but curl up on their sofa with a cup of tea and ponder how lovely life can be.
When i blogged the birth of Remy a couple of weeks ago, i got so many beautiful responses from people inspired and brought to tears by the deep connection and beauty of his birth. Nothing makes my heart sing more that allowing people to witness the extraordinary power and beauty that birth can possess.
Well that little family went home and cocooned themselves in a baby bubble while they got to know each other, allowing the outside world to pass them by while they snuggled, fed, slept and looked after themselves.
Here is a little window into those scared early days.
Oh, and introducing….. Remy’s costar, Pai the pooch. x
Those final days of pregnancy can look so different, in so many ways… life generally becomes a little slower, a little heavier, and things are kept a little closer to home.
Visiting this divine woman, at home with her two girls in the final days of pregnancy while her partner was off at work, was a beautiful glimpse into those slow, heavy but gentle days. Things outside the home didn’t matter, the girls seemed to understand the pace of things and we easily passed a couple of hours on a drizzly day reading, baking and exploring.
To me it felt like a magnificent moment to capture before everything changes- before the magic of a newborn is introduced in to this home, before this family of four becomes five, before all the routines and patterns of their life shift, maybe a little, maybe a lot, to accommodate a new soul.
A snapshot of a moment in time…
Man i’ve loved this journey with these guys. I knew it would be divine as soon as i met them to shoot Trinity’s gorgeous 37 week belly. To then photograph their homebirth, and now their newborn days… they represent everything i love about capturing these stories of families transforming… morphing into their new, expanded, overwhelming form.
And just like any good trilogy… i do hope there’s a part IV, V & VI to come…
Thanks for having me along for the ride guys. xxx
ps there’s some pretty special history going on here… the outfit little Indigo is wearing at the end is the outfit her dad wore home from the hospital after he was born… cute, huh. x
A scrumptious pregnant mama.
A Star Wars loving papa.
An automobile obsessed toddler.
And an immaculate EH Holden named Smurfette.
Give me these things ANY day for a pregnancy shoot.
I’m so excited to share this family with you. And the best thing is there’s much more to come. I’ve just completed the most magical journey with these guys capturing them right through the end of pregnancy, their incredible homebirth and those delicious newborn days (daze!)…
Meet Trinity, Aaron and Han (told you about the Star Wars thing!)… my latest family crush.
