Why newborn photography isn't about your baby.

Trigger warning: Loss

I have always loved being allowed into the very special post-natal space. First as a home-visitng midwife, then as a mother of my own babies and now as a newborn photographer. I will obsess over your baby, their tiny toes and their kissy lips, but my very favourite part to capture is actually YOU.

Their mum, dad, parent of any and every kind.

The tenderness, uncertainty, wonder. Its a rare and pivotal moment in our lives and even if you are not feeling your best, I can promise you that you and your child will find infinite value in your presence in these photographs in months and years to come. My most treasured possessions are the few pictures I have of me and my dad, who passed away when I was pregnant with my eldest. My mum tells me stories of how when I was a baby I would shy away from his hands, which were rough from working. He was building roads in winter and the cement and cold made them hard and chapped. I remember his hands very clearly but I dont have pictures. And no matter how precious, our memories fade. We all wish desperately for more time with the people we’ve lost. We cant have that. But we can have pictures to help us remember.

Your newborn photography session isnt about your baby. Its about you, its about my dad, its about the person they will grow into and its about having something to hold when the hands are gone.