This blog piece was written by a recent client of mine!
To be honest, I was nervous about getting a newborn photoshoot when my daughter was born. I’d just given birth, I had, quite frankly, no idea what I was doing or what day it was, and we were running on next to no sleep (how wild is the newborn stage?!). I was still figuring out breastfeeding, and the idea of getting ready for a photoshoot felt like climbing a mountain. The idea of leaving the house even sounded like a whole lot of effort.
But I am so damn glad that we booked in a newborn shoot with Mel. I can barely remember so much of the newborn phase, and I’m so happy we have such gorgeous photos to look back on. And the process was so much easier than I thought it would be - I felt like we were so well looked after.
Soooo if you’re on the fence about booking in a newborn shoot, maybe I can convince you it’s a bloody good idea - you won’t regret it.
We booked it in!
This bit of the process started well in advance - I had let Mel know my due date, but obviously, my daughter is the boss of that, so we had a rough idea of when the photoshoot would take place. Once my girl arrived, we let Mel know and we booked in a date to suit us, that worked in with our schedule.
She also gave us prep advice so I felt pretty confident going into the shoot - she told us what to wear (neutral tones for our family photos, bringing a few changes for the inevitable spit-up / newborn poop accident), and I mapped out our outfits in advance so I wouldn’t have to do it in the newborn haze. She also gave us recommendations around timing our feedings and naps to make sure our daughter was super sleepy for the shoot - this was super helpful, considering we didn’t know what way was up!
The shoot
The morning of the shoot, I made sure to time my feeds and her nap with Mel’s recommendations, and while it didn’t go completely to plan, Mel assured us when we arrived that it was no stress. We pulled up at her home and went into the most cosy studio space - the heater had been on to get things nice and toasty for our girl, and Mel sorted us out with a hot drink and told us to relax. Honestly, it was such a treat to be looked after in such a vulnerable stage, and not have to worry about anything. Mel was basically our calm, friendly fairy godmother.
Also, I cannot get over how good Mel was at soothing our baby whenever she fussed. We were still learning the ropes and figuring out all the sounds, but Mel had all the hacks to get her back to sleep and keep her cosy (her white noise machine, oh my god, that thing is magic). She worked quietly, with no rush, styling the sweetest wee setups (sorry but the bear hat and the tiny little bows, so ridiculously cute, I could cry).
We also captured a range of shots with our whānau all together, and shots with just my partner and daughter, and myself and my daughter. And I think that’s so important - it’s easy to forget to get photos all together in those early days when you’re just trying to survive.
I don’t know, I think I thought that a photoshoot in such early stages was going to be overwhelming and I wasn’t going to be in the mood for it, but as soon as we got into Mel’s studio, I felt completely at ease. Mel had our back, and had things so totally under control, that it was almost like a mini holiday - a chance to take it all in, watch my daughter be snugged up and photographed, while I had a hot cuppa and put my feet up.
A few weeks later, we headed back to Mel's to view our photos, and I honestly don’t know how we’ll ever pick favourites. What I thought would be a stressful, camera-in-our-face kind of day turned out to be one of the first times we slowed down as a family and just soaked in the moment. So if you’re on the fence about booking a newborn shoot, my advice is simple: do it! You’ll never regret having these memories of your baby’s first days, sleep deprivation and all (and bless you, Mel, for lightly softening the bags under my eyes. I’ll always be grateful for that 😂)
