Outwards

You have already met Jennifer. Lightfolly photographed her and her family when she was 8-months pregnant with baby Katherine. There was one photo from that session that I couldn't share with you back then, because the baby's name wasn't yet known to the world, but I would like to open this post with it:

Katherine came on a Monday. Her mama described her as "... a big, healthy baby with lots of fat rolls :)". I found her snoozing in Jennifer arms, ready to nurse. As I set up, she awoke and that was that. She was awake for almost the entire session.

If you are not familiar with newborns, let me tell you, one of the advantages of photographing them is that they sleep a lot. All the time. But not Katherine. It was almost as if she could tell that I was there to capture her and she didn't want to miss a second of it. Yes there was crying. Specially when somebody other than me or her mom tried to hold her. So I didn't struggle, as it's common, with getting photos of her awake and engaging with the camera, but the opposite: I struggled (a little) getting her in that peaceful dream-like state newborns are usually captured in.

If you are not familiar with how I photograph portraits, and how I photograph portraits of newborns, let me tell you, I like to take my time. I like to set it all up (styling) so that then the subject can relax and do what she does and be herself in the space I created. This means that I need at least 2 hours with a fresh, unpredictable, squiggly little person. Due to family circumstances, I had an hour and a half to work with here. And one thing after the other seemed to go wrong. 

Considering all of the challenges this session represented for me, the end result was an exhausted but appreciative family, quite a bit of post-production, and lovely photos of Katherine that they will treasure for years to come.