Leanne and Tom got in touch last year looking for some visual documentation of the new stage in life they were approaching together. Leanne was in the nice, early stages of pregnancy so opted for a Bump to Baby session. The bump shoot happening in the studio in Bognor Regis and the Newborn Photography in their home in Southsea, Portsmouth.

As is the case of much of the bump photography I do, when capturing images of women in their fabulously pregnant state there is often various forms of lingerie and nudity on display. I rarely share those deeply personal and intimate images, but love walking away from a shoot having caught the U rated images too, as seen with Leanne and Tom above. The happiness, love and anticipation is evident. I have to add that that dress is one of the best, form fitting maternity dresses I have seen in a long while!

Leanne and Tom were due to welcome their new addition in the first week of January. Babies being babies, I was in a state of high alert from around Christmas. I needn’t have worried, after being 11 days late Harrison was born a whopping 8lb 9oz! I usually aim to do the Newborn Photography in the first 10 days of being born. After coordinating busy diaries and hospital appointments I was packing my car and heading off to Southsea to finally meet Harrison at 15 days old. Here he is snuggled into an old trugg, wrapped in a cosy scarf I had arm-knitted some time before.

What a lovely little man is Harrison. Leanne & Tom seemed to have taken to parenthood like ducks to water, doting on him with such love and affection. Leanne had also been busy buying cute little props to try out for his newborn photography session! This teeny turtle outfit was adorable, as is his teeny tiny frown!

As with all types of photography I do, be it weddings, bumps, newborns, portraits etc, I really love bringing as much of the subjects’ characters and personalisation into the imagery as possible. The image below shows Harrison sleeping in the plaster cast Leanne had done of her bump in the last few weeks of pregnancy; a pregnancy charm hanging off her bangle resting on a tiny foot during an embrace and a tender family moment with Tom while Leanne nursed Harrison, her wedding dress providing the back drop.

It was time for another outfit Leanne had sourced. A cute nappy cover and hat with ears combo that helped him look like a sleepy bear! Harrison did well being moved, dressed and repositioned for his shoot. He stayed nice and sleepy, albeit with the odd grumpy frown! Keeping the room really warm to keep him dopey had the adverse affect on us. Leanne and I were sweltering, opening windows for a breeze while Tom opted for a cheeky nap!

For the months before getting together for the Bump and Newborn Photography sessions, Leanne had been busy keeping me in the Pinterest loop, sharing her ideas and inspirations. She has a great eye for photography! I love being able to collaborate with individuals to create something they can cherish and love forever. Leanne had shared with me how she loved the close up, detail shots of newborn’s features which was great to know as I was also shooting images with a mind for how they may look in their finished album.

Both Leanne and Tom have an awesome tattoo collection. Pulling out the black backdrop for some low key images was a great way to showcase some of their body art. Harrison was just waking up too so all in all a perfect opportunity to capture those baby blues.

After a few hours of costume changes, milk top ups, coffee fixes and naps, our time together had come to an end. Leaving Leanne and Tom to relax with Harrison, exhausted after their busy day, I quickly headed for my studio to get the images down and edited. For their album Leanne had opted for the soft textured Tintoretto pages Graphistudio has to offer. Perfect for newborn photography. Leaving the design and image choices to me, I quickly got to work. To keep the design subtle and classic I chose a white box with sky blue writing on the top. Inside the lid a striking image of Harrison, with the box covered in sky blue with white writing and a light blue ribbon to complete the look. After being handmade and printed in Italy, the book was on my doorstep within 7 days. Straight back out by post to Leanne and Tom. I was barely out of bed on the Saturday morning when I received the following message from Leanne, “Parcel has arrived. I’ve opened it, smiled at the card, sent a pic of the amazing box to Tom, opened up the first page with a huge smile, opened the second page and now I’m in tears. Thank you so much for capturing such beautiful pictures, I can’t thank you enough xxx”

It is such a joy for me to hear and see the impact it has on people seeing their images in print. Treasured memories to hold and cherish for years to come. I look forward to seeing Leanne, Tom and Harrison again in the future as their family grows. In the meantime, I will be squirrelling away creating visual memories for others to treasure.

Fiona xx