"In the sheltered simplicity of the first days after a baby is born,
one sees again the magical closed circle,
the miraculous sense of two people existing only for each other".
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
{Thanks to the beautiful Mother below for allowing me to share these two images from our recent pregnancy session}.
xx Shannon
I just returned from Perth {my hometown} and it's fair to say that it's different to Melbourne in so many ways. Thumbs up to the ease of driving! The blue skies! The gorgeous light! Thumbs down to the flying cockroaches. I mean, seriously. Flying cockroaches?
Flying bugs aside, it was great to catch up with family and friends including my old mate Beck! Beck and I were in the same mother's group and she was present when I was hit with a bolt of lightning in a cafe' (no joke) about becoming a photographer.
We had two Becks in our mother's group and to differentiate when talking to my husband I called this one, "laughing Beck". {I don't think I've ever told her that}. She has one of the most infectious, open, beautiful and loud laughs I've ever come across!
Lovely to see you m'lady. Your photos are as colourful as you are.
xx Shannon
Is there anything more exciting, more overhwelming than expecting and then meeting your first child?
Well, not in my experience and that is why I love shooting Bump to Baby sessions. Meeting an expectant couple, photographing (mainly) the mummy in bloom and then coming back a couple of weeks later to meet and photograph their brand new child is beyond special.
And I'm not just saying that because that's what you do in these blogs. It is an amazing honour and privilege to be invited to share such a momentous time in a couples' lives.
And just quietly, the mummy in question looked extremely gorgeous in both the before and after shots!
This little guy didn't really want to be put down so Daddy did a wonderful job of quietly "shooooshing" him to sleep {see below}.
He still didn't want to be put down though!
So thank you S-L & R for the opportunity to meet and photograph you. You have a beautiful {and very lucky} little bub.
xx Shannon
PS. On a personal note I also feel somewhat wistful as I process photos like these. I had nothing like this taken while I was pregnant and have just a few precious (but average) snaps of my newborn boy. He's four this month and I simply wasn't as good a photographer then as I am now. Makes me want to shout from the rooftops "if you're pregnant, book a photographer now!" It doesn't have to be me but for the love of God, please book somebody. I cannot think of a single reason you'd regret it.
I first photographed Jack when he was just about to turn one so it was a real treat to catch up with him again around his second birthday.
I consult with my clients before a shoot to find out what they most want out of the session and in this case Jack's Mum wanted a real emphasis on family pictures and her wish was my command.
When she saw her gallery she said:
"We love the piccies!! I'm amazed how many you got of Jack as he was certainly on the rampage and not the most cooperative model!"
I replied that shooting rampaging children is my job. {Did that come out wrong?}
Aaaaanyway, returning to a family a year down the track is a very special thing indeed. I may even get the chance to watch some children grow up! Like, all the way!
xx Shannon
