Baby James

I photographed the Way family last year and it was a break through shoot for me in that Danielle and Chris had brought their son Zach's teddy whose leg he permenantly had in his mouth. It was great, for once we got the classic shots out of the way (without soggy footed teddy in tow, or should I say teeth), then the final shots were so Zach in his true and natural way. He will not always do that I imagine, so just lovely to be able to capture his ways at that age. Zach was born 10 weeks prematurely so all his newborn photos were in the hospital which, although it was a wonderful experience since the nurses were so incredible, it was not the most beautiful setting for dreamy newborn photos. So when James was born, Danielle decided she was keen to capture those types of newborn images that she always wished she could have had when Zach was so wee.





These are some of my favourite newborn shots I have ever taken. They are so tender and intimate and I love that Danielle is doing her new mummy things - stroking her sweet sleeping babe's cheek and twiddling his divinely soft ears between her finger and thumb. I remember doing that for hours to both Oslo and Indigo and to have those memories frozen forever would be bliss.







Danielle came alone with James to my home studio which surprised me initially. She told me she longed to include Zach in some big brother shots, but decided the window to organise the newborn shoot was too narrow (in the first 2 weeks is best) and involving an energetic toddler would have changed the mood of the images. Although she is keen to book a session with the brothers together, she felt it was important for these photos to be about James. She and Chris do not want to make the classic mistake of having lots of photos of the first born, and none of the second.



Having a three (almost four) year old already has made Danielle realise how quickly children change so she was determined to make a beautiful record of this fleeting time in her new baby's life. Also, since Chris and Danielle are both from the UK, none of their family will be seeing James in his early days so they really wanted some photos of this adorable time for their benefit too. Especially since I even caught a smile in the one below - priceless.



This one below is of my faves, along with the first image at the top.











Danielle was wearing this lovely bracelet so when sleepy James' arm flopped out of his swaddling, I couldn't resist dangling the cool heart on his fingers. Heaven.





And this one below may be my favourite newborn photo of all time. Just delicious.















James and Danielle - thank you for such a lovely shoot - can't wait to see all of you together in about 6 months, and to see how much the boys have grown. xx