by Alana | May 25, 2020 | Extended Family, Family - Location, Fresh 48, Maternity, Newborn - Lifestyle, Perrys Paddock, Photo books
I first met Oliver’s parents at Perry’s Paddock for their Maternity Session in the pouring rain! I then met Oliver the day after he was born during his Fresh 48 session at their home. Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to see them all again, as well as Oliver’s Grandparents, for a family session at Perry’s Paddock. We almost had some weather issues again, but luckily the rain held out this time! I love being able to see my families again, and couldn’t believe how much Oliver had grown. From a one day old newborn, to a sitting, smiling 7 month old baby….there are sooo many changes that happen in those first years. Changes that happen before your eyes and literally over night. Each stage can sometimes feel never ending, but it’s really not. Time passes so quickly, and brings with it so many stages, changes and phases. This is part of the reason why I love photos so much, because they freeze some of those stages in time so that you can revisit them long after they’ve passed. You can look at a photo and it can bring back all of the memories…the feelings and the emotions…and you can almost relive it again. How often do you sit and hold onto a photo, smiling as you remember what it was like when it was taken?
Dea and Chris chose to include a photo book with their collection, which is the perfect way to keep some of your favourite photos in one place so that you can look through them again and again. I’m a big believer in not only taking photos, but also in displaying them! Don’t just keep them on your computer, never to be seen again!
If you’d like to create some beautiful photo memories, Contact me and we can chat! You can also view more examples of my work in my Family Portfolio, Fresh 48 Portfolio and Maternity Portfolio.
Contact me to chat about your session!
by Alana | Oct 3, 2019 | Fresh 48, SJOG Mt Lawley
Just the day before, I’d captured The Birth of Lacey. One year earlier, I’d captured The Birth of Chloe. On this day I captured the two of them meeting for the very first time. Neither of them will remember this day, with Chloe only having just turned one, and Lacey only just being born. But this moment is forever captured, forever frozen, forever theirs to look back on. The day that your kids meet their new sibling is always such a special one, and including that in a Fresh 48 is perfect. It means you can sit back and just be in the moment, without having to worry about taking your own photo memories. You can fully be present as your older child spontaneously leans over to kiss their new baby, and you can also be fully aware when that very same child decides that she may have had enough of her new baby sister! These are special and beautiful memories, and are ones you can never repeat. They’ll only meet each other for the first time ONCE, so why not capture it? It was such a pleasure to watch this beautiful family grow, and to be there for some pretty special moments. I always feel so lucky to be let into my families worlds.
A Fresh 48 session is one that’s captured anytime in the first 48 hours after your baby’s birth. It means that I’m on call for you, and that I visit you at the hospital when your baby is fresh and new. You don’t realise how much they’ll change in hours, let alone in days and weeks, and months. The change is rapid and constant, and you often don’t notice until they outgrow an outfit, or until you look back on a photo taken only last week. Capture them while they’re this fresh, this new. Freeze it all in time so that you can always soak them in!
If you’d love to capture a Fresh 48 for yourself, or any session, feel free to Contact me and ask any questions. You can also view my Fresh 48 Portfolio, and learn more about Fresh 48 sessions here.I look forward to hearing from you!
Contact me to book a session or ask any questions!
by Alana | Aug 5, 2019 | Fresh 48, Newborn - Lifestyle
Beautiful Harriet burst into the world in quite a hurry in a room filled with love not just from her parents, but also her Grandmother (although she’s not quite sure what her title will be yet – Grandma, Nanna, something creative??). Harriet is the first child for her parents, and the first grandchild for her grandmother, so it was extremely special to include them all in a Fresh 48 session recently at SJOG Mt Lawley. Fresh 48 sessions mean that I’m on call for you around your due date, and as soon as your little one is born, you contact me and we organise a time for me to come in and capture all of those gorgeous fresh memories. The wrinkled hands and feet…the first few changes…the fresh love bubble you’re still encased in…the little tufts of hair…the first cuddles…the way your baby looks TODAY. Babies change so quickly, and even in just a few days she’ll be a little different! Freezing these moments in time helps you hold onto them and revisit them, to soak them in again and remember what it all felt like, because generally those first few days are a little bit of a blur!
Fresh 48 sessions are focused on those things you do a million times a day when you have a new baby – cuddling them, watching them, and breathing in their baby smell. It’s all about you and your family, and we go with the flow in terms of what your baby needs. No formal posing, no props, just you and your perfect little baby exactly as you are. Simple, real life memories for you to have forever and ever. I love that Harriet’s Grandmother/Nanna was there for the session as well. They live close by, she was there for her birth, and I just know that this relationship is going to be extremely special. I can only imagine what it must be like to watch your daughter give birth to your grandchild…all these memories must come flooding back of when your child was that baby in your arms!! Harriet is going to be one loved little girl.
I’m always so appreciative of feedback I receive from my families, because I put so much into giving you memories that make you feel something. Harriet’s mother Jazmin had this to say about her session
“Alana did a fantastic job of capturing my daughter’s early hours with a 48 hour fresh photography session at the hospital where she was born. Alana was able to make my partner, my mum and myself feel comfortable (all normally terrible in front of a camera), so that the focus could remain on baby Harriet. I know that without Alana, we would have struggled to capture this special moment in the chaos of becoming first time parents. The session did not feel rushed because Alana took her time with us making the session feel even more important. I would highly recommend Alana!”
If you’d love me to capture some memories for you too, Contact me here. I’d love to hear from you! You can also view my Fresh 48 Portfolio and learn more about Fresh 48 sessions here.
Contact me to discuss capturing your own special memories!! I look forward to hearing from you!
by Alana | Jul 18, 2019 | Family - Lifestyle, Fresh 48, Maternity, Newborn - Lifestyle
It was only a couple of weeks ago that Dea, Chris and I braved the rainy day to capture their Maternity Session, and I’m soooo glad we did because little Oliver decided to make an appearance a little sooner than expected! Exactly two weeks after their Maternity Session, I was meeting their little boy in their home who had been born during a quick and sudden labour the very day before!! As they left the hospital within hours of his birth, Oliver’s Fresh 48 session was captured in his home, which is a beautiful way to freeze this once in a lifetime moment of bringing your little one home! Fresh 48 sessions focus on the gorgeous little baby details in the first 48 hours after birth – the belly button clamp still attached, the wrinkly hands and fingers, the messy hair and all those little details which tell the story of a little baby just being born.
It also tells the story of new parents – the amazement, the exhaustion, the adrenaline high, the beaming smiles, and the expressions of a love they’ve never quite felt before (and of course in this case it also must include Chris drinking coke and playing xbox games!). This is a time where it’s still not quite real – when their whole world has been changed and it’s impossible to keep up with reality. It’s surreal looking at your baby for the first time. Seeing them move, hearing their noises, and feeling their skin. It will never quite feel the same again. Their fingers will stop being wrinkly, their movements will become more controlled, and they’ll change at rapid speed over the next days, weeks, months and years. Hold onto this moment, soak them in as much as you can. Capture it so that you can revisit it all long after it’s passed.
Dea mentioned during the session that I have the best job, and she’s right. I get to meet these amazing people and their most perfect little babies. I get to witness this magical time in people’s lives and freeze some of it in time for them. I loved spending time with Dea, Chris and Oliver, and then sneaking in some moments with Grandma when she came to visit too. This is her first grandchild, and she was there for his birth. I can’t even begin to imagine what that must feel like!! Congratulations guys on your perfect son (I really thought he was going to be a ‘she’!), and thank you for letting me into your world to capture your new family as it is today.
I was lucky enough to meet Oliver and his family a few months later during their family session at Perry’s Paddock.
If you’d like me to capture some memories for you too, Contact me here. You can also view my Fresh 48 Portfolio and learn more about Fresh 48 sessions here. Don’t forget to check out Dea’s Maternity Session captured completely in the rain – it’s truly beautiful!
Contact me to book in your session!
by Alana | Feb 10, 2019 | Fresh 48
The timing could not have worked out better – I was scheduled to capture Maddison’s Fresh 48 session (That’s “Maddie” to her Daddy!) at the same time as her 2 year old big sister Leila was due to come in and meet her. These are the moments that you can never get back, these are the moments that you want to be able to absorb when they’re happening, but you also want to be able to look back on them. Having these moments captured means that you’re able to sit back and really be IN the moment, safe in the knowledge that they’re being captured and can be revisited long after the time has passed. These moments you can never get back – Leila will only meet her baby sister for the first time ONCE. I was sooo glad to be there to capture it for them during their Fresh 48 session.
These images truly tell the story of Leila’s first meeting. Nothing was forced and we all let her take her time. She came into the room cautious and unsure. Her fingers remained in her mouth and she was curious, but hesitant. She sat with her mother but wasn’t yet ready to kiss her, and she definitely wasn’t ready to kiss her baby sister. She’d look at her and touch her – point out little parts of her, but you could see her mind ticking, and the silence from her reflected that something big was happening in her little life. As time went on however, you could see her relax. She became more comfortable, more talkative and open, and you could see that she was beginning to accept this new little person. And then it happened. She suddenly just lent over and kissed Maddie. She’d been asked a few times earlier but wasn’t ready to show such open affection, and then suddenly she WAS ready, and she just DID IT. She kissed her little sister and I pulled up that camera as quickly as I could to capture it. And then she was happy to kiss her mum and her dad as well – her walls were down and she was comfortable. I love that it all happened organically, that she was allowed to just take her time and express her feelings once she was happy to.
Maddie sneezed at one point, and this really tickled Leila’s funny bone. She laughed about it for a lot of the remaining session! Leila is going to be an amazing big sister I think – she was already trying to help her mum dress Maddie, and once that first kiss was over, she was more than happy to show Maddie lots of affection. Both parents said that Maddie looked so similar to Leila – that when she was first born it was like looking at a little Leila again. That familiarity brings so much nostalgia, and also reminds you just how quickly time passes. Although those early days/weeks/months/years can seem so long and never ending, they’re really not. There are so many changes that happen, so much growing and so many phases, routines and ‘new normals’. Having a new baby is a strong reminder of that, as you look at your older child and suddenly it feels like only yesterday that they were that small as well. As Maddie’s dad said ‘The days feel like weeks, but the weeks feel like days’ and it’s so true. Time is a strange concept when you have kids.
Maddie was such a beautiful and alert little baby. Her eyes already seemed so focused and alert, and she spent her time either peacefully sleeping, or happily awake and looking around. Once her big sister warmed up, the room was noisy and busy, but Maddie was just watching and taking it all in. She’ll have to get used to noise and chaos I’m thinking!! I absolutely loved capturing Maddie’s Fresh 48 session, and the icing on the cake was being able to also capture the sisters meeting for the first time. If you book in a Fresh 48, you should consider timing it to include a sibling meet as well!
If you’d love to capture the special memories in a Fresh 48 session, you can Contact me here. You can also view my Fresh 48 Portfolio here and learn more about what a Fresh 48 session is here.
by Alana | Oct 27, 2018 | Fresh 48
I’m not sure whether Fresh 48 sessions just didn’t exist when I had my babies, or whether I just wasn’t aware of them. Either way – I wish I could go back and have one! Fresh 48 sessions are a beautiful way to remember and record those very special first few days spent with your fresh baby. They’re usually taken in the hospital where you’ve given birth – but of course if you give birth at home they can be captured in your home environment as well. The essence of them is to capture those first fresh 48 hours with your baby – which is where the term ‘Fresh 48’ comes from. Babies change so much, and they change so fast!!! One minute their little fingers and toes are wrinkly, and the next they’re not. I distinctly remember going to show off my son’s wrinkly feet to his aunty and uncle when they visited, only to find that they weren’t so wrinkly anymore! I had a pang of sadness as I realised that already he’d changed, and I’d missed it. The beauty of a Fresh 48 session is that they can capture all these little details, and they also capture the story of those first few days with your baby, and your first home together. I actually enjoyed my time in the hospital. I enjoyed being able to spend time bonding with my baby and just focusing on them, and it always feels like a special place to me because that’s where our first memories together are. Here are some examples of images from a Fresh 48 session, and some of the memories you can capture:
Remember what the room looked like? How despite the underwhelming décor and poor light, it felt like such a magical time as this was your first home with your baby?
Remember the details of their little hands and features and how quickly they changed once you came home?
Remember being able to just focus on your baby and soak them in before returning to the chaos of real life – to start learning about them and how to be their parent?
Remember the little bed they used to sleep in (although most of the time they were probably being held by someone)
Remember those first few times where you changed their clothes and their little arms stretched out and their legs curled up. Remember that feeling of being responsible for someone so little and new?
Remember when your older child, or children, met their new baby? Remember their reaction – perhaps they were cautious at first, or maybe they were overly affectionate from the start? Remember the first moments as a complete family? Those moments are worth capturing!
There are so many beautiful moments to capture during a Fresh 48 session, but the best part of it all is just telling your story. That time will pass all too fast, and your beautiful baby will grow so quickly before your eyes. Celebrating these first few days of their life allows you to relive that moment – to remember the sounds and the feelings and the rollercoaster of emotions – to remember the details of not only your baby, but also YOU during that time. It’s not the most glamorous time in our life, but it’s up there with the most special and magical times. I think that’s worth remembering.
If you’d like to book a Fresh 48 session for yourself or for someone you love, Contact me here. You can also view my Fresh 48 Portfolio.
by Alana | Oct 14, 2018 | Birth, Couples, Family - Lifestyle, Family - Location, Fresh 48
Everyone has a different reason for wanting a photo shoot, and different reasons for loving certain images. Prior to a session I ask you to complete a survey so that I can get a better understanding of what type of image you might be hoping for, although sometimes your favourite images from a session are the unexpected ones. Recently I asked my past clients if they could let me know their favourite image from our session, and to give me a brief explanation as to why they loved them. Not only was I so grateful to receive their responses, but I was also soooo happy that for most, their favourite images were those which showed the authentic connections, the real emotions, and the reality of life. In fact, all of their responses fell into three main categories: Connection, Moments in Time, and Emotions. I always love to hear which images you love the most, so always feel free to share your thoughts with me! Meanwhile, this is what my clients said, in their own words:
Connections
Alana (Phoebe’s Newborn Lifestyle Session):
“It shows our firstborn Ollie trying to bond with his new baby sister. With his life being suddenly turned upside down by a tiny stranger who is now monopolising much of his time with Mum and Dad, Ollie dealt with the great adjustment brilliantly for a not-quite 2 year old. Their bond grows daily and he has loved her fiercely since day one. It makes me so happy to watch their relationship blossom into something so special that will last a lifetime, and Corey and I hope that our babies will see each other as their best friend just like we both do with our siblings”
Jade (Jade and Zac):
We just look so comfortable with each other, but also so in love at the same time!”
Amber (Jude’s Newborn Lifestyle Session):
“I love the photo of Xander upside down – my gorgeous gorgeous boy and his best friend (Daddy!). I know my hubby adores that photo too, the pure joy on Xander’s face is priceless!”
Sarah (The DiTommaso and Tench Family):
“I especially love these two images of Lochie and I. You’ve captured the spirit of Lochie and the relationship we share. While the ‘cuddle’ image is not the most flattering photo of me, I love how you have managed to capture a moment of whirlwind excitement and fun and even more importantly, a delighted connection between us both. Lochie isn’t typically a boy who is overly affectionate or cuddly. As you have noted in your blog about our shoot, more often than not, Lochie is very ‘busy’ banging and crashing about and being his usual spirited self. I can never seem to hold on and cuddle him for long enough before he is off on his next adventure. I’ll be able to hold onto this photo, and this cuddle forever”
Joy :
“100% this picture. The special relationship my girls have when they don’t want to kill each other. This is how they are on the holidays when there is no stress in their lives and they are just enjoying each other. This pic is of the most amazing thing we have achieved. They are strong and smart and so beautiful. I am so proud of every part of them and I love, love, love this pic. You nailed it!”
Kate (The Longman Family):
“Because it just captures who we are and our relationship all in one image”
Larissa:
“Jeff’s favourite is the one with Jack and his Nanna as it shows the connection and love between the two”
Moments In Time
Amber (Jude’s Newborn Lifestyle Session):
“The photo of all 4 of us on our bed with Xander about to jump in the air – it just so perfectly captured our gorgeous little boy, having the time of his life, completely unphased by the tiny human that just entered our lives! We were all laughing and loving each other and it’s honestly a moment frozen in time that I will remember forever!”
Amanda (Eve’s Lifestyle Newborn Session):
“We got the shoot for our children , our focus was not to have the ‘perfect’ family portrait but more genuine moments that the girls can look back on and reflect about what our family means to us, and them, the moments of love and happiness – an everyday representation. Saying that my favourite two which I hope the girls will look back on are these two as they capture the fun, laughter and love”
Leanne (Zoey’s Newborn Lifestyle Session):
“This photo is my favourite by far…capturing those little feet and her big sister looking over her as she always will”
Ashlee (The Birth of Evie ):
“This will always be our favourite as it is the moment the doctor held Evie up for us to see her for the first time. The moment we became a family. The c-section process happened so quickly, and she was only held up for a few seconds before being whisked away for all the necessary checks, but this photo has frozen that moment in time for us forever”
Ashlee (Evie’s Fresh 48 ):
“It was hard for us to choose a favourite from this shoot, but we couldn’t go past this photo of our new family captured so beautifully. We love the use of the sunlight shining through, the warm colours, and most of all the little face of our precious girl that we just can’t stop kissing”
Anne:
“The background and the boys expression – creates quite a mystical atmosphere!”
“It’s a relaxed/spontaneous family shot”
Melissa (The Emmerson and Fong Family):
“The one of Ari looking serious and sulking amongst the greenery. It’s a moment frozen in time as that’s his look when he doesn’t get his way! Stomps off and sulks. Terrible twos but oh so adorable. And so real. Love it”
“I love the one of Paige and I hugging with me smiling and eyes closed. It’s one of those candid mummy and daughter moments I’ve always wanted to capture but never did. You did it without us realising or posing. Thank you”
Larissa:
“I love the one of Jack throwing up at his baptism – I love it! Simply that was my baby – always sick…I also love my porcelain doll baby photo, and the one of him asleep through it”
Kimberley (Iris’s Newborn Lifestyle Session):
“I think the one you captured of us all on the bed and the kids being authentically themselves would have to be one of my most loved. Because it truly is one of those perfectly imperfect moments that is our every day and it’s just so beautiful. I know in years to come I’ll look at it and be taken right back to this beautiful crazy season with my kids, it’s moments like that which will be most treasure memories”
Emotions
Jade (Jade and Zac):
Zac’s favourite: “Because Jade looks so happy. I don’t know how else to put it!”
Leanne (Zoey’s Newborn Lifestyle Session)
“I also love the one of Zoey and I. You can see total love in my face and it’s not often I have photos taken of me and my little ones as it’s always the girls with Dad”
Melissa (The Emmerson and Fong Family)
“My hubby and I completely adore the one of him and Paige rubbing noses. Ugga mugga from Daniel tiger. It’s so sweet and loving”
If you’d like to capture some beautiful memories for yourself, or organise a voucher for someone you love, Contact me here.
by Alana | Aug 15, 2018 | Fresh 48
After being lucky enough to witness Evie’s birth (see The Birth of Evie ), I was excited to visit her again a couple of days later for her Fresh 48 session. Fresh 48 sessions are images taken in the first 48 hours of a new baby’s life – and are taken in the hospital or place of birth. They are a gorgeous way to remember that time in the hospital which is your first home together as a family. I personally always loved my time spent in the hospital. I found it was such a nice way to bond with our new baby without the distractions of cooking and cleaning, and all of the normal daily life stuff. It let us stay in a little bubble for awhile and just absorb our baby. So for me, I have fond memories of the time spent in hospital and I think it’s beautiful to capture some memories there.
I was amazed at how much Evie had already changed since she was first born less than 2 days earlier! I was also amazed at just how fabulous her Mummy Ashlee looked – it was as if she hadn’t just delivered a baby! I felt like I was walking in on the perfect family. Evie remained just as peaceful as she was when she was first born, and both Matt and Ashlee were completely in love with everything about her. Ashlee had styled Evie perfectly – they changed her into a plain white onesie and added a gorgeous textured beanie, and gorgeous textured booties. Texture and simplicity = perfection. The booties were a little big and kept falling off of her feet – but that just made them even cuter! Evie slept her way through a lot of the session, which made for perfect opportunities to capture those new baby cuddles. These are some of my favourite images!
To book a Fresh 48 for yourself or to gift one to someone you love, Contact me here. You can also view my Fresh 48 Portfolio. You can view Evie’s Newborn Lifestyle Session here.
