Cheltenham Baby Photography | The little king

It feels like just a few weeks ago that I took my lovely friend Nafiseh’s maternity photos. It was August, and was a warm sunny evening. I blinked and all of a sudden little Kian is here! With his dark hair and dark eyes, he has clearly inherited his mum’s Persian good looks! Kian in Persian loosely translates to ‘king’ or ‘royal’ – and I’m pretty sure this little fella is now king in his new home!

It was early 2014 and we had just got back from our year travelling when Nafiseh whispered to me ‘I’m pregnant!!’ She was so excited, I could see the sparkle in her eyes and her smile couldn’t be wider! And now the next stage of the excitement is here! A little bundle of smiles and squawks!

A few months in and I love to see how Kian is growing and changing. Already he’s so much bigger than he was in these photos! I wanted to share a few of my favourite shots from his session with you. I hope you enjoy them.

If you would like to chat about a newborn session, please get in touch using the ‘contact’ button at the top of the page. I’d love to hear from you xo

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Newborn Photographer Cheltenham

My newest niece Baby Bea, as we call her, was born the same day as the Wimbledon Men’s finals.  I remember thinking she was going to be a good ‘un, as the men’s finals is one of my hotly awaited events of the year (I always apply for tickets, but so far no luck!) I also remember thinking that if it had been me going into labour on that day instead of my sister, I may have fallen out with Mother Nature over the inconvenience of her chosen arrival moment.

Baby Bea is the sweetest little thing. She’s a lovely little mixture of calm and curious. She likes to be able to know what’s going on and to see you all, but she’ll happily lie there simply watching.

Her older sister Maddie now has a new best friend and talks adoringly of ‘my new baby sister’. Ah bless. Looking back, I can’t believe how much Mads has changed and grown. And so I’m sure before we all know it, Baby Bea will be off to her first job interview.

So for now, I must make the most of those beautiful cheeks (oh, yes, that’s another thing, my nickname for her is Cheeks. I mean, have you seen them?! They’re even more squeezable now that she’s a few weeks older!)

So here are a few of my personal favourites – enjoy xo

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Cheltenham newborn photography

I met Jasper in the heart of the Cotswolds when he was just six days old. And what a cutie – tiny button nose, ten tiny fingers and ten teeny toes. He was mummy and daddy’s first, and a little sweetheart. He gently snoozed through most of the session, proudly watched over by not just mum and dad but also Luna the cat! I think Luna wanted to make sure she was always on hand for her new friend…

We made sure the room was lovely and toasty warm. Perfect to encourage a relaxed sleeping baby. We set sweet Jasper up in a nice and safe environment, with mum and dad nearby. Safety is always the top priority when it comes to newborns. We made sure that not only Jasper was well looked after, but that mum and dad were happy and involved too.

We took it nice and slowly, which allowed us to respond to Jasper when he needed a cuddle or a feed – and enabled dad and I to have a quick cup of tea in between shots! Well these things are important!

If you are interested in having some photos of your little one during this precious time, please get in touch using the ‘Contact’ button above!

You can have a flick through my newborn photography portfolio here.

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 Cheltenham Maternity Photography | Nafiseh

I am 100% a smitten kitten for this beautiful film-inspired maternity session! The late evening sun came out, the light was more than I could have hoped for, and Nafiseh looked incredible! The end results were perfect.

I’ve known Nafiseh for quite a few years now. We’ve been close friends from day one, and she’s been my patient muse for quite a few of those years! I was really excited to take these photos of her, and I can’t wait to meet her little one soon!

Whether it will be a girl or a boy, that much is going to be a surprise. I was treated to a sneak preview of the nursery, and it’s beautiful. Neutral, natural and calming. This little one’s going to have style!

We had so much fun shooting this session. The light was shimmery, the glow from the sun was warm, the crazy dog running around in the background provided the laughs. And Nafiseh was up for anything, even lying down in the freshly cut grass, leaving a fine layer of grass all over the back of her dress! What a trooper. (Yes I decided not to include that shot in this post, but there were definitely photos, mostly with us in tears of laughter!) I can’t wait to photograph her little one in a few weeks time. ♥

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 Newborn Photographer Cheltenham | Neve

When little Neve joined the family, she did so without realising just how many smiles she was bringing to her mum, dad and two sweet older sisters. She was such a sweetheart. Blue eyes, blonde hair, little button nose and scrumptious cheeks. And she was as good as gold throughout our whole session! She slept for most of the time, and happily snuggled into any pose we gently moved her into, whether that was a group cuddle with the whole family, some quiet time with mum or taking centre stage on her own.

One of the best parts of being a newborn photographer in Cheltenham has to be seeing how thrilled a family is with their new arrival. It sounds like a cliche, but it really is a blessing. Little ones bring so much happiness to their family. One of my other favourite things is of course the teeny tiny toes, but then you already knew that…

Tips | What to wear

We chose to dress Neve in a simple little white all in one to begin with. A neutral colour palette is timeless and really complements a baby’s complexion. We moved on later in the session to take some photos of Neve in her birthday suit, wrapped in a cream blanket. This simple approach really helps keep the focus on baby and means that your photos will last longer.

If you’d like to book a newborn session with me I’d love to hear from you! Just get in touch via email or by phone, and we can start to make a plan!

Thank you to Neve’s mum and dad for inviting me in to take these photos of their very special little girl! ♥

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Cheltenham pet photographer | Dexter

I’ve been wanting a cat of my own since I left home at 17 and went to university, leaving behind our wonderfully soppy family cat Bertie. When I realised my boyfriend was just as excited as me to get a cat, I knew he was a keeper

Now ironically, as I type this, Dexter is on a mission to a) set up his base camp in my lap, in the gap between my lap and my laptop, and b) fight and kill anything that stands in his way, such as my fingers, my arms, my hard drive lead, my Mac cables. Come to think of it I think he just wants to destroy, well, everything, whether it moves or not. I definitely think he wants to remove all the skin from my arms.

However, when I took these photos he was cute and sleepy and fluffy and everything you hope a kitten will be! I won’t mention the glass of red wine he knocked over onto the cream sofa on Friday night, nor the surprise he left us on top of our bed yesterday. I’ll just leave you to imagine he’s cute and fluffy all of the time. And never naughty. No, never.

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Cheltenham photographer | Cornish hideaway

We ate, we surfed, we barbecued. We cream tea-d, we fed ducks and we cycled along the river to the sea as the sun went down. We beach walked, we collected pebbles, we drank tea. Plenty of tea. We hid from the rain and drank hot chocolate, we soaked up the sun when the rain stopped. We walked the coastal paths and counted the sheep. We peeped out the window to watch the rabbits munch grass in the garden. We revelled in glorious Cornwall, the sea air and the coastal breeze ♥

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Gloucestershire newborn photographer | William the heartbreaker

Everybody, meet William. William, this is everybody!

Sweet little William was barely a week old when I met him to take these photos. He was an absolute pleasure to photograph, with his dark hair and edible cheeks (I have a thing about cheeks)! He was a little trouper and kindly obliged by sleeping through a good few snuggles and poses.

Mum and dad were beaming with pride as they looked on. They weren’t too sure at first about being in the photos, so we just took one or two.  Now that they’ve seen the photos, they are really pleased they did it! These first few days, whilst a blur, are equally such a precious time. And I want to help you preserve those memories!

William’s mum and I pencilled in his due date several weeks beforehand. He arrived a week or so early, which was no problem, as we just reshuffled a little bit.

If you’d like to book a session with me, it’s best to contact me as soon as you can to hold your session date. Once your bundle has arrived, just let me know and we’ll firm up the details. I’ll come to you, hopefully we’ll drink some tea and we’ll definitely make some beautiful baby photos!

Until next time, enjoy gazing at William’s gorgeousness

With love,

E xo

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Baby Photography Gloucestershire | Mum and newborn

Every so often in life you do something that actually you’re really quite happy with. As a photographer you’re often not quite 100% happy with your work, which I guess is what drives you to always do better. And I’m sure photographers aren’t a unique breed – this curse probably affects most of us at some point.

From time to time though, you come away from a session and as you’re reviewing the photos you’ve taken, there’s one or two that really make you glow on the inside. This little series of photos of baby Noah and his mum do just that for me! You can see baby Noah’s full session here!

I just adore the light, airy feel – almost a bit like a painting! These photos really capture a very special and intimate moment in time between mum and her tiny newborn. I get that kind of fuzzy feeling when I look at them.

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Being a Cheltenham newborn photographer is amazing because I get to play with cute squishy babies like Noah! And he was an absolute doll, from his tiny toes to his tiny fingertips! He slept for most of the session, which made my job very easy! Mum and dad were beaming with pride all morning, and rightly so – just look at him!

The session went really well, mum and dad were both so happy and relaxed! Even if your baby isn’t as sleepy as Noah, there are things we can do to help him or her into a lovely gentle sleep.

Top tips for your newborn session

• Keep the house nice and cosy warm. This lulls baby into a sleepy state, helping them feel snug and secure.
• Feed baby about 20 mins or so before the session is due to begin – a full baby is usually a happy and sleepy baby!
• White noise often helps calm them, and these days you can download an app onto your phone which does the job nicely!

A sleepy baby helps mum and dad to stay relaxed, which in turn keeps baby relaxed, and makes for beautiful newborn portraits! And here are a few of my favourites from Noah’s session.

See you soon,

E xo

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