TEE AND JACK AT TAITUA ARBORETUM
Tee brought her little boy Jack along for a session at Taitua Arboretum, just the two of them. His dad was meant to be there too but couldn’t make it on the day, so it turned into a mum and baby morning instead.
Jack is six months old and has just started sitting up on his own, which meant for everything else he needed to be close to mum. That worked out perfectly. There were cuddles on the bench, cuddles on the path, cuddles on the bridge. He wasn’t going anywhere without her and honestly, some of the best shots came from that.
We had been watching the weather all week because it had been raining for days, but it cleared up right when we needed it to. The light through the trees at Taitua was beautiful, that soft green canopy filtering everything down.
Jack was so alert the whole time. Big blue eyes taking everything in. He loved being lifted up in the air and you can see it in his face, that pure delight when mum swings you up and you’re suddenly looking down at the world.
The detail shots from this one are some of my favourites. Tiny feet on the boardwalk, little hands wrapped around fingers. Those are the things you forget so quickly and they’re gone before you know it.
There’s something about a session with just mum and baby that has its own energy. It’s quieter, slower, more intimate. Tee was so natural with him and the connection between them is all through these photos.
This is exactly the kind of morning I love photographing. No rush, no pressure, just a mum and her boy enjoying an hour together in a beautiful spot.
— Tony
