NEWBORN HAMILTON | AN IN-HOME SESSION

I photographed Elodie last week, sleepy and very new, in her family’s home in Hamilton. Silvastina and I go back years now. Her gender reveal, her maternity, and the same again for her older girl before her, plus the extended family. Next week I photograph Elodie’s christening. This is what I mean when I say I photograph families over years, not once.

This was a newborn session at home. A small space, which is most homes, and no reason it should hold anything back. We worked one area creating the good light and stayed there. Silvastina had gathered the things she wanted, the wraps, the tulle, the little wooden bed, and had a clear picture of the style she was after. My job was to fit into her vision and find the quiet moments in and around it.

Elodie set the pace. She was deeply, gloriously asleep for most of it, and a sleepy newborn decides the running order, not me. You wait. You get everything ready while she settles, and you move when she lets you.

The frames I keep coming back to are the ones with her big sister. A four-year-old holding her days-old sibling, checking my face to see if she’s doing it right, then forgetting I’m there. Mum nose to nose with the baby while the older one leans in. That’s the whole thing in one frame.

Silvastina got the styled newborn photos she’d planned for, and she got her family in the middle of it. Both are true. Next week, the christening.

— Tony

NEWBORN BLOG