Do any of you have a friend who you just KNOW will make beautiful babies? Well I did, and do. I think I was 19 when I first told my friend Daniella that I knew her babies were going to be beautiful and look like Beyonce. I was right, they totally are....and they do! Creamy skin, huge chocolate brown eyes and a full set of Russian lashes gifted straight from Mother Nature, they are undeniably beautiful children.
To top it off her son Luca has the most beautiful temperament, he is such a happy and sociable child and really reminds me of my eldest son, Jake when he was that age. He is one of those children that just charms the absolute pants off complete strangers wherever he goes.
Luca's newborn session was a dream, and he slept beautifully for me. It was my first session back after maternity leave, just 7 weeks post C-Section I needed him to be kind to me, and he was. I couldn't have asked for an easier first session back.
When it was time for baby number 2, I think I knew before Dan did! Knowing about a baby from those early days is such a unique privilege, I always feel so honoured when people choose to confide this news in me and I love sharing that excitement in those first few weeks before it becomes public knowledge. It does however make for the LONGEST pregnancies in the world! I was relieved when baby Emilia decided to make her entrance in plenty of time before Christmas, so I knew we would definitely be able to capture her whilst she was still tiny.
We scheduled the session for Sunday the 20th December, and I was so excited! It's always very special for me to do a session for a friend, my job is usually easier when I know the older siblings and it's always so lovely to have families I know in the studio. I was looking forward to hearing all about the birth story, and meeting little Emilia for the first time. Unfortunately the night before the session it was announced that Hertfordshire would enter Tier 4 from midnight. Dan immediately texted me to ask if I'd seen the news, she told me she was in the town centre shopping and had burst into tears. I jokingly texted her saying "right I cant work from tomorrow, get ready and come tonight"
She quickly replied saying "no are you joking? Because I will!" I knew how desperately she wanted the photos of Emilia done whilst she was tiny, the same that we had done for Luca. She has a thing about everything being the same! I get it. She is one of the fairest people I know, I know her children will never feel that one is being favoured over the other because she goes out of her way to make sure of it. But it was nearly 6pm already and given that neither of us were expecting this to happen, it was going to be a very late session for Luca, who isn't quite two yet.
I phoned her and we agreed to do a very last minute and probably the most slap dash session I've ever done! I flew to the studio and Dan was close behind me with her Mum in tow for moral support. There were no parent shots, and sadly no sibling shots as there should have been. These were the shots we had talked about the most and I was so sad that we weren't going to capture these.
I don't think anyone who knows Dan will be shocked to know that at 7:30 I answered the door to her standing there holding a newborn baby and her wedding veil, freshly retrieved from the loft in the nick of time for her session! This girl doesn't do things by halves! How she found time to get ready, pack a baby bag AND get into the loft in that time, I will never know.
In truth we were both exhausted that evening and it was probably the last thing either of us felt like doing, but I am SO glad that we did. The photos speak for themselves and I am so happy with how they turned out. This was a moment we were not going to get back, I'm glad that yet another Lockdown didn't manage to stop us creating these memories.
It wasn't the session we planned but it was the session we had and that's just how it goes sometimes, I'm forever grateful we captured these and know that Dan is too.
They've recently moved to a beautiful new house with lots of wall space to fill so hopefully one day in the not too distant future when the studio is reopen I'll have brother & sister in the for a photoshoot together and we can capture those now much overdue family portraits too!
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