Maternity and Newborn Photography in the Hawkesbury: Kayla, DC and Reya

I photographed Kayla three times in about six months. Once on her own while she was pregnant, once with her partner DC a few weeks later, and then again four months after that, when Reya was here.

Getting to follow a family across that stretch of time is the reason I do this work. You see the before and the after. You stand in the same spot twice with completely different people in front of you.

A cold, wet morning in Rouse Hill

The first session was just Kayla. We met around nine in the morning in Rouse Hill and I had a handful of ideas I had been sitting on for a while and wanted to try.

The weather had other plans. It was cold when we started, the wind picked up, and then it rained on us. Plenty of people would have called it there. Kayla laughed, looked at the sky, and kept going. Those are my favourite people to photograph, because the moment things stop going to plan is usually the moment you get something real.

When we were both properly cold we went back to her house to warm up. She ran a bath and we finished there. Just Kayla, her bump, warm water and a quiet house. It ended up being the part of the morning I keep coming back to.

Golden hour maternity photos at Cattai

A few weeks later we met at Cattai, out in the Hawkesbury, and I finally got to meet DC.

This one was in the afternoon. Kayla wanted the softer late light, and she wanted her partner in the photos. Pregnancy gets documented as a solo thing so often, and she was clear that this was something the two of them were doing together.

Watching DC with her was the whole session for me. The way he held her, the way he looked at her body and her bump. He was in complete awe of her and of what they were making. I barely directed anything. I stayed quiet, let them be, and the photos took care of themselves.

Four months later, back to the same paddock

Kayla messaged me not long after Reya was born. She wanted a session with her, but she was worried about the timing. Reya was in that in between stage, past the sleepy newborn days and not yet sitting up and playing, and Kayla thought it might be too hard to get anything good.

So we took it slowly. I let the two of them lead and we worked around Reya instead of asking her to fit a plan. That is almost always how these sessions go best anyway.

They asked to go back to Cattai, to the exact spot we did the couple maternity session, because they wanted the two sets of photos to sit side by side. When DC arrived he said, "hello again, isn't it crazy that last time we were here together she was inside Kayla and now she is here."

Same trees, same light, one more person.

Breastfeeding photos, and the parts you forget

We photographed Kayla feeding Reya. She asked for those, and I think more people should. Feeding takes up an enormous part of the first year and then one day it is finished, and most families have no record of it at all.

The rest of the session I spent chasing details. How small her hands were. What her feet and legs looked like wrapped around Kayla's hip. The face Reya pulled when she heard her mum do her silly voice.

Those are the things that go first. You remember that you loved it, you just stop being able to picture it.

Nobody stood stiffly. Nobody held a pose. It was the three of them in a paddock and I stayed out of the way.

A few things people ask me

When should I book maternity photos? Most people are happiest between 28 and 34 weeks. The bump is there, and you are usually still comfortable enough to walk around a paddock for an hour. Reach out well before that though, because weekend golden hour spots go early.

What happens if it rains? We shoot anyway, or we move it, whichever you prefer. Kayla's first session started cold and windy and finished in the rain, and those are some of my favourite photos I have taken. Weather is not the problem people expect it to be.

Should my partner come? Up to you. Some people do one session on their own and one together, like Kayla did. Some do the one shoot with everyone in it. There is no wrong answer.

Where do you shoot around the Hawkesbury? Cattai, Richmond, North Richmond, Windsor, Wilberforce, Ebenezer, Freemans Reach, plus in your own home. I also travel out to Rouse Hill, Box Hill, Kellyville and the wider Hills district.

My baby is past the newborn stage. Have I missed it? No. Reya was four months old, right in the middle of the awake and alert phase, and that session is one of my favourites. Older babies give you expressions and reactions that a sleeping newborn cannot.

Thanks Kayla and DC for having me along for all three of these. Watching Reya go from a bump in a rainy paddock to a giggling four month old in the same paddock is a pretty good year of work. If you are pregnant, or you have a baby in the house and no photos of yourself with them, have a look at the session options here or send me a message and tell me where you are up to.