How to get photos you'll love

The great thing about a photo is that unlike most items in your house, it actually goes up in value as time goes on. That humble photograph is the only link you have to that time that’s passed, and we all know how fast a moment can go by. I have photos printed all around my house, most of them are just small prints, some large, but every time I look at them I get this wonderful rising feeling in my body and I instantly smile.

We had a family session with a local photographer right when my son was going through his Spiderman phase, I mean he’s still in it, but at that stage he was constantly shooting imaginary webs from his hands. I have a print from that session of my son doing his Spiderman impersonation and I chuckle every time I look at it and I expect to keep doing so forever.

Arlo doing Spiderman hands. Thank you Amanda Nina Photography.

So, how do you get photos that are worthy of your walls?  

First things first, find a photographer who you vibe with. Look at their work, do you like their style? Would you change anything about it? If you would then they’re not the photographer for you. Think about buying an artwork, you wouldn’t go up to an artist and say “I love this painting, but can you please make it brighter? And add red, I love red and there’s no red in there.” You buy that artwork because you like it as it is. It’s exactly what you’re after. Check out that photographers reviews, do you get a sense for what it’s like to work with them? Do they describe the photographers personality? You can often gauge a bit about them as both a photographer and a person from their reviews. When you contact the photographer, what’s their communication like? Are they making an effort to connect with you? You’re letting this person into your family’s life, so you’ve got to click with them, trust them and feel comfortable enough around them to be your natural selves. Because if you’re uncomfortable during your photo session you’ll see it in the photos.

Once you’ve found your photographer it’s time to think about location. You don’t need to pick the location, your photographer should have a variety of locations around their city that they use. These are often naturally beautiful places, for instance I pick places that don’t have houses or buildings in the background so that you can’t necessarily tell where they are. Do you want a park or a beach vibe? Maybe you want to stay at home? Are you more adventurous, what about something a bit more rugged, like a mountain range or a waterfall? The sky’s the limit, but whatever and wherever you pick, make sure it’s something that is true to your family.

Next it’s time to style your shoot. Pick your outfit first and then get the kids and your partner's outfit organised. You don’t need to match, but coordinate colours and styles so that you all look like a unit. Be comfortable. If a glamorous gown is your thang, you rock that frock! If a playsuit is more your thing, then you do you! Whatever you wear, be comfortable wearing it. You don’t want to spend the whole session adjusting your outfit or even thinking about it. You want to be present with your family, making memories. If you’ve got no idea what to wear you can always ask your photographer to give styling advice or find one who has a client wardrobe on offer.

Ok, outfits are picked now it’s time to think about what you’re going to do the day of. If you’ve booked an outdoor session then you’re likely doing it around sunrise or sunset. If it’s sunset then you want to spend the day doing light activities with the kids. Please, for the love of all that is holy, do not spend the day at the Zoo, theme-park or indoor playground. They will have nothing left to give by the time it comes to their session and it will be meltdown central. You can still get them out of the house, but avoid activities that will get them too wrecked. 

One of the biggest worries parents have is around naps and the bedtime routine. I can’t tell you how many family sessions I’ve done where this really is a non-issue in the end. Kids love being outdoors, especially past their bedtime. For winter sunset sessions, where the sun is setting between 5-5:30pm, you likely won’t need to change a thing. But in the warmer months when the sun is setting between 7-8pm you’ll just need to push their naps back a bit or let them sleep a bit longer. Yes, it will throw off their routine for one day, but they’ll have a really fun evening and it’s back to business as usual the next day. 

Make sure the kids are fed before the session. A full belly makes for a happy model. In the winter months you can give them some decent snacks at home and then can go out for dinner after the session. It will make it a day they’ll really remember. 

Ok this one is important, if your partner and kids make you late to absolutely everything, like mine do… tell them that the start time is 30 minutes earlier than it is 😉 You’ll get their right on time and won’t be stressed out of your mind that you’re missing all that beautiful light. 

Pack light. Often your photographer will snap photos of you as you’re walking, I know I certainly do. They’ll need to carry all your belongings, plus their own camera gear. There’s not much you really need to carry with you during your session except car keys and maybe some shoes; just in case if you’re at the beach. For cooler months or windy days it’s always good to have a few extra layers for the kids in a bag, this will come in handy as the sun goes down because that’s when the temperature drops. But that’s it really. Everything else can be left in the car. And it’s always a good idea to keep a spare change of clothes and beach towels in your car in case your kid decides to jump in the water.

Lastly, step into it, embrace the chaos and have an amazing time! If having your photo taken makes you nervous don’t focus on the camera, focus on your family. I always like to pretend that I’m on a deserted island and no one is there but me and my family. 

I hope this has given your some ideas on how to get photos you’ll treasure forever. 

Experience vs Expectations of breastfeeding - Sydney Family Photographer

Can we take a moment to talk about breastfeeding? Because, you know, it’s the topic of the week. If you didn’t already have a baby, you probably wouldn’t think it but breastfeeding is hard! Most new mothers I speak to will all say the same thing “I didn’t realise how hard it would be, or how much it would hurt.”

When I was pregnant with Arlo I had an expectation that he would be born and, bam, milk on tap whenever he wanted. At the time, my biggest fear was having to feed him in public because as I may have mentioned before… never nude over here 🙋🏻‍♀️ What I didn’t expect for a single minute is that I wouldn’t be able to do it. I didn’t expect to be bare chested in front of every single LC in Sydney while they watched and helped me feed - analysing my technique, my breast tissue and speed of let down.

What else I didn’t expect is that after all the work I’d put in - the stress, the pumping, the triple feeding, the obsessing if he was getting enough - I’d have no control over getting this little human to drink and he would decide at just 7 weeks that he didn’t want it anymore. He would scream at the sight of a boob coming in his direction.

I didn’t expect that my breastfeeding journey would be mostly me tied to a pump for 7 odd months to try and give my boy “liquid gold”. And the biggest thing I didn’t expect out of all of it was how much it would effect me. I’ve got a general, “oh it ain’t no thang” attitude and if something does usually affect me I have a big ol’ shout to the people nearest and dearest and then I move on. But it did affect me… for 3.5 years and I didn’t even realise how much until Bowie was born and all of those expectations of naive, pre-babies, Stef came flooding back. I have boobs therefore I can. But again, I could not.

Instantly I started thinking what is wrong with me, why can’t I do this? I’m a failure. They said the second baby would be different but it’s all happening again. He’s losing too much weight… bring out the scales. It is definitely was not that idyllic impression I had of breastfeeding many moons ago. Nurturing your baby in a way that only you can, those intimate moments, gently stroking your baby’s head, ears, shoulders, feet as they drink till absolute satisfaction.

I had screaming babies beating my chest with their fists, sucking and crying because they couldn’t get enough? Couldn’t get it fast enough? Spluttering because it was coming too fast? My precious bonding time was spent scouring the internet on my phone for advice, anything new and ground breaking that may explain why my babies were never satisfied. Why they were never milk drunk. And yet, a part of me thinks… maybe I’ll be able to feed the next one.

This time around I was able to handle it a lot better mentally. Don’t get me wrong it was still hard but I know that I read everything I could and I did everything I could and maybe my body just wasn’t meant to be able to do this one thing. I have much less motivation to pump this time around. My boy is 5 months and my supply is almost done for, I’m only pumping once a day and often I forget to. So my journey will be coming to an end very, very soon. I’m a little sad, this is more than likely my last kid and this is it. I’m still holding out hope that by some miracle he’ll just decide to latch one day. But, he’s healthy, he’s happy and that’s all that matters. Breastfed or not they’re all going to eat their food off the floor one day.

This is my experience with breastfeeding and everyone’s is different but if you’re going through something similar know that you’re probably not alone. If you see someone feeding their baby just know that they’ve probably had a rough journey to get there too. Nothing is as simple as it seems and at the end of the day the only thing that matters is if you’d got a happy and healthy baby that is absolutely loved.

Why you should get the bump shots - Sydney Maternity photographer

Maternity photography in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney Australia

So, you’ve just found out you’re pregnant with your first bub… firstly, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I’m so happy for you, and I’m not just saying that as some blanket statement, I am genuinely happy for you. I’ve been there and I have a sense of how you might be feeling, which is happy and jumping out of your skin excited… especially if you’re on my page.

When I was pregnant with my first, getting professional photos wasn’t even on my radar and I so wish it was! I couldn’t see it at the time, but I have never loved my body more than when I was pregnant. At the time if you’d’ve asked me I would have said I didn’t like being pregnant, my body ached, I felt disgusting, I couldn’t breath. After though I was really able to appreciate the amazingness of my body. What it was able to do, what it was able to endure and how it was able to bounce back after taking one hell of a beating! And I’ve got absolutely nothing, except some dodgy phone photos, to remember that time.

Another reason I wouldn’t have considered getting photos taken is because every time some well intentioned person would take a photo of me I wouldn’t like how I looked. Now, I am not a vain person, you’ll know this within 5 minutes of meeting me. You can show me a bad photo of myself and there’s a good chance I’ll laugh my butt off, but pregnant Stef is not laughing. I would look back at the photos sent to me with a “look how beautiful” text and think… that is not me! That’s not the person I see when I look in the mirror. Why for the love of all that is holy would you send me this? I’m not being dramatic 😂 But there’s one REALLY important thing to note… your friends and family, as lovely as they are, aren’t professional photographers. They don’t know how to show you in your best light. They don’t know the angles to shoot at and they definitely can’t see when they’ve taken a bad photo. To prove this point *gulp* I’m going to show you some photos that have been taken of me and sent to me by some loving family, thinking they had taken a beautiful photo of me.

No words are needed for this image, and no one should have ever seen this including me.

This is the beautiful memory I have from my first pregnancy 😏 Thank you husband!

If I were ever to get a bad photo of you, no one, including yourself, would ever see it! No one.

I really regret not getting professional photos with my first. My body went through one of the biggest transformations of my life and I didn’t celebrate it. So with my second son you better believe I got it done and as a shy “never nude” you’d probably be surprised to hear that I got my bump out, but I did.

Me and the boy who made me a mum. Thank you Amanda Nina Photography.

And here is one that doesn’t make me want to cry. Thank you Amanda Nina Photography for capturing the most beautiful photos of my pregnancy.

I hope I’ve convinced you to get the photo and get the bump out! If you have more questions or can’t wait to book in, click the button below!