The making of meaningful family photographs. A newborn story session in Melbourne with photographer Michelle McKay.
Precious snuggles with her newest little love.
It’s so simple to plan photographs that are not only beautiful, but also possess untold meaning for your precious family.
Select a ritual or routine from your daily life.
It may be something you often overlook or take for granted - bathing the baby in the kitchen sink, for example.
It might be walking the dog, watching the kids in the backyard before bed, or lego on the living room floor of a Saturday, sunlight streaming through the windows and washing everyone with warm yellow light.
Because what you may not realise now is how cherished these moments will be to the version of yourself living in the near distant future.
Seasons come and go and time passes. Our children get older, our lives change with a gentle yet constant ebb and flow.
We can never know which will be the last day the baby bathes that way,
or the final evening the kids will drag their feet inside as the street lamps blink on, not quite home from a fantastical adventure of make believe in the backyard treehouse.
Then, treat photo day like any. other. day.
Sure, you may want to make sure the kids are in a clean(er) shirt or a fresh(er) pair of shorts, but these photographs aren't about that.
They're about enjoying your family, and making a record of something that touches on the heart and soul of your little tribe.
You needn’t be fussing with the children to smile or to settle down, to look to the camera or to act untypically smoochy with one another.
Relax into it.
Let the moments happen organically, as they always do.
Then breathe. Smile. And trust your photographer is watching and ready.
If you’ve hired a memory catcher, she has her eyes and heart and whole self open.
Ready to take it all in.
This Melbourne family visit the park across the street from their home daily with their fur baby and children. On this particular day, they invited me along. Back at home I watched while they settled their toddler for a nap and tended to their beautiful brand new baby.
