Newborn Portraits of 10-day-old Amira

I recently headed back to my previous hometown of Romford, Essex. A friend, Natasha, had given birth to a beautiful little girl ten days previously, and Natasha wanted some sleepy newborn portraits of her. Here’s how we got on.

With a stomach full of milk, 10-day-old Amira was ready to snooze. Between us, Natasha and I rocked and soothed her until she drifted off into a deep sleep.

For one of the first portraits, I gently wrapped Amira in a mohair scarf and nestled her into a light-coloured sheepskin. These natural fibres add interesting texture to the images, and contrast beautifully with the newborn’s soft, smooth skin. It sure looks like Amira found it comfy, too:

Next, I moved in closer to capture Amira’s perfect, tiny toes. I love to capture details like these, as babies grow so rapidly that it’s hard to believe how small they once were:

For contrast and variation, I then swaddled Amira snugly into a light brown wrap and placed her on a brown sheepskin. These tones beautifully compliment her warm skin tones, resulting in an image with a narrow but incredibly harmonious colour palette:

Next, it was time to accessorise, with a knitted white sleepsack and matching headband with tiny white pearls along one part of it. The light is falling on Amira from the far side and forming gentle shadows on the near side of her face. This brings depth and form to the portrait:

Natasha had beautiful wood flooring which I knew would make the perfect backdrop for my final newborn portrait. First, I laid down some frayed hessian fabric, then a wooden bowl carved from the roots of a giant teak tree. Next up were fabric layers to provide a comfortable surface for the baby to lay on, and fluff for texture and interest. I encircled Amira in a loose, cheesecloth wrap, then placed her gently into the middle of the bowl. I was just framing up my portrait as she smiled widely, and I was lucky enough to be able to capture the moment:

Mum Natasha said:

“Sarah made my ten-day-old daughter feel at total ease; she was so prepared she even had white noises downloaded on her phone. She was extremely professional and the photos taken were perfectly captured; something that is irreplaceable as babies grow so quickly. Sarah took her time and was a total perfectionist. An added bonus was it was in the comfort of my own home. Thank you so much.”

And lastly, thank you to Natasha for this behind-the-scenes shot of me with the beautiful Amira! You can see the living room curtains behind me – although these portraits have a studio feel to them, they were all captured in the comfort and convenience of Natasha’s home.