Newborn photography of 12-day-old Grady

When Launton-based Annie and Liam were expecting their second child, they wanted to capture his newborn-ness and get some beautiful images of their new arrival with his older sister. Here’s what we did.

Grady is the brand new little brother for lively and adorable Darcey, who’s 2 years old. These are some of my favourites from our shoot, captured when Grady was 12 days old:

I focused on Darcey for our first portrait. I like giving older children a lot of individual attention, particularly when they’ve just had a new sibling arrive and they are still getting used to sharing mum and dad’s time and attention! Darcey is incredibly cute and characterful, and I love how her eyes twinkle as she looks straight down the lens in this shot!

Next we added little Grady into the shot. I’ve swaddled him in a soft, cream mohair wrap to help him settle into sleep and also to keep his arms and legs still, which makes it easier for Darcey to cuddle him. I love Darcey’s great big smile here, and her protective hands around her brother. These two are going to have a lot of fun together when he’s a little older!

With a lovely sibling portrait in the bag, it was time to focus on Grady. I’ve picked lots of brown tones for this full-length shot, with plenty of detail added by the textured layers: wood, hessian and sheepskin. I love Grady’s hands resting gently on his chest: he’s one chilled-out little dude!

Suddenly Grady stretched out and gave a big yawn. I love capturing as many expressions as possible, so I quickly zoomed in to capture his yawn at its widest point. Images like this make me want to find somewhere warm to curl up and snooze 🙂 zzz…

Soon Grady was ready for a little snack (all this modelling is thirsty work!), so mum gave him a feed and then I wrapped him up in grey, ready for our next set-up. I love this smile he gave us just as I settled him into position – he definitely likes being swaddled up tightly! I love his little hands and feet poking out, too – there are few things cuter than perfectly tiny toes and fingers.

As mum’s milk filled Grady’s stomach he started to drift off. I captured a range of shots in different poses then started to warm the room up for some unwrapped baby photos. I love this one, with Grady’s arms wrapped around the tiniest teddy bear while tucked into a little newborn bed.

With Grady still deep asleep, I moved on to a cream set-up. I love the soft swirls of the loose mohair wrap around Grady’s torso, and how he’s resting his head so gently on his hands. So, so cute!

To finish up, I created one of my favourite poses, with baby appearing* to be held aloft in mum’s palms. We did a couple with just mum’s hands in the picture, but my favourite is this one with Darcey’s arm holding on to her brother, too. It’s clear that Grady will be much-loved by his adoring new family of four!

*This pose is created while baby is safely on my specialist newborn beanbag, with baby safe at all times – please don’t try to replicate this at home!

Afterwards, Annie said:

“Thank you so much for our newborn photo shoot and being able to include our toddler. You made the whole process easy & stress free. 🙂 We’re in love with the photos and so pleased with our choices. ? Xx.”

Here’s how Annie’s favourite photograph looks on her wall:

If you’re interested in newborn photography for your baby and would like to find out more, please get in contact by emailing [email protected] or submitting the form below:

Sarah Plater is a newborn portrait photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire.

(c) Sarah Plater Photography