Newborn Photography of 11-day-old Elsie

I last saw Nadia, her partner Shane and delightful little Louie at their maternity shoot at a picturesque Lavender Field. Happily, three soon became four and the growing family came to my Bicester studio for Elsie’s newborn portraits. Here’s how we got on.

When parents request a sibling photograph of their newest arrival, I always do this first (after making a big fuss of the older sibling, who may be feeling a little unsure about their new sister or brother’s appearance!):

I swaddled Elsie, partly so that she would feel soothed and therefore drift straight into sleep, but also so that her movements were contained. This makes it much easier for a toddler-aged sibling to cuddle up close. I absolutely love Louie’s confident gaze here – straight down the camera – combined with his soft smile. But most of all, I love his hand gently resting on his sister as he leans in towards her. Although they’ve only just met, I’m sure these two are going to be best buddies soon 🙂

With a beautiful sibling portrait in the bag, it was time to focus on just Elsie for the rest of the shoot. I love the natural textures in this image, from the wooden floor and crate to the soft grey wool curls and mohair wrap.

Next, I moved Elsie onto my newborn posing beanbag. Mum Nadia was looking to put up matching pictures of her two children from each of their newborn shoots. In the one she already had of Louie from two years ago, he was lying on his side and looking straight at the camera. With a little bit of luck and patience, I was able to get a very similar shot of Elsie, which means the pictures will look AMAZING on the wall next to each other:

It’s a tough old life, photographing sweet little newborns, but luckily I had an enthusiastic assistant on hand to steer me through:

I had put my portable heaters on at the start of the shoot, and the room was warming up nicely. Soon, it was time to start unwrapping Elsie:

I love that we get to see her perfect little feet here, as well as her tiny hands and fingers. Her smile is just the most wonderful bonus!

Shortly afterwards, I switched to a white background, with a matching, loose wrap for Elsie:

Again, I got super-lucky with a little smile. Sure, the experts will tell you it’s just a side-effect of babies passing wind, but to me it really looks like Elsie is chuckling to herself. Perhaps because she knows that babies have it best: eat, sleep, repeat!

We finished off with one of my favourite shots of all: baby in mum or dad’s hands. Here, Elsie’s tiny form is contrasted by dad’s strong and steady hands.

This tiny bubba is the luckiest little thing in the world, born into a family where she will be so loved and cared for. I hope when she is much, much older, she will enjoy seeing how precious she was to her family even from her very first days.

After seeing the images, Nadia said:

“Sarah these are brilliant! I can’t begin to pick a favourite… I just love each and every one!  ? xx”

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