Older Newborn & Family Photos with Evelynne Rose

“I really like you. You can do what you want with that information, but I just wanted to tell you.”

September 2020 update: The above portrait has just been awarded a Highly Commended Rosette by the Master Photographers Association (MPA). Ray Lowe, Chairman of the MPA, commented, “Lovely image by Sarah Plater… The connection between dad and baby just works beautifully well; his hands are so gentle on baby… He will love this picture and he will love this forever.”

After several years as friends at VI Form College, Jade and Tom had continued to meet up and invest in their friendship over the summer holidays. Now, with only a few weeks before they each set off to universities in different parts of the country, Jade knew time was running out to let Tom know how she really felt.

Happily, the attraction was mutual, cemented by a love of Chuck and a shared sense of humour (the sillier the better). Tom had just got a car and learned to drive, and he made the trip over to Jade’s university as often as he could. They each wanted to make it work, so they did.

Fast-forward six years and they were finally about to meet their baby, but in a strange new world where Tom couldn’t attend his wife’s antenatal appointments with her, and where he was left pacing the corridors when not initially allowed into the delivery room.

After a tough labour (including 37 hours (!) of contractions and an emergency C-section), Jade and Tom were then given just 60 minutes to spend together before he had to leave the hospital. Overwhelmed, tired and emotional, he headed home alone. Happily Jade was able to leave hospital the next day, so they could start to settle in to family life.

They live in a Bicester culture-de-sac with a close-knit community, and the neighbours were almost as excited as the parents to welcome the new arrival.

Two young twins from a neighbouring house appeared, begging to see the baby as Tom and Jade were climbing out of the car. Tom tilted the car seat so they could get a glimpse of her while keeping a safe distance.

“I love it!” One twin exclaimed, while the other said she wished she was allowed to give Evelynne a hug.

Since their return home as a family of three, Tom and Jade have been getting to know their little one. They’ve been surprised by how vexing it can feel when she screams for no apparent reason, but also how well she often sleeps overnight. When they wake up to her coos, smiles and big blue eyes the next day, however, yesterday’s ‘witching hour’ is immediately forgiven.

Tom and Jade were waiting patiently until they were able to book in her newborn photos. Normally newborn photos are created within the first two weeks of birth, but with everything on hold during lockdown, the soonest we could have the shoot was the day before she turned six weeks’ old. Nevertheless, she was a total dream, despite our session being a little different to normal.

That’s because Evelynne’s newborn photoshoot was COVID-secure, which at this time meant no photographer-baby contact. Jade and Tom worked brilliantly as a tag team to position Evelynne as needed throughout our shoot. It’s as though all the years they spent as friends and partners have led them to communicate seamlessly, with a large dose of good humour to smooth things along.

I loved their gentle teasing, and how they’ve seen the funny side of everything, from Evelynne’s first poonami somehow flying onto the cream carpet through to their labelling the finger-lick-and-clean to rub a mark off Evelynne’s face as ‘the parent thing’. They’ve also got a stripey ‘inmate’ baby gro that looks a little like a convict’s uniform. When they’ve had a particularly tough ‘witching hour’, they jokingly dress her in that before cocooning her in ‘prison’ (a ready-made swaddle, appropriately called a ‘grow bag’).

Indeed, when they first put her in her sleep cot six weeks ago, she barely filled a third of it. Now she’s already outgrowing it. Soon, she’ll be calling Jade and Tom ‘mum’ and ‘dad’, and asking Tom to help her score higher on computer games (his specialty).

When they found out they were expecting a little girl, the couple had two names on their shortlist. The deal was sealed when Tom looked up the meaning behind each one. Evelynne means ‘wished for’, and that’s exactly how they felt about her.

Indeed, the strength of feeling is returned, with Evelynne loving nothing more than cuddling up and falling asleep on mum or dad’s chest (preferably on a stomach-full of milk!).

They are all very much in love, a happy fact that only became true thanks to Jade risking her heart six years ago by admitting: “I really like you.”

Sometimes a few brave words can change everything. 🙂

After our newborn shoot, Jade said:

“We had a great time doing a newborn-ish photoshoot of our little girl with Sarah. Sarah is really lovely, and very talented – we got exactly the kind of photos we wanted to mark this special time in our lives, she really captured the love we have for our little family. I would 100% recommend going to Sarah for photos of your little one, it was great fun and so relaxed.”

Jade, newborn photography client from Bicester, Oxfordshire

If you’re interested in newborn portraits or family photography in and around Bicester, Oxfordshire, please get in contact.

Sarah Plater LMPA is an award-winning qualified, certified professional newborn and family portrait photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire. She is the Master Photographers Association Newborn Photographer of the Year 2019 for the Central Region (covering Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire).