Secret squirrel images with sisters Ava and Sienna

What do you get the proudest, most loving daddy when you want to give him an unbeatable present?

Coincidentally, all this family’s birthdays fall in a short timespan just before Christmas, which means it’s even harder to think of the perfect gift, as there are multiple celebrations to buy for all at once.

Luckily, Nicole had the perfect idea for her husband Stephen’s gift.

Nicole and Stephen’s second daughter, Sienna, was born just before the three-month lockdown at the start of 2021.

Stephen often lamented how this meant they hadn’t been able to do a newborn photography session with her as they had for their eldest, Ava.

The more Nicole thought about it, the more she realised this presented a perfect opportunity.

If she could organise everything secretly, she could gift Stephen some beautiful images of his three favourite people.

And so we conducted our pre-shoot telephone consultation in secret squirrel mode, with Nicole warning me when Stephen was just about to walk past the room she was sat in.

We quickly diverted the topic until the coast was clear again.

Outfits were shortlisted and selected via WhatsApp, and Nicole brought the girls round to my Bicester photography studio one weekday to capture the girls’ bond and personalities while Stephen was away on a work trip.

Sienna, who turned 1 in December, is the future drummer in the family.

She loves anything that she can loudly bang together, and regularly surprises her family with unexpected sounds!

She also loves putting things inside other things, rolling a ball and exploring her world via crawling.

Unfortunately the family home is a bit of a building site at the moment, as the layout of their main house is being reshaped into a more practical design.

In the meantime they are doing all their living and cooking in a small cottage on their land, and using the house just for sleeping in.

This means that lots of areas are currently out of bound for Sienna’s adventures, and her attempts to enter those rooms are most often blocked by her very vigilant older sister, Ava!

Ava is five years’ old and loves stickers, colouring and everything sparkly, especially unicorns and princesses.

She adores her little sister and is always available for a cuddle!

Like many five-year-olds, however, Ava is not the best at keeping a secret… Nicole knew there was a big risk that Ava would spill the beans – purely out of excitement – as soon as she saw her dad after our photoshoot.

Luckily, however, my games-led approach meant that all of Ava’s focus during her time with me was spent on various mini games and other silliness.

These games help everyone relax in front of the camera while generating authentic grins and giggles.

The games also offered a handy excuse if Ava mentioned anything – Nicole could say they simply went round a friend’s house to have some fun.

Because that’s exactly what they did do: gorgeous photographs and a perfect gift were just a happy bonus! 🙂

“Sarah is literally, hands down THE most professional, relaxed and patient individual I have ever met.

From the moment I spoke to Sarah about having a secret photo shoot she was interested in not only the photo outcome but by me and us as a family. Due to the nature of trying to facilitate a surprise photoshoot, I arrived in somewhat of a chaotic state with 2 children hanging off me! Sarah was so quick to resolve the situation by helping in every way possible. Very quickly my girls (and I) were relaxed and enjoying the ‘play date’….which is exactly what it felt like.

Despite the chaotic feeling I had, Sarah was completely confident and in control and quite rightly too as the images are exactly what I had hoped for.

Since the big reveal, my husband has been slightly overwhelmed by the beautiful pictures and the gesture that has meant we now have both of our daughters captured at a very special moment in time. We will definitely be back in the future for even more of the whole family. There genuinely isn’t anywhere else I would go and absolutely no one else I would trust.

Thank you so much Sarah, you’ve made our walls complete and our hearts full!”

Nicole, family photography client from Bicester, Oxfordshire

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If you’re interested in updating your family photos please do get in contact.

Sarah Plater LMPA is an award-winning qualified, certified professional newborn, child, 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).