Baby's first year - Watch Me Grow photos for Coral
Watch Me Grow - capturing year one
It’s been such a pleasure and privilege to capture this journey for many parents over the years. Documenting the progression from bump to baby, or from newborn to toddler (and often beyond, as families expand with new additions!) must be one of my favourite things about this job!
A Watch Me Grow package is such a wonderful way to celebrate the changes during your baby’s first year. By the final session we are all so relaxed, it feels more like a warm hearted catch up with a friend who happens to have a camera.
It was no different for Simone & Gary, and their first baby daughter, Coral.
They booked whilst still living up in Somerset - Simone was due in December and they were relocating to Cornwall, and just finalising the new place.
They made it clear from the start that they are absolute sea-lovers, which proved to be very true! We had 3 out of 4 sessions on the beach - I’m sure we would have done their newborn shoot by the ocean too had it not been mid-winter!!
The maternity session
They booked for a full maternity package, which includes a newborn session as a tie-on to my Watch Me Grow package.
We met for their maternity session on Little Fistral beach - after having to reschedule once and managing to squeeze it in on their final morning in Cornwall before shooting back for work (nail biting stuff!!).
Newquay is a special place for them. Gary proposed to Simone at Crantock beach on top of the dunes (we took a photo of them all there at Coral’s sitter session). They got married there and had wedding photos at Little Fistral too. This is where they wanted their maternity photos so we made happen!
It was kind of cold, windy and wild - but Simone was amazing and I soon came to realise that she is actually a mermaid and has no qualms about getting into the water, in all seasons.
The Newborn shoot
Somehow during the month between their maternity & newborn session, Gary and Simone had managed to move house and have a baby - on Boxing Day!
We met at my studio early January and had the most lovely newborn session. They were chilled parents and it was nice to catch up and enjoy being in the newborn bubble with them for a bit.
They actually came again to the studio about a month later with some of their close relatives for an extended family session in honour of Coral’s arrival. It was also lovely !
The Sitter session
We scheduled Coral’s sitter session for a July morning at 8am at Crantock Beach. It coincided with a mini heat wave and was utterly glorious! We started up on the dunes, at the spot where Gary had proposed to Simone. It was also a lovely spot to capture some breastfeeding photos of Simone & Coral, and then made our way own to the estuary.
Another beautiful session and Coral was very cute and cheerful - my favourite age!
First Birthday photoshoot
We had the first birthday session booked in on Coral’s actual birthday on Boxing Day, but the post-Christmas mizzle had come in and we had to do a last minute reschedule to a few days later.
Gary & Simone had parents visiting for Christmas and thought it would be nice to include them in the session, and we got very lucky with a beautiful session down on the beach in Charlestown (despite a dodgy start with more mizzle!!).
They even brought a cake for Coral and we took some photos of her with it on the harbour wall.
It was a wonderful end to a memorable year! My heart was full and I can’t wait to see how their mini album looks when it arrives from the printers.
Simone left this lovely review at the end:
“Michelle has been absolutely fabulous, we couldn’t have asked for a better photographer to capture from maternity and then our first year with our little one. We have always wanted beach/outdoor images and Michelle has been flexible around timings and weather to make it happen for us. She interacted so well with our little one from the get-go which made the sessions so much easier. Would highly recommend for maternity, newborn, family, sitter & first birthday. We love all the images Michelle has captured of us and when it comes to choosing prints it’s always hard to pick! Thank you for sharing the first year (well, slightly longer as we did maternity shoot!) with us and capturing each special milestone with us.”
To book or enquire about a session with me, or my Watch Me Grow package, get in touch - I’d love to learn more.
