baby oscars

Introducing the KW Photography Baby Oscars

And the Award goes to…

This Sunday, the 89th Academy Awards – a.k.a. the Oscars – will be held in Hollywood. The great and the good from the movie industry will attend and the best actors, actresses and movies of the past year will be celebrated. So here at KW HQ we decided we needed our own version The Baby Oscars

Purely in the name of fun, I have decided to create my very own version of the Oscars to tie in with this prestigious event.

Having had my photography business established for six years now, I have a tonne of adorable newborn baby and kids portraits in my portfolio.

So, I thought it would be fun to look back and celebrate some of these gorgeous children.

I love photographing children of all ages

Babies and children are just the cutest people to photograph.

Those of you who have hired me as your portrait photographer and recommended me to your friends will know that I absolutely LOVE my job.

Getting to meet so many delightful little people makes my work so much fun!

The innocence of a sleeping newborn right through to the mischievous grins of a one-year-old during their first birthday cake smash shoot are just some of the things I enjoy the most.

So, ladies and gentleman, without further ado, let me introduce you to…

The KW Photography Baby Oscars

In this inaugural KW Photography Baby Oscars, I’m celebrating some of my favourite images from the past year.

And there are prizes for the winners – if your child is featured below please contact me via the comments box below to claim your prize which is a free 10 x 8 print worth £25.00.

The KW Photography Baby Oscar for the ‘Best Newborn Smile’ goes to…

Bea: Back in July 2016, Bea came along with her mummy and absolutely stole my heart with her great big grin. She was just six weeks old at the time and really loved that camera. Yeah baby!

The KW Photography Baby Oscar for the ‘Best Pout’ goes to…

Theo: This was an easy one to choose. There was no contest really!

All Theo had to do during his photo session was to enjoy his cake smash cake and be the star of my cake smash video. But, no, he had other ideas!

It’s true what they say about working with kids and animals! Ha ha!

The KW Photography Baby Oscar for the ‘Best Yawn’ goes to…

Benjamin: Just look at that sleepy head! Oh, it’s such hard work being just a few days old!

The KW Photography Baby Oscar for the ‘Best Splash’ goes to…

Alyssa: I had so many adorable children in for cake smashes during 2016. Alyssa’s still makes me laugh out loud! She was so excited!

The KW Photography Baby Oscar for the ‘Best Smash’ goes to…

Woody, Hugo and Rosie: Being triplets, they will have to share their cake smash crown, just as they shared their cake. Hats off to mummy and daddy! Triplets as active as these three needs heaps of energy!

The KW Photography Baby Oscar for the ‘Best Chin Dimple’ goes to…

Daisy: Perfect in every way! I love her gorgeous little chin dimple.

The KW Photography Baby Oscar for the ‘Best Newborn Hair’ goes to…

Florence: Just look at those gorgeous locks!

baby oscars

The KW Photography Baby Oscar for the ‘Best Dressed’ goes to…

Elsie: She wins the best-dressed crown hands down. She stole the show in her mummy’s wedding dress.

KW Photography Baby Oscars winners

So, that’s my 2017 KW Photography Baby Oscars award winners!

I hope that you have enjoyed these pictures as much as I have enjoyed taking them? Which is your favourite? Do let me know in the comments.

And, don’t forget mummies and daddies, if your child has been featured please also comment on the blog to get in touch about your prize.

Have a great weekend everyone ☺

Karen x


Elf on the shelf

Christmas baby portraits: How I created these ‘Elf on the shelf’ images

Christmas baby portraits

With Christmas coming up, naturally, I have been taking lots of themed Christmas baby portraits these past few weeks. I just adore them, and every one goes crazy for the elf on the shelf!

Parents do too! And, why not?! There’s so much to love! They can be used on personalised Christmas cards. And they make great Christmas presents for family and friends when printed and framed, or used in photo gifts.

Christmas baby portraits are lovely both to give, and to receive.

Elf on the Shelf inspired portraits

I have particularly enjoyed working on a new concept this year. A creative setup, inspired by the ‘Elf on the Shelf’ craze.

Elf on the Shelf has increased in popularity, here in the UK, over the past few years. So I thought it would be fun to transform a few gorgeous newborns into little elves and capture them sleeping on their very own ‘shelf’.

I say ‘shelf’ in adverted commas since they were not perched on a shelf, of course. It’s simply a clever optical illusion. If you’d like to know how I safely created these Elf on the Shelf-inspired portraits, read on!

Elf on the shelf

Newborn photography: Tricks of the trade

Now, it’s important for you to realize that I would never balance a baby on a shelf or hang them from a height.

Nor would I position them in a basket that was at risk of toppling over. Or in a way that they were required to support their own head in their hands.

That just wouldn’t be safe.

Composite newborn images

All my portraits are taken in the safe, warm environment of my photography studio and the baby’s parents are always close by as well.

‘Composite’ newborn baby portraits like the one above are actually created after the photoshoot. They are essentially one or more photographs combined together using digital editing techniques.

Although the majority of the work is done in the photography studio, editing is an essential element in the success of this kind of image.

How I created the sleeping ‘Elf on the Shelf’ portrait

For the photo above, I setup the shot of the baby resting her head on the teddy bear, while laying on the shelf. The shelf was balanced and securely positioned on a chair, and the baby was held safely in position by the parent at all times.

The final image was achieved when I combined several photographs together. I removed the parents’ hand and the chair from the photographs during the digital editing process. Clever huh?

(For more of an insight into this process, take a look at how composite newborn images are created here).

Clever Christmas baby portraits

Here’s another Elf on the Shelf portrait. This one was tricky to setup, but was worth it!

Although the baby appears to be sitting on the shelf, he was actually lying, safely and comfortably, on his back on the floor.

I deliberately chose the rustic wooden backdrop which looked like the interior wall of a winter log cabin, and then propped the shelf up against his legs and bottom.

To complete the illusion, the props were also carefully positioned alongside him, and stuck down with tape to stop them from falling to the side. Then I photographed the whole setup from above, with my camera looking directly down to the floor.

Ensuring baby’s safety at all times

Of course, I wanted it to appear as though these babies were really positioned on the shelf.

But, as with any other portraits that I create that appear to put the baby in a position of potential danger, I can assure you that these are all created 100% safely.

Book your photoshoot today!

These are just a couple of examples of creative portraits that I produce for my clients within my signature newborn photography experience.

If you’d like something similar with your newborn baby, whatever the time of year, please contact me today.

Karen x


baby and child photography

Smile baby! Newborn, baby and child photography

Is there anything more adorable than a smiling baby?

Lucky for me, I get to meet so many gorgeous little ones in my job in  newborn, baby and child photography.

And since it was World Smile Day recently, I felt it fitting to collate a collection of some of my recent ‘smiley’ portraits for you to enjoy.

To sleep or not to sleep…

The majority of newborn babies I photograph are less than two weeks old. At that age, they typically spend up to 18 hours per day asleep.

So it’s no surprise then that they spend most of the photoshoot blissfully unaware of the flashing camera. Safely in the land of nod.

baby and child photography

But there are always a few cheeky ones!

Sometimes the babies I photograph just refuse to play ball. They’ll be wide awake and taking it all in. This is really lovely if it happens. It gives me the opportunity to capture some great open-eyed shots, like this.

Smile, smile, smile

And if I’m REALLY lucky, they’ll flash me a super-cute smile too!

Babies don’t usually smile before the six-week mark. Anything before that is an unconscious reflex, similar to the jerky arm and leg movements that they do in their first few weeks.

But if they do smile, it’s unbelievably cute! If I can capture any smiling shots for the parents, I always will. Seeing their baby’s smiling face for the very first time is just magic!

Natural smiles are the best!

Older babies, toddlers and young children also regularly give me the most adorable grins.

Unfortunately, as kids get older they learn to give the posed “cheeeeseeee” grins whenever a camera is presented in front of them. This isn’t so great, and it’s one of my daily challenges when working with toddlers and older children.

But capturing a natural smile, when the child’s eyes and entire face light up, is fantastic at any age.

I hope you enjoy the smiles! I love baby and child photography!

If you are expecting a baby and wish to discover more about my newborn photography sessions, visit my Frequently Asked Questions page as well as my Newborn Photography Guide here

Don’t forget to book as early as possible to secure your preferred date. Book around the time of your 20-week scan if possible. Slots do fill up fast!

Until next time,
Karen x


newborn baby

Radio Ga Ga , adventures of a Newborn Baby Photographer

Those of you who’ve met me will know that I’m not someone who craves the limelight, but when I’ve something important to say I’m happy to make my views known. And, yesterday I got to share the important message about safe practice in newborn baby photography when I was interviewed live on BBC Radio Solent and on BBC Radio West Dorset.

It’s something I’ve been talking about a lot on here recently as I believe the safety of the baby MUST come first, and that newborns shouldn’t be put in danger for the sake of a photograph. All safety-trained professional photographers know this of course, but parents using newborn photographers don’t necessarily realise how complex poses are created. So, I wanted to do my bit to increase awareness.

 

I arrived at the Bournemouth International Centre early yesterday morning and was chaperoned to the unmanned studio based there, shortly afterwards to be linked to Julian Clegg and his team who were broadcasting live from Southampton. Eek! At this point the nerves really set in!

Julian was great though and, after a friendly introduction, gave me five minutes of airtime to discuss how newborn photography can be practiced safely and to explain how posed shots, like the ‘head in hands’ shot is created using digital imagery techniques. The subject sparked a bit of controversy as not everyone is a fan of newborn photography of course but, as I stressed in the interview, I prefer the more natural baby poses myself although am trained and able to safely create the composite images such as the head in hands if a parent requests it.

newborn baby safety

I had a second interview on BBC Radio West Dorset as well, and have also recently been featured in the Bournemouth Daily Echo.

newborn baby

I hope that my small part in spreading awareness about this important issue helps to keep more babies safe during their newborn photoshoots.

Until next time,

Karen x