Jennifer & Patrick : A Nourish Session

Jennifer was the winner of a giveaway that I ran just after World Breastfeeding Week.  I'd unintentionally begun a little week-long project throughout that week in August that ended up being very well received.  To celebrate, I gave away a Nourish session for which Jennifer was nominated by a friend - what a gift this was, for us both as it turns out. 

Jennifer warmly welcomed me into her home one morning just after Patrick woke from his morning nap.  He was interested in this new person suddenly in his home, but was more interested in his morning milk, so we settled into his mum and dad's beautiful bedroom where he could feed comfortably. 

We spoke about our relative breastfeeding experiences, and as with most mums, Jennifer had a lot of determination and support from her husband to persist with breastfeeding through those not-so-easy first days and weeks.  She mentioned many times how grateful she is to still be feeding Patrick one year on, how special this experience is. 

This session was a series of lots of little feeds - Patrick was very interested in me, as well as his best mate and dog, Joey who wandered back and forth past the bedroom window while we worked. Being one, and almost walking, he was active, curious and talkative, but would quickly realise he was still hungry and would crawl back into mum's lap for some more milk.  At one point, he crawled up into Jennifer's lap but instead of laying down, he sat and wrapped his legs around her middle.  Completely adorable, the first photograph I took after this has got to be one of my favourites from their whole collection. 

I'm so pleased it was Jennifer who won this session, I know she felt a little nervous before we began our session, but I now know she's happy we did the session and preserved this wonderful time in her life as mum to gorgeous Patrick - so much so that she and her husband were happy for me to write this blog post for them.
I look forward to being invited back in future, Jennifer was incredibly sweet, more at ease in front of the camera than she probably felt at first, and we bonded immediately over sharing this season of life - raising small children.  Spending time with Jennifer and Patrick on a particularly warm morning this winter was such a treat.  xx

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NOURISH: Milk Drunk Love Stories sessions are a lovely documentary style photography session dreamt up to celebrate that time in our lives as young parents when our children are so reliant upon us for nourishment and nurturing.  The collection of photographs from these sessions are presented in a hard bound 6x6 inch book to well preserve and celebrate this moment in time.
Feeding our babies and small children is so much more than a food source, it's a daily practice of bonding, slowing down together, learning about each other, loving on each other and relaxing, for you both.  These sessions are not solely for breastfeeding parents, they're for any parent who is feeding their baby.  Please click through to the contact page or call me on 0452 394 908 to book a session for yourself. 

Grace and her Sweet Boys

“serendipity
sɛr(ə)nˈdɪpɪti

noun
the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

”a fortunate stroke of serendipity”

I photographed beautiful Grace, Metui and their sons on an overcast Wednesday afternoon, my first session for the new year. Our paths had crossed due to a mutual friend whom we both adore, and fate had it that Grace and her family were visiting Brisbane from their home in North Queensland, so we set up this session, by the skin of our teeth. 
 
 

We had planned on it being a Nourish session, but Thomas and Samuela had other ideas, so we followed the boys lead and the results are part Nourish session, part Lifestyle Family session. And it's perfection.

I came away from my time with this sweet family grinning, they are so joy-filled, so affectionate and so respectful and conscious in the way they parent their children. I felt blessed to have spent an afternoon soaking all of that up. I wanted to high-five Grace for her tandem feeding super-mama status (note also that the boys are cloth-bottomed kids ;), Metui too for the calm and paitient way he spoke to his children. Like the hopeless romantic that I am, I teared up as I photographed just the two of them snuggled up together - Grace looked like the cat that got the cream, you can see just how full her heart is in these photographs.

If this family, our time together and their collection of photographs are anything to go by, this year of business is going to blow my mind. Begin as you wish to continue ....

Milk Drunk Love Stories - Announcing our Nourish Sessions

Feeding a baby is pure delight! 
I have happy and vivid memories of spoon feeding mashed veggies into the synchronised mouths of our neighbours twins daughters when I was ten years old.  I'd race over there every afternoon after school and took every opportunity to care for them.  I have adored bottle feeding my nephews and nieces over the years, snuggling them up close to me, my focus on them, their focus on their milk, the noise and chatter around us fading away.  It's a sacredness I wasn't aware of until it came time to have my own children I delighted in breastfeeding them both beyond their first birthdays.  A lot of hard work goes into learning to feed your baby, those early days and weeks can be especially difficult and demanding.  But all of a sudden it becomes easier - wounds begin to heal, the feeds spread apart, you and your baby begin to work as a team and feeding them becomes such a joy.  Happy days!

My sweet friend Candice asked me to make some photographs of her feeding her delightful second son, Luca.  She cherishes those moments, and knows that at eight months old these days wont last forever.  I was thrilled that she asked.  Thrilled!  It's always something I offer mamas during photography session, but only two have ever taken me up on the offer.  To devote an entire session to documenting their feeding story was pretty special.  Watching Luca burry his face into his mother's chest, nuzzling about for his milk made my heartache with the not-so-distant flashback to when that was me, I wish I'd had feeding photographs taken myself.

Candice and I both were emotional over viewing her collection of photographs and it got me thinking ... a mother's feeding journey is one of intimacy, it bonds mother and baba no matter the method used.  This time is fleeting and it is something to be celebrated and to be cherished.  So, let's do just that!  Let's document your  feeding story, no matter the road you're travelling, if you're feeding your baby milk - I'm talking to you  ;-)

Let me introduce the Nourish - Milk Drunk Love Stories sessions. 

Here's how they'll work:
We'll make a time in the morning before your baby's first feed, we'll find a comfortable spot in your home, and you'll feed your baby while I quietly document this moment.  It's a simple as that.  In place of the usual proof viewing and ordering session, you'll receive your collection of photographs from your Nourish session presented in a 6x6 inch book as a precious keepsake.  In celebration of this launch, I'm asking you to nominate a mama you'd like to gift a session to, and I'll choose a nomination by random before December 10th 2014.  Just leave their name in the comments of this blog post, or on the social media post. 

To discuss your Nourish session in more detail, please contact me, I'd love to hear your story.

Renee xx