She was pretty game. “Is 5:15 too early?” I asked. I was about to book my first sunrise maternity session.
“Nah, I’m already awake by that time and if we did it then, I’ll be home by the time my daughter wakes up.” That settled it. My first sunrise shoot. I was super excited. Having kids (or at least kids like mine) means you are awake before the sun rise. Sometimes by choice (in my case) and other times, not by choice. I packed my camera bag the night before and set out my outfit. I was ready for this.
It was still dark (obviously) when I woke up to the alarm. Surprisingly it was also a bit colder than I had thought it would be (Summer in Australia). I jumped in the car and headed down my street. A couple of drops of rain landed on the windscreen. Nothing to get worried about I thought. 5 mins later I saw lighting and then the thunder came. It as still dark outside. I was hoping the storm clouds weren’t going to ruin my sunrise start time too much.
Sunrise Sessions
It’s magical being up and about outside before the rest of the world. It’s still, quiet, peaceful and in this instance, as I was the only person in a national park, was sort of otherworldly. The sun streaked through the trees and thanks to the weather there was some fog around which was lit up by the golden rays of the sun. It’s what I imagined Narina might look like as the snow was melting away when Aslan was on the move!
The most amazing thing about this shoot was what happened once the session was over. We walked back to the car and chatted about our plans for Christmas. Alice was due to have her baby in a couple of days. She was hoping that she would go into labour before her due date (due to hospital policy and pregnancy complications she would be induced) We chatted about braxton hicks and so on and so forth. The next day i get a text as follows …
Hey Eileen, thought I would just message as, when I got home from our shoot yesterday I started having contractions and actually had our little girl last night at
We were so lucky on this shoot! I do recommend not waiting til you are 39 weeks to get your maternity photos. Depending on which number pregnancy you are carrying, anything from 30-36 weeks is ideal! First time pregnant bellies tend to pop out later where as a second or third (or more) tend to show much earlier and you might feel more comfortable booking your session around 30 weeks.
It was so incredible. Those photos mean so so so much more now as well. Thank you so much for my maternity photos. They are gorgeous. I couldn’t be happier!!
Alice
