Adelaide Photographer – Sweet Chilli Philly Photography

The one thing that is good when bargaining with your three year old is when you know that they wont turn down the bargain of sharing your birthday malteasers (and yes there are some leftover as it was a huge box given by my inlaws – they know my love of chocolate!) so Ethan happily lent me himself  for a mini shoot and boy did I get some poses lol! Oh and he loved the malteasers…gobbling them up extra quick!

So do you think he’s had enough now?

Last week I had the pleasure of photographing Amber, Daniel and their new baby girl Annabelle. You could just see how in love they were with their new addition to the family, they were such a gorgeous family to photograph. This is what I love about my job is capturing these very first moments of life…

Thanks so much Amber and Daniel for letting me to photograph your beautiful family!

So without further ado let me introduce you to miss Annabelle!

I wrote this article for another site but thought that it would be helpful for those that view my blog as well. I hope you enjoy reading it.

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There is nothing more joyous then photographing a newborn in those first few days of life. As a photographer I take great joy in creating memories for families and watching the pure pleasure as they see their photographs for the first time. Newborn photography to me is the most of challenging of children photography but by far is one that I could easily do every day.

I recommend when wanting newborn photographs to have them photographed before they are 2 weeks old – although I find the best age is between 7-10 days old. Usually once over the 2-3 week mark it can be hard to get those sleepy curly shots and they can be harder to settle although this isn’t to say that a 7 day old baby will sleep better then a 3-6 weeker but in my experience they do tend to be much more settled.

Newborn sessions can be a long process on the day and I find a lot of the time can be spent waiting for the baby to get into a deep slumber so I tell parents not to stress if feed or change breaks are needed, babies work on their own schedule and not ours so usually expect a session to range from about 2 -4 hours long.

Don’t be afraid to get into the photographs either as family photos are so important, that time in your lives is so fleeting and is such a magical journey to bring a new baby into the word. Those images will remain a keepsake to be treasured.

Tips for taking photographs of your own children

I know how people can feel frustrating when trying to take their own beautiful photographs of their children so I thought I would list some tips to help make things a little easier.

1. Find the light! Don’t be afraid to turn off the flash on your camera and look for the surrounding like around you. Look for a nice big window that you could position baby in front of it and see how you go with some nice natural light photographs. If you have older children maybe take them outside for some photographs. If you can take the photos either in the early morning or later in the evening (before light fades). During the day the lighting can become harsh for outside photos and cause unflattering shadowing on faces or squinting.

2. On the move! The one thing with toddlers and older children is that they don’t like to sit still while getting photographs taken, which is totally fine for some fantastic candid shots. The can be the best photographs as it can show what they do best…being kids! It can be great to show what they were doing at that time in their lives and is perfect for a memoir album or coffeetable book.

3. Get down to their level! My last tip is to get down to the children’s level. It’s great to see things from their point of view and it can help with any distortion you may get when taking a photo from up above. I like to get down on the floor with the kids and interact with them while taking photo and is fabulous for interaction shots.

I hope these hints and tips are helpful and I’m always happy to answer basic photography questions at any time.

I would like to welcome you to the new look Sweet Chilli Philly Photography! This has been a long time coming and I really couldn’t have done it without the wonderful Netra who worked tirelessly on my logo and cute little animals that will now be apart of my branding and marketing material.

I hope you love the fresh new look as much as I do!

Feel free to leave a comment below with some feedback if you like, I would love to know what you think!

I am turning the big 30 on the 1st of March so to celebrate this milestone (since the turning 30 is meant to be the new 20’s) I  have decided for the whole of March to offer my $100 session fee at the smallest of price (and wont be repeated) of $30!!! So it’s a small $30 for me turning the big 30!

There is only 3 spots left for this special so make sure to get your bookings in now before I get fully booked out! Email me at ssmoke@adam.com.au for more information.

The Australian Community of Child Photographers ACOCP Announces the 2010 Heartfelt Exhibition – Melbourne June 1-14 2010.

Please support this wonderful cause by sharing this image and spreading the word.

Unfortunately due to family circumstances I can’t make it this year although I went to the opening in Sydney last year but I hope there are those that are able to go, honestly it’s such a worthwhile cause to be able to offer these families a gift during such a difficult time.

Yesterday evening I got to photograph the gorgeous little Blake and his mum Marije. It was his first time in the sand so I think he was more interested in the new textures he was feeling between his toes but in between the unsureness we got a few smiles too!

Thanks so much Marije for letting me photograph your little man and I hope you enjoy your sneak peek, I’ll be in touch soon with the rest of your gallery.

It’s hard to imagine that just three years ago that I had only just given birth to my now 3 year old Ethan! In three years he has grown from just a tiny newborn in very busy on the go 3 year old!

I thought I would share some photos of him when he was little (and before I really knew about photography lol) and then some of him from today with some more of him with his new trainset, he has quite a collection to play with now!

This was taken while still in hospital, isn’t he tiny and check out all that hair!

Tristan and Ethan adore each other although they do have their moments sometimes!

And just some of  master Ethan from this morning

Today I had the sweetest little five day old, Baylee. He is the youngest that I have ever had in the studio but he definitely kept me on my toes. With only the shortest sleeping time where I snapped a quick few, he decided to stay awake or fought just on the edge of sleep but honestly he had the most gorgeous eyes so much so that it didn’t matter that we didn’t get a heap of curly sleepy shots, we got some beautiful shots of him awake instead! Isn’t he gorgeous!

Alan and Jess, congratulations on the birth of your little boy, I hope you enjoy your sneak peek and I will be in touch soon!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of photographing the gorgeous Tara, her beautiful baby bump and her husband Paul! With such stunning golden light and beautiful surrounds there wasn’t anything that could go wrong with this session. They were such a relaxed couple and wonderful to photograph.

Tara and Paul I hope you enjoy your sneak peek and I wish you all the best for the next six weeks or so before baby arrives, can’t wait to hear the good news!