10 Aug Newborn Elaina – A New Star Is Born In the Heady Galaxy
As gorgeous and fun as these photos are, the story behind this even more touching. We implore you not only enjoy the photos, but to take a couple minutes to read the story that came to make these newborn images.
Soon-to-be-parents, Drake and Courtney, walked into the studio to chat about a newborn shoot for Elaina, their soon-to-arrive daughter. An excited pair ready to welcome their first child with a bang via a fun photo shoot. They had done their research, knew they wanted a highly themed shoot, and already had some thoughtful ideas – which touched me immediately. You see, we quickly discovered that Drake has Epilepsy, and due to this he requires unexpected assistance at unexpected moments. Right away, he threw out this idea of “Daddy’s Little Helper” – a concept centered around the anticipation in needing help from Elaina in the coming years. With her surrounded by caregiving equipment and Daddy laying by her side for a few shots, we couldn’t help but love this idea. And how cool is it for Drake to want to capture this portion of their life’s story?! Equal parts cute, touching, and storytelling, these photos are perfect.
But… if you know us, we don’t stop with one idea. As our conversation grew deeper the concepts got bigger. Drake and Courtney made the mistake of saying they are big Star Wars fans. Of course you know our eyes lit up! “Star Wars? Yeah, we do Star Wars pretty good around here.” We took these images and then we turned to the parents and informed them they are officially the coolest parents ever. No matter how mad Elaina might be at her parents in one of those angsty teenage years down the road, she can always look up at the wall and see one of the most fun newborn shots ever. Uber parenting points for Team Drake and Courtney.
We were in love with the Princess Leia wig that we got our hands on, and couldn’t help ourselves but to work it into a Chewbacca concept. After all, Leia and Chewy were pretty tight, so we tossed our little Leia into Chewy’s pocket. Elaina clearly approved, giving us the cutest grin.
Somewhere between the last look and the next, Chewy shrank in size, and found a matching headband. Our Princess is still loving it.
Serenity. Now.
Little Elaina did an outstanding job staying peacefully asleep for longer than expected durations. Which reminds us to put out a little PSA for all you expecting parents aiming to do a newborn shoot – you want to arrange to have your shoot within the first 10 days of baby’s life. It’s critical, a night-and-day difference in the success of the shoot, as they just want to eat and sleep. Every day beyond numero 10, they become more alert, more apt to stir, and more likely to stay away. Elaina is the shining example of hitting that window at one-week old and performing beyond expectations. The better baby does the more we can shoot and the more looks we can fit in.
With so many great shots in the bag already, we kept going. After all, Elaina was sleeping and giving us smiles. Why stop?! On to those precious noses, feet, and hands.
We like to cap off our newborn shoots by integrating the parents. Some trio shots and then some of each parent sharing a moment with their new child.
And… Elaina couldn’t help herself but to give us one last smile while daddy proudly held her close.
Such an awesome shoot. We couldn’t have asked for a more enthusiastic set of parents or a better sleeping newborn. All of the stars aligned in the galaxy for this shoot and turned a great shoot into a magical one. Back during our consult with Drake and Courtney, we finished up planning our set of concepts and Drake uncontrollably shifts in his chair and belts out, “Seriously, I can’t wait for this shoot, can we go to the hospital and have the baby now?!” The Matty team knew they were going to create some precious images, but we secretly think that Drake somehow had the power to peek into the near future and somehow get a glimpse of the magic we created that day, which was beyond all of our expectations. Thank you Drake and Courtney for letting us have so much fun with your new bundle of awesome. And to you, Little Miss Awesome – thank you for being perfect and giving us all those smiles. Thank you, Drake, for turning a potentially perceived vulnerability into a showing of grace and strength, weaving that into telling a powerful story in imagery. You have the perfect little Daddy’s Helper.