Awestruck is generally how I feel when I photograph a baby being born. It is an incredible experience to be able to capture the first breath of a new family member and to provide parents with memories like these.

This is the second time I’ve joined this family in theatre, I photographed the arrival of baby Kayleigh in 2014 at Parklane Hospital, so everyone was super chilled in preparation for the arrival of baby Chase.

Mommy is a doctor, so the c-section was very relaxed.  After a few minutes of talking about school fees and cell phones (yes really) baby Chase made his entrance.

This is the moment where I hold my breath and shoot for dear life.  Getting the lighting right when a baby is delivered is crucial, theatre lighting is awful – a combination of fluorescent and a very bright spot light – there’s no room for error.

His sister was breech and arrived bottom first, so it was nice to be able to get a super shot of his grumpy face as he was pulled out.

The sound of crying filled the theatre which made everyone very happy, this sound doesn’t make his parents happy anymore as he doesn’t like sleeping very much but on the day it was very welcome.

 Then we all waited to see how much he weighed. 

Finally he was measured, had his footprint taken and then got wrapped up and ready to meet the rest of the family.

Birth photography has become increasingly popular over the last couple of years, as indicated by the form I had to sign before going into theatre, but I hear mixed responses from people when I tell them about birth shoots. Either ‘Wow that’s so amazing, I wish I’d had my baby’s birth photographed’ or ‘Ewww, why???’. I think the latter response is answered with these photographs.  

I am available to photograph pre-booked c-section deliveries throughout Gauteng. Please discuss birth photography with your gynae and contact me for more information.