Newborn photo shoot with Zoe Stewart

by Roz

When baby star was just ten days old, the three of us headed through to Edinburgh for a newborn photo shoot with the lovely Zoe Stewart.  Despite thinking about getting some photos of Aaron before he was born, I left it 'til the last minute to enquire and book an actual shoot and Zoe was so lovely about squeezing us in - especially as she was pregnant with twins at the time!  We ended up doing the shoot on a Saturday and I remember how daunting it felt to think of driving our new baby all the way to Edinburgh but he slept the whole way there and I remember us feeling quite excited at just how magical the car was for making Aaron sleep.  Boy has that changed in recent weeks!

We arrived at Zoe's lovely bright studio and were made to feel very welcome.  The studio was lovely and warm, and after a chat about the types of shots we were after, Aaron was stripped and Zoe set to work starting to capture some gorgeous images.

Zoe managed to capture a few poses straight away but then Aaron properly woke up and either went from demanding to be fed or completely wide awake.  I think he fed on and off for the first 5 hours we were there!  Looking back it was the beginning of his first growth spurt / cluster feeding.

I actually love the above shot of him in full on scream, is that bad of me?!  I was trying to snap a picture of him lying on the wonderful crocheted purple, star shaped blanket that Linsey made for him.  Isn't it gorgeous, Aaron is a lucky wee dude. 

I was beginning to get a bit stressed out that we were taking too long to get any shots but Zoe was so lovely and said we didn't have any time limit, just until it got dark outside, which was so lovely.  Despite this Aaron just seemed far too interested in everything that was going on to let Zoe capture some shots, so we decided to head outside to the Botanic Gardens to see if the fresh air would encourage him to have a wee sleep.  Zoe knew of a lovely spot filled with bluebells so we headed there and the walk worked!

He even stayed asleep while we stripped him down to his nappy.  He's all snuggly in his basket which was warmed up with a little hot water bottle.

Zoe got a lot of shots in the gardens and there were a few bemused passers by who were quite surprised to find a tiny baby in the woods.  The walk to the gardens hadn't just wiped out Aaron though, I was shattered and more than a bit uncomfortable so B walked back to Zoe's studio and got the car to drive us all back.  After a cup of tea and a sit down back at the studio we tried for some more indoor shots but it just wasn't to be, Aaron wanted his mum and all the milk!

I couldn't help but think maybe Zoe wasn't able to get that many shots, it had been a long day and I genuinely couldn't remember what photos we had snapped in the morning.  Zoe was lovely, she was confident she had snapped some great shots but invited us to come back for another shoot for free as she couldn't believe how awake Aaron had been and was convinced he wasn't actually only 10 days old!

We decided to trust Zoe and wait on receiving the link to our online album...

...then not long after we arrived back in Glasgow this appeared on Zoe's Facebook page.  I don't think there are words to describe how much I love this shot.  I mean the bluebells and the light are just gorgeous, but look at my boy!  His smooshy cheeks, his hands, his fluffy hair.  I couldn't love it more.

And here are two more that I love...

B plans on telling Aaron we found him like this in the woods!

Incase you can't tell already, we are so happy with the photos Zoe took of Aaron and I couldn't recommend her more!  Zoe's studio has a wall of windows to let in lots of light, I didn't take the best photos of it but given I was pretty tired I'm sure you'll all let me off.  I just wanted to show you all how lovely it was and all the outfits, props, blankets etc. that Zoe has for photos.

Amazingly, despite her gorgeous twins arriving only a few weeks ago, Zoe is back working one day a week already.  Well, she does have one of the best jobs ever, snuggling with newborn babies :)

Thanks Zoe for capturing some beautiful portraits of our little man :)

Roz xxx

P.S. here's an outtake photo that I just had to share, this is 10 day old Aaron pushing himself up and trying to climb out of the crate!!