Hailey reached out to me when she was 37 weeks pregnant and luckily, I had a last minute spot available for her and her gorgeous little family. They were expecting their second baby and Hailey explained that she had booked me because of my raw, genuine and lovely maternity photos that didn’t look staged. I loved the way Hailey explained her journey of motherhood to me. She said that motherhood and having a daughter was the greatest gift she could ask for and described the paradox of motherhood as being absolutely exhausting but also, the best thing ever. I mean, doesn’t that just describe motherhood perfectly. Hailey wanted the style of her shoot to be casual, simple, raw and candid.
I met Hailey, Dave and their little girl, Andie at their local beach at Marcoola and it was such a gorgeous afternoon. We really are so lucky to have such incredible beaches on the Sunshine Coast. We had to push back our shoot a few days from our original booking due to sickness and then the night before our shoot, Hailey had been in intense prodigal labour all night so we really wanted to get them done just in case.
Hailey was an absolute natural beauty and I was able to capture such raw, sweet and joyful moments of her with her little girl. Andie was a typical three year old, full of energy, with strong opinions and a huge love for her parents.
As the shoot progressed, we did three outfit changes from my client closet, with Hailey wearing her own jeans for that gorgeous casual look. As the night progressed and with no real sun gracing us, we were SO lucky to get the most incredible sky as the sun dropped. Scroll down to see the beautiful sky and the gorgeous Hailey.
As Andie got tired and restless from the prompts, I got her involved in taking some photos of Mum and Dad on my polaroid camera. It was such a sweet moment captured and I have to say, I can’t decide if I loved the super relaxed, denim and gingham on the dunes at the start of the shoot or the incredible skies at the end of the shoot. Sometimes you meet a family and just want to be friends with them!
As the sun dropped, we captured some final sweet moments of Hailey, Andie and the baby bump as I cranked my ISO and embraced the grain that comes with low, natural light. I love being a maternity photographer on the Sunshine Coast and I am so grateful I get to capture memories like this for Sunshine Coast families. My greatest wish is that my clients love their images, print them for their walls, make photo books and look back on them with even more love and nostalgia as the years pass. Hailey and Dave ended up welcoming another beautiful baby girl about a week after our shoot.
