The following sessions take place in our beautiful natural light studio in Belconnen:

• Baby sessions, for families with a baby under 1 year old.
• Creative Fine Art sessions, for families of all ages.
• Newborn sessions:
  • Designer Lifestyle Newborn sessions, for families with a newborn under 2 weeks of age.
  • Lifestyle Newborn sessions, for families with a newborn up to 6 weeks of age.

Baby Sessions

The best ages for your baby to be photographed are:

• 3-5 months (good enough neck strength to lie on their belly and look up)
• 7-9 months (sitting independently, but not yet crawling).

Regardless of your baby’s age, a session is normally 45-60 minutes in our Belconnen studio.  We recommend at least one change of outfit (but more if you wish) and we capture a variety of images of baby on their own, the whole family and everything in between. Our aim is to make sure we capture your baby’s personality; the things that you adore about him/her and the joy that you feel when you’re snuggling and playing together.

Our studio session time slots are generally scheduled at times to suit your baby’s feed and sleep times, so be sure to discuss your baby’s routine when you make a booking.

We are also happy to photograph babies over 3 months outdoors if you prefer that look, however timing, weather and the seasonal changes provide different conditions for you to consider. Please get in touch to discuss the best options for your family!

View some featured baby sessions:

Creative Fine Art Sessions

These sessions are for families who want to do something ‘different’. The only limit is your imagination. All you need is a spark of an idea… we will help you develop it and then create something truly unique for you.

There is no criteria for a session like this. Your family has a story to tell and we’re going to help you tell it.

Creative Fine Art bookings require an upfront commitment of a minimum of $1000 towards finished wall art.

Newborn Sessions

You must book your newborn session before baby is born to avoid disappointment as we are regularly booked out 1-2 months in advance.

We have two different types of newborn sessions available:

Designer Lifestyle Newborn Sessions with Jodi

• Sessions are available on weekends at the Heartstory studio in Belconnen. You need to allow 2-3 hours for your session, bearing in mind that the majority of this time is spent posing baby on their own. Mums and Dads are encouraged to use the time to chill out in our beautiful space, and even have a nap on the couch if you like!
• If older siblings are involved, it’s a good idea to arrange for them to come along towards the end of the session once the solo baby portraits are finished. Luckily for us, we are right near one of the coolest little kid playgrounds in town – the Belconnen Markets mushroom – so you even have the option of one parent doing a bit of shopping and playtime while the other hangs out at the studio.
• Jodi will take control of the baby handling. Posing newborn babies requires oodles of patience because they need to be super relaxed and asleep and not distracted by mum’s smell or Dad’s voice! Mums should be prepared for a couple of extra breast or bottle feeds while bub is being photographed to keep him/her super relaxed and content. It’s also a good idea to bring a dummy if you use one, as it helps in settling your baby into the props and snuggly positions. 
  
• After the solo portraits are done, Jodi will adopt a more relaxed approach to photographing the family, incorporating the typical Heartstory style of capturing emotive images of baby with each family member as well as a couple of variations of the whole family together. This means you get the best of both worlds in your portrait collection!
• Babies should be under 2 weeks old for this style of session, with the ideal age being 5-10 days. Older newborn babies are more wakeful and can also be a bit more irritable and unsettled which makes this kind of session much harder. Also they commonly develop hormonal rashes around the 2 week mark. Of course with a new baby, it doesn’t always happen in the perfect timeframe, so rest assured we can still accommodate you.

Regular Lifestyle Newborn Sessions with Katie or Jeremy

• Sessions are available on weekdays only at the Heartstory studio in Belconnen. You only need to allow 60-90 minutes for your session, just like our regular portrait sessions.
• The focus is on natural images with minimal posing.  We’re not really fussed on whether baby is awake or asleep, and we handle baby minimally (leaving most of the snuggles to you so we can photograph moments as they unfold).
• We include classic ‘looking at the camera’ photos as well as emotive moments of bub with each family member and the whole family together. We often include close up details of your baby’s adorable feet and hands and other squishy bits, and some black and white candid images.
• Ideally babies should be under 2 weeks old, for the reasons stated above, but due to the nature of lifestyle photography, we are happy for babies to be up to 6 weeks. Just bear in mind that the older the are, the more likely they are to be awake.

Both session types will yield a collection of 40-60 photos to choose from, and an in-person purchasing appointment a couple of weeks after your session. This appointment will also take place at our studio, and is your opportunity to see your photos for the first time, design an album or some beautiful wall art and place your order.

Maternity sessions

A maternity session is available as an ‘add-on’ to a newborn session, and is usually held outdoors (but the studio is also available, just ask), just like a regular portrait session. If you book a maternity and a newborn session with Heartstory, you will attend two Purchasing Appointments, but only place your order at the second one. This means that if you wish to purchase an all inclusive package, you may combine all the images from both sessions into one collection.

View some featured newborn & maternity sessions: