Newborns Archives - Nicki Byrne Photography

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

by admin | 22 Aug 2020 | Blog, Newborns, Sessions, Uncategorized

For those of you that might not know, today is National Rainbow Baby Day.

You might have heard me use this term ‘Rainbow Baby’ a few times and not know what it means. This blog post will explain all about rainbow babies.

The term ‘Rainbow Baby’ is used when a child is born to a family who have previously lost a child due to miscarraige, stillbirth or death during infancy. For many parents who do get pregnant after losing a baby, there can be a huge bag of mixed emotions – worry, reflection, fear, overjoyed, anxiety, happiness …

Many parents can actually feel guilty for being excited about their new pregnancy whereas others are terrified to celebrate anything just in case. These rainbow babies really are that light after the storm.

Rainbow Baby newborn photographer sutton coldfield

For those families who have been through such a dark time, having that baby really can feel like the most amazing mircale ever. And of course it is.

Many people are now a lot more open about struggles and complexities with pregnancy and conception. It used to be such a taboo subject. I, for one, am so pleased that many more people are so open about their journey. It really does help those who are at the beginning (or the middle) of their own journey – to know that someone else is going through something similar to you.

I love that my families often talk about their pregnancy journeys with me.

Our rainbow babies are to be celebrated just like the angel babies that were too perfect to be here. And that is why, for many people, it is important to have that rainbow. To show that there is light, there is hope. But that the journey to get to this beautiful miracle hasn’t been forgotten.

So what can I do for your rainbow baby?

Firstly, you need to decide if you want to honour your angel baby in this way. Some parents do and some don’t. It’s 100% your personal choice – everyone deals with things in very different ways.

Then, when I’m planning your session I can include as much or as little ‘rainbow’ as you like. Like all my sessions, the set ups are designed and tailored to you. For example, in this set of images accompanying my blog post here, Mom and I discussed incorporating rainbows a lot. Mom herself loves colour and wanted to celebrate her miracle whilst remembering her angel.

For me personally, it is a huge honour to be able to capture your newborn pictures especially when they can mean so much. If you are booking in with me and would like your session to include anything special like this, please discuss it with me before the session so I can prepare my set ups accordingly.

People work through their situations in different ways and there is no right and wrong. But if you are needing someone to talk to there are many different charities out there who can help including those at Sands, Tommy’s and The Miscarriage Association.

Award Winning Newborn Photographer

by admin | 21 Jul 2020 | Blog, Business, Cake Smash, Families, Fun, Maternity, Mini Session, Newborns, Pets, Sitter Milestones

I wrote a blog before about the benefits about being involved with The Guild of Photographers. One of those benefits is being able to enter into the Image of the Month competition.

Every month, all members have the option to enter their images into a variety of categories. There are set criteria that must be fulfilled in order to enter. Images are then judged by a panel of 3 of their master craftsment (absolute top of the game photographers) and given a score. That score could be converted into a Bronze, Silver or Gold award depending on how high the image scored.

I’ve not had the guts to enter before. Having only started my newborn photography journey 2 years ago (Thank you Facebook for reminding me of that last week!), I am still at the beginning of my journey.

Maybe it was the effect of lockdown that pushed me over the edge – haha! – but this month I entered a few images into the image of the month competition.

21st of every month is results day and they’re usually posted at 12pm. I kept refreshing from about 11;45 just incase. I don’t think I was this nervous about getting my a-level results! But at 1pm I refreshed again and

I GOT A BRONZE AWARD!!!!!!!!!

My other images were classified which is still really good and I am absolutely super proud of myself and how far I have come in my journey so far.

So I am now an award winning newborn photographer.

Award winning newborn photographer sutton coldfield

If you’re a photographer and would like to become a member of The Guild of Photographers, my referral link below will get you a discount! https://photoguild.co.uk/r/5CB4pa

Great to take advantage of their special offers, competitions, advice and discounts with a variety of industry suppliers.

Your Perfect Newborn Competition

by admin | 6 Jul 2020 | Blog, Business, Fun, Newborns, Uncategorized

Last month I had an e-mail encouraging me to enter into the Your Perfect Newborn monthly competition. I was so hesitant at first as I’ve not entered any competition before.

In all honesty, it’s scary. Like GCSE exam day and results day scary. But I put on my big girl pants and submitted an image for the theme ‘Family’.

Today, the results went live. I didn’t win, there can only be one winner. But I am in their featured photographers with my entry photo up. So to me, that’s a huge complement. Click the link to see my image!

Family Collection

Recommended Businesses in Sutton Coldfield

by admin | 6 Jul 2020 | Blog, Business, Cake Smash, Families, Maternity, Mini Session, Newborns, Pets, Products, Sessions, Sitter Milestones, Uncategorized

I know a lot of my clients come from recommendations from their friends. It’s the best and I love that you’ve been so happy with your photos, my service and the quality of my products that you would tell your friends and family to use me too. It’s honestly the best complement I can get.

I once actually had a client leave my house after the shoot, call her best friend to book in for a 6-10 month sitter milestone session too – which she did within 20 minutes haha!

So I have decided that, as a thank you and to show my appreciation, to introduce a referral scheme.

For all new clients who book a full price session with me (this does not include mini sessions or special offers) I will be giving you £20 credit to use with me on your future shoots. You can use the money towards your session fee, digitals, collections or printed products. The more yu refer, the more you get!

This is open for all my previous clients. £20 will be credited with me once the referral pays in full for their session and is valid for 24 months from that date. All credit will be kept in my records. The referral must mention you when booking for the £20 referral to be counted. The credits cannot be exchanged for money and can oly be used with Nicki Byrne Photography.

Returning After Covid-19

by admin | 17 Jun 2020 | Blog, Business, Cake Smash, Corporate, Families, Maternity, Mini Session, Newborns, Pets, Sessions, Sitter Milestones, Uncategorized, Weddings

As you may know, I am now able to offer social distanced outdoor photography sessions! These can be for newborns (about 3 months), 6-10 month milestones, cake smashes or family sessions. We’ve been incredibly lucky with our weather during lockdown and I am hoping that the beautiful evenings will continue.

To make sure we are safe, to protect you, your family, my family and my other clients, I have put several new procedures in place.

These include:

All bookings will be online or via the phone.
All sessions are outdoors in a quiet location with few general public about.
Only members of the same household can be involved in the photoshoot.
I will stay 2m away and direction will be given from a distance.
Any posing must be done by the parents. Posing will be very limited.
If I do need to come any closer for an over head shot, full PPE will be worn (in accordance with government guidance).
Sessions will be shorter to minimise contact.
I will wear a face mask during the session. Anyone not taking part in the session will also be asked to wear a face mask too should they wish.
Galleries will be delivered via an online gallery until the government guidelines state that it is safe for clients to be in my home studio.
Orders will take place via an online Zoom meeting where I can share my order screen with you.
Prints and Products will be delivered to you safely via courier mail should you prefer. There is also an option to collect them from my drive (at a safe distance).
Digitals are to be downloaded via wetransfer
If you or a member of your household feels sick, or have been in contact with someone who has covid-19 symptoms, I am asking for the session to be rescheduled.

As always, props, outfits etc will be cleaned thoroughly before and after the photoshoot.

If you have any questions, concerns or worries, please get in touch!

Nicki x

What is the session fee for?

by admin | 17 Jun 2020 | Blog, Cake Smash, Families, Maternity, Mini Session, Newborns, Pets, Sessions, Sitter Milestones

When you run a business, how you price yourself is a difficult decision. There’s a lot of research that goes into it. Within the photography industry, there are many different options for how to price yourself. I decided to go for the most upfront and honest. The route of a session fee means that you only pay for the things you want. Many photographers have a larger fee but include all the images – but what if you don’t want all the images? Or you don’t want digital files you only want a statement piece of artwork for you wall? This is why I chose to follow the session fee route. You only have to pay for what you want.

The session fee for each photography session pays for my time on the day, my editing time (a session’s gallery will take me about 5 hours to edit), any props, outfits, specialist equipment I may need for your shoot, the running costs for that session (electricity if in my studio or petrol to get to a location) as well as my training and expertise.

With only a small session fee, it means that I am able to offer affordable, professional photography to everyone because everyone deserves beautiful photos, don’t they?