Rainbow baby photography is one of my favorite photography types to do. I love being able to capture the joy of childbirth after a pregnancy loss.
Baby Shine’s session was especially exciting for me because just a few weeks earlier, I got to do a photo session with his mom + dad, Shanice + Shamir. I loved doing their photos, and I was over the moon to be able to get to take Shine’s photos. This session is probably up there as one of my all-time favorites.
Perfect Little Miss Shine
Move over Little Miss Sunshine, and welcome to the world Mr. Shine!
Shine’s parents, Shanice & Shamir, gave me a lot of creative license with Shine’s photos. The name “Shine” reminds me a lot of natural beauty, so I included some natural colors in Shine’s baby photos. Using greenery in my backdrops is popular, so I included a wreath of moss and greenery next to my beautiful wooden heart bowl in a few shots.
The flora also provided interesting compositional texture, which made black and white photos with Shine stand out. We made sure to take black and white and color photos of Shine, since he is a rainbow baby!
Now, I loved working with Shanice and Shamir during Shanice’s maternity photoshoot, so I wanted to make sure that we did more photos that included them, as well. Shanice and Shamir kept it classy in all-black outfits, so we took some photos with mom and dad on the black backdrop. I’ve been incorporating the black backdrop into more and more sessions, and I am loving the way it transforms the mood of maternity and newborn sessions alike!
Other than Shanice, Shamir, and little Mr. Shine being the stars of the show, the lighting really brought out some gorgeous details in these photos. Shine’s hair is — for lack of a better word — super shiny in these shots, and the light also brought out Shamir’s jewelry and the intricacy of his tattoo.
We also had to do some shots of the whole family. I experimented with black and white photography on a few of these, and they came out great!
Of course, it would be hard for Shanice & Shamir to take a bad photo! They are such a gorgeous couple. Their love for one another (and now, for their little one!) really comes out in these photos.
Rainbow Baby Photography — How To Make It Meaningful
Most of my followers know that rainbow babies, or babies born after their parents have gone through a pregnancy loss, are very special to me. I lost my daughter, Ruby, about a year after my son Deacon was born. I know how special those first moments of time with your little ones can be in the wake of a loss. In rainbow baby photography, I strive to capture the joys of new parenthood while memorializing the little ones that left us too soon.
A simple way to do this is to include rainbows in photos. A rainbow is simple enough to make a universal statement while also customizable to each baby. I always think about a parent’s personality when I stage rainbow babies. Although I may be re-using props I want parents understand that their experience is unique.
In Shine’s photos, we did use a sweet little felt rainbow in addition to her portrait in front of the rainbow shower.
But I also wanted to showcase Shine’s personality outside of being a rainbow baby. Because, my goodness, was he cute! And boy, did he have a personality! I love that I was able to capture that sweet smile while he was sleeping. He had some of the softest hair, cutest cheeks, and big, dewy eyes I’ve ever seen. I loved being able to photograph him.
Thank you to Shanice, Shamir, and Shine for coming to take photos in my studio.
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