Okay, let me set the scene.

This was the day I decided to stop waiting to start taking my photography seriously and to go for it. (Spoiler: the opportunity was my backyard the whole time.)

What I actually used. Genuinely.

Let me be completely transparent about my “studio” equipment for this shoot because I think it is important for other photographers, especially those just starting out, to see that you do not need a rented studio, a professional backdrop system or a prop budget to create images that look like this.

Here is the full list of what I used:

One white bedsheet. Okay so here is where it gets chaotic. The sun was literally starting to set, I had maybe 40 minutes of good light left, and I went to my linen cupboard to grab a clean sheet and there was not a single one in there. (Laundry, I will not be elaborating further.) So I did what any reasonable person would do and ripped the sheet straight off my bed. The one my husband and I were sleeping in that night. Slightly creased, very much a bedsheet that had been on a bed twelve minutes earlier, taped to my back fence with whatever tape I had in the drawer. I am not sorry. The photos were worth it. A large wicker basket that I use as a plant holder. A smaller wicker basket I got given with a baby shower gif. Some fake white flowers (the kind you buy at Kmart for about $8 and forget you own). One Pothos plant that is still somehow alive after owning it for more than a year. One baby in a blue linen romper.

That is it. That is the whole setup. Everything you see in these photos came from inside my house or my garden or ME HAHAHAH (can I even say that).

The camera though , that one I did invest in.

Okay so the one thing in this equation that was not free was the camera. This shoot was actually the first time I used my new camera (probably the main reason I was running around the garden trying to find ways to use it). My brand new Sony Alpha 7 IV (the A7 IV for anyone who speaks camera) , a camera I had been using professionally for work for a few years but had never actually owned myself. (I know. I KNOW. Four years of shooting commercially on this camera for other people’s brands and I only just decided to buy my own. The audacity of my own imposter syndrome is truly something.)

I invested in the A7 IV because I was finally, genuinely, properly committing to photography as a service I offer under my own name. And if I am going to charge people for their family photos , which I absolutely am, starting from $450 for a mini session , I need to be shooting on equipment that matches that price point. The Sony A7 IV does that and then some. The dynamic range in that golden hour light is doing a lot of heavy lifting in these images and I will not pretend otherwise.

Photographing babies is… challenging

Can we just take a moment for this child. He was in FORM. The belly laughs, the cheeky side-eyes, the absolute commitment to climbing in and out of that basket approximately eleven times , he gave me everything I needed (luckily because I had just spent $4,000 earlier that day and I really needed to prove to myself that I had made the right choice…).

This is one of the things I genuinely love about photographing babies and young children , you cannot direct them. You can set up the most beautiful scene in the world and they will do whatever they want within it, and somehow that always produces the best images. The laugh that happened when he finally figured out he could stand up using the basket. The moment he looked up at something I could not see and his whole face opened up with wonder. You cannot manufacture those moments. You can only be ready for them.

This is also why I will keep saying that shooting your own child is one of the best ways to develop as a photographer. You know their rhythms. You know the face they make right before they do something hilarious. You know when the good light is going to happen and you can plan your session around their mood. Ashton is my most patient and most chaotic subject simultaneously and I am very lucky to have him.

What I would do differently.

Honestly? Very little. If I were to repeat this shoot I would probably iron the bedsheet (I know, I know , the creases actually add texture and I ended up loving them, but my brain did spend approximately twenty minutes being stressed about them before I accepted that they were fine). I might also add some real flowers alongside the fake ones , the Shien flowers did their job but I am also a SUCKER for flower arranging so it might be a good excuse?

The setup itself , fence, sheet, tape, basket, plant , I would do exactly the same. It worked. The proof is in the images.

The point of all of this.

I am sharing this shoot not just because I am proud of the images (I am, extremely, they are some of my favourite photos I have ever taken, I think the $4k was worth it?) but because I want Brisbane families to see what is possible without a studio, without a big budget, and without a complicated setup.

This is what I do. I find the light, I build the scene, and I capture the moments that happen within it. Whether that is in your backyard with a bedsheet and a basket, in a Brisbane park at golden hour, or in a proper styled shoot , the approach is the same. Find the light. Build the scene. Wait for the moment.

If you have a baby, a toddler, or a family you want captured, I would genuinely love to do for you what I did here for Ashton. Brisbane mini sessions start from $450 for 45 minutes and 30+ edited images. You do not need to bring a bedsheet. (Unless you want to. I fully support creative collaboration, but maybe wash yours first?)

Book your Brisbane family photography session

Head to samicuffsocials.com/contact or tap the button below! I will get back to you within 24 hours.