What sets SQP’s maternity and newborn photography sessions apart?

Your and your baby’s comfort and safety are our top priorities when we invite you into our relaxed beautiful space to capture your pregnancy and baby’s first tender days. You will be met with a warm understanding smile at the door and welcomed into our dedicated home studio space on the Gold Coast. The day is reserved just for you. We only ever schedule your session for the day.

We know that the last weeks of pregnancy and those first heady days of your newborn’s arrival into your little family are times to take it slow and to take in every moment. To nest in anticipation of baby’s arrival in your life, and to then enjoy your loved up new baby bubble. That’s why we are so focused on helping you feel relaxed and comfortable. A home away from home. Have a cuppa, read, enjoy the wi-fi, drift off with the misted calming essential oils and soft lulling music… Many of my new mums tell me that they feel like they’re cocooned in a pampering relaxation retreat! And that’s my goal.

Being in front of a camera can sometimes feel awkward or a bit intimidating - I know how to subtly pose and direct you, light you, and capture you in your best light. Relaxed, comfortable, and over the moon with the results.

I take care of everything so that you don’t have to - from outfits for baby and for mum, props, set-ups, flowers, and I have a very talented hair and makeup artist that can come to the studio, upon your request, to make sure you’re feeling wonderful for your session.

I, Shanon, will be the only person to handle your precious baby during your session. I’m an AIPP accredited professional photographer who has specialised in maternity and newborn photography through additional dedicated training. I have a gentle personality, a knack of making new parents and babies feel really relaxed, and am happy to go with the flow and be directed by your baby on the day. I have some pacifying skills up my sleeve that also come with being part of a large family myself, and having had 2 gorgeous (now somewhat grown!) babes of my own.

I want you to love the experience of capturing this magical time in your lives that slips by in the blink of an eye. To have magnificent print quality photographs to marvel at and to transport you back to this moment in time whenever you and your child look at them. And because I believe in living with what we love around us, and that an image isn’t truly a photograph until it’s beautifully and professionally printed. My artistry and design doesn't stop at just taking your images, editing and individually retouching digitals. I bring your beautiful moments to life as high quality, contemporary printed framed photographs, albums, and folio boxes that you will be proud to display in your home. To hold in your hands and then to place into theirs. Your most valued artwork of your most precious little one. I know you must also value photography - why else would you invest in a professional photographer. That’s why I make sure you have professional print quality photographs in your hands at the end. And just take a look at the print products we create - they really have to be seen to be believed. There’s nothing quite like them. And because they are not available for retail or to non-professional photographers, you’re not going to find them just anywhere.

You will receive the best experience of being photographed that you have ever had. You will feel relaxed, comfortable and excited during your session. Your selection of wardrobe outfits and accessories will fill you with delight - just like being styled by someone who’s got your back and knows just how to compliment and enhance your individual beauty. Sometimes better than you even do yourself, so I’m told. You’ll relax in the pampering environment I create in my home studio for you. There’s time to regroup, sip tea or coffee, indulge in beautifully presented treats, gaze at the view as you take a break. And then your eyes will brim with tears of happiness when you hold your printed photographs. Seeing them in your home as your most precious, stylish pieces of artwork you will be filled with love and pride. Your friends will surely want what you’re having!

And if you desire the timeless, serene, hazily unique look of photographs taken in a milk bath, I have this experience down to a fine art. Enveloped in warm milky water that wraps your silk gown around your body, concealing and revealing just the right amount. The focus is on your completely relaxed expression as you bathe under the skies in our private outdoor tub.

If you’re a lover of fine art, paints and wax then take a look at the one-of-a-kind original artworks that can be created from your image just for you.

How much does a portrait photography session cost?

SQP requires no minimum spend. What you love, you purchase. Whether you’d like to display your images as a Folio Box collection that can be also gifted and shared - maybe even when your baby is grown and looking for their own baby photos. Or would you love a beautiful framed piece for the wall that shows what your beautiful family means to you. However you want to display your photographs, you don’t need to decide until you have seen your images.

A $150 single session fee or a $200 maternity & newborn package session fee does apply and is payable upon booking to secure your session time. This session fee is for your photoshoot itself, your in-depth Prep Guide, includes full use of our studio wardrobe and accessories, fresh flowers, the time of your professional photographer, and for the preparation of your individually edited gallery of images to choose from. The session fee is separate from image product costs and does not include any files or products. We keep them separate so that you can decide what you love and would like to purchase once you see your images.

There are print products and packages to suit every taste and collections of digital files start from $795. Printed fine art image Folio Box Collections from $995. Wall art starts at $450 and goes up from there according to size and framing style. We’ll chat about how you would like to display your images before your session, so I know just what to capture for you. You will be able to see and touch all the product options at the studio at the time of your session. I‘m more than happy to walk you through the Collections & beautiful printed products I offer, and together we can work out exactly what suits you and your home. Sometimes it’s helpful to have another set of eyes and some professional advice when choosing your photos.

Email to take a look at our Full Pricing and Product Catalogue.

As a ballpark figure, most of my clients will spend upwards of $1800 on their photography products - your investment in beautiful printed photography - hold in your hand pieces that will last the test of time and only gain in value to you - over the course of several lifetimes. Having a new baby undoubtedly brings with it new expenses, and that’s why I offer gift certificates that may be purchased online and then put towards a session. Just like a Baby Gift Registry for your friends and family to gift you an amount of their choice to put towards your session. These are great for baby showers and blessing ways. I also accept secure credit card payments through Square both in person and online, and offer payment plans if required. All of your digital files and print products will be safely kept for you until full payment is made.

At SQP we focus on giving our clients an absolutely incredible experience from the booking and planning stage right through to delivery of your photographs. It’s also all the little things that we take pride in along the way. Consider our home studio, your home. Want to sit in the garden, breathe in the sea air, and just be for a moment? Be our guest. Do you have a particular session style, outfit, or accessory in mind? Let us know, and we will do our utmost to bring your vision to life. We guide you from start to finish with a Welcome Packet, Booking and Prep Guides, a full Product and Pricing Catalogue, - the only surprises you’ll get are the good kind! We encourage our clients to text, call and email prior to their session day whenever they have a question or idea or want to touch base. This is often what’s so lovely about a combination Maternity and Newborn session package - by the time your baby arrives, we’ve already got to know each other during the pregnancy session and are relaxed and comfortable. We can’t begin to tell you how much we value capturing your pregnancy journey and that of your baby. We’re so honoured to be able to capture this time in beautiful images for you to hold onto for a long, long time to come.

You can also see your images on the big screen at the studio at your ordering session. If you have taken a phone pic of your walls at home for me, I can put it into my specialised software so that you can see exactly what a particular framed image will look like on your own wall, before you decide! This part is really cool, and allows lots of opportunity to play with layouts and designs for gallery walls in your own home, from my computer!

How long after my photoshoot session do I see my images?

You will see your session images (up to 25 images depending on session type) either at an ordering and reveal appointment back at the studio on the big screen or in a private online digital gallery approximately 2 weeks after your session. Soon after your session I post a ‘sneak peek’ of a fully edited and retouched fine art image for you to see. It’s so exciting seeing your session images at your reveal appointment, and as this is when you choose your favourites and how you would like them displayed, please bring along all the decision makers to this one. Enjoy a tea or coffee and refreshments while you select what you love. Payment of your order is required at the reveal appointment which is the time of ordering of your beautiful art pieces. I offer credit card payment, direct deposit, payment plans and gift certificates - we appreciate how valuable an investment this is when also welcoming a new baby, and this is why we are happy to offer payment flexibility.

Are you immunised for Whooping Cough? Covid-19? Flu?

Yes, I am immunised against whooping cough. I get an annual flu vaccination, and am fully immunised for Covid-19 (triple vacinated as at January 2022). I carry out a RAT test for Covid immediately prior to your session, to be certain of no risk. Our studio follows the highest standards of sanitisation and professional cleaning, and if ever I am unwell or anyone in my household is unwell, you will be notified and your session rescheduled. I also ask that you do the same in the case of illness. Please take a look at the T&C’s.

Why don’t you believe in just getting the digitals?

SQP is a full service studio - this means we help you prepare for your actual photoshoot, capture your precious moments, meticulously edit and retouch every image preparing it for print. As a full time professional photographer I work hard to deliver you an exceptional photography experience. Part of this experience is creating fine art printed products that include the digital file. Yes, every printed product you purchase comes with the digital file so you can share them easily on your socials and email. Digitals are available on USB or downloadable or as part of your own personal gallery app.

But I don't recommend digital only packages. Here’s why I think it would be a disservice to you for me to do so.

• Digital files have an uncertain lifespan - they can corrupt at any time. Technology also changes so quickly that by the time you actually remember where your usb is, there is no longer a way to read the files. Computers already no longer even have usb ports on them. The true value of your images lies in having your photographs professionally printed as beautiful heirloom products to last for generations. Every image file is individually edited and prepared to be of high print quality. You will not receive 100’s of digital images that have had a filter run over them all at once, and that are not edited for print quality or individually retouched. Our studio is about creating a carefully and artistically curated gallery of hand edited, high quality, print worthy imagery for you. We do it all for you to the highest professional standard.

• Maybe you’re keen to print them yourself for cheaper at a photo kiosk? Let me just say there are prints and then there are professionally prepared and printed photographic prints. And they can be absolute worlds apart in quality, in longevity, and appearance. Yellow colour casts and fading sound familiar? You’ve invested a lot in hiring a professional photographer, hair, makeup, outfits, time, - and then you think you’d be happy seeing the end result printed at a big consumer store that doesn’t specialise in printing, getting prints that are likely to fade and degrade almost before your eyes? These services often use the cheapest inks, cheapest papers, and canvases that warp and fade quickly. It really doesn’t make much sense to drop the ball at this point when you’re creating photographic prints and artwork that your family is hoping to love looking at day-to-day, and have last a very long time.

• My service to you includes preparing and designing your session, shooting the session, and a great deal of time meticulously preparing the end print product. I format, edit and prepare every single one of your print files individually depending on the size and type of product of the finished artwork. This process is different for fine art paper photographic prints, to fine art paper albums, to prints on handmade paper, to printing on canvas. And then again it also differs depending on the size of the print and composition.

• Your files are then edited to specifically match my professional print lab’s high quality printers, papers, canvas and inks. My computer editing screen is calibrated to their printers’ colour profiles to ensure all colours and tones are perfect and exactly how I intend them to look when they’re printed. Every time.

• My professional print labs source the highest grade inks and papers available and your artwork is guaranteed to look incredible and last generations. They’re archival, museum grade. You’re not going to get a couple of years down the track and find your prints have faded or your canvases have dramatically faded in colour and the frame has warped.

• Even if you don’t yet know how you want to display your images on your walls, I encourage you to get back in touch when you do, so you can access my professional printers and products. I also offer a small line of additional prints and professional products that you can order online through my professional lab if you want to add on some gift items for family and friends at a later date after your order.

• To receive all the digital files from your photography session on a USB with matching fine art print products that will preserve your images as they were intended to look, I offer Heirloom Albums and 20 image Folio Boxes in several styles. So you can print all your images into a luxury designed Album that comes with all your digital files on USB. Or you can display them as matted fine art prints in a signature keepsake Folio Box of your choice. You can keep some, frame them, and gift some to family, and you receive all the digitals on USB. Maybe one larger hero Wall Art piece is more your style. We can do this too with our Wall Art package, and print all of your other files as 7x5 inch reference prints in a keepsake box, with all the digital files on usb.

I offer exceptional products that are only available to me as a professional accredited photographer. You won’t see your beautifully crafted products just anywhere. Your finished artwork results are hand crafted or finished, clear, high resolution fine art products edited and prepared just for you. All of the SQP product offerings are available in my studio to take a look at when you come in for your session. Or feel free to make an appointment to visit the studio beforehand to see the products featured in our Full Pricing and Product Catalogue. Your choice of stunning ways to present your photographs have been curated by me with an eye for great design, unique contemporary products, and high quality craftsmanship from throughout Australia and Europe. You will never see your quality luxe photographic print product in retail stores.

Why is quality so important to your studio?

As an accredited professional photographer I have studied and worked hard to deliver exceptional quality and professionalism in both my service and the products I offer you. Sure there are cheaper priced ‘hobbyists’ using cameras out there that can give you non-print quality images for cheaper. But if you’re looking for professional photographs and an exceptional experience then I offer you exactly that, at the highest quality, over price. Archival museum grade printing and product design that only accredited professionals can access for you. When I prepare your images for print and production at my professional photographic print labs - you know they will look exactly like I intend them to on my computer screen. You know the products are archival - made and guaranteed to last. Museum quality. I know you have come to a professional for a reason. You value your family. You value your memories. You value photography. You value a safe, skilled and uniquely creative professional service. And I know you will be absolutely thrilled with the results. In fact, you have my personal guarantee.

Your session will be planned and designed just for you. Access to fresh flowers, props, outfits, handmade headpieces, wraps, hand-knitted bonnets and baby clothes, and handpainted backdrops is available to you when styling your session, and is all included in the session fee. I shop the most beautiful clothing and prop designers on instagram. Think Maurie and Eve; Illoura; Opia; Camilla; Spell & The Gypsy Collective; Daughters of India; Fillyboo; Alice McCall; Zimmerman; Aster & Oak; the simple folk; and the list of beautiful pieces to choose from goes on.

What is an AIPP accredited professional photographer?

Just using a camera and charging for photography services does not make you a professional photographer.

I am an accredited professional photographer. That is, I am a true accredited professional who has been assessed to a professional standard and who abides by a published Code of Professional Practice, Membership Terms & Conditions, and Accredited Business Requirements.

In Australia, the AIPP - Australian Institute of Professional Photography - is an independent professional body that has a published code of established standards and practices. The AIPP has an accreditation process whereby photographers are assessed and must meet a high level of professional standard in terms of skill, artistry, and business practice. Once accredited by the AIPP governing body, a professional photographer must achieve continuing professional development to maintain membership and accreditation at a professional level.

• I have been a continuing member of the AIPP as a professional photographer since 2014 until the association’s retirement in 2021.

• So, you as my client, have the security of knowing that my work and business have been assessed to a professional standard and I must continually adhere to these professional standards to remain accredited.

• You know when you hire me as your photographer that I am an accredited professional in the industry. This means you are assured that my work is of the utmost quality. You’re also assured that I run my business to high standards.

• As a professional photographer I offer you print quality images. Your images are skillfully captured, lovingly and creatively edited and retouched, and of a quality and in a format that will be accurately and professionally printed. NOT phone quality images. NOT images that print only small and that may be pixelated and have poor colour quality. NOT prints that will fade or discolour over time. NOT a million digital files that have been edited in one big batch with a filter that will only ever look any good on insta.

• With me, you have hired an accredited professional to give you a professional service and product of the highest quality that will last. When I say these are your new heirlooms, I don’t say it lightly. My print products are sourced from Italy and Australia, with quality guarantees.

What will I wear to my maternity, newborn or wise woman muse session?

Our studio has a collection of outfits, gowns, silk fabrics and accessories for mums and babies, children up to 1 year of age, and women, that you are welcome to use for your session and choose on the day. Use of all our wardrobe, props, and flowers are included. All you really need to bring along is suitable underwear. We will chat about what to wear upon booking and you will receive a detailed session Prep Guide.

Our studio wardrobe includes pieces from Innika Choo, Maurie & Eve, Opia, Daughters Of India, Camilla, Spell, Alice McCall, and Jamie Kay.

You will also receive a downloadable prep guide upon booking.

I have a wonderful hair and make up artist that can come to the studio prior to your shoot upon request. Rosie is very talented and well versed in the type of natural makeup that the camera loves and looks best in photographs. Please let me know if you would like me to book her for you. Her rates are in addition to your session fee and payable directly to her. Having hair and makeup done professionally just seems to give a little something extra to how my clients feel when being photographed. You’ll feel all the more special and cared for and ready for your close up! Why not pamper yourself and organise something special for afterward your session, when you’ll be feeling on a high and looking amazing…

MY NATURAL MAKEUP PINTEREST BOARD - TAKE A LOOK HERE

MY HAIR STYLE IDEAS PINTEREST BOARD - TAKE A LOOK HERE

What if my baby won’t sleep or is really unsettled at their session?

Well the first thing to do is not to worry about it in the least - because a relaxed you often means a more relaxed baby. And please try not to have too many expectations of your new little one during their session. Our session really is led by your baby and their comfort is paramount. I will use all my baby pacifying ninja skills to settle them, and assess their needs. We will go with the flow.

I’ve been a professional photographer for 7 years, and was an Aunty at 10 years old (lots of babysitting experience there!), am a mum of 2, and have taught in kindergartens in a previous life. My experience with newborns, babies, kids, and teens means that I can capture beautiful images without getting stressed and while keeping things calm and fun. (This goes for my adult subjects too!)

Some babies love to be swaddled snuggly and are upset when they aren’t. Many babies need extra little feeds throughout their session to sleep deeply enough to be moved. Sometimes the use of a dummy or pacifier comforts them and satisfies their need to suck when they’re not hungry, even if they don’t regularly use one. You will receive a ‘what to bring’ to your session guide as part of the newborn session prep information.

I have soft music playing, use a white noise shusher, exude calm, and have lots of patience and Plan B’s!

If your baby is wide awake I’ll take the opportunity to capture some beautiful open eye images, and then wrap your baby to comfort them back to sleep with gentle swaying. Only soundly sleeping babies can be posed unwrapped and semi-naked - although I do not remove baby’s nappy during the session. We’ll never ever try to force them into a pose they are not comfortable in to get ‘the shot’. If you are relaxed and settled, chances are baby will be relaxed and settled too. And that’s all we need to get some truly beautiful images.

There is plenty of time for feeding, nappy changing and cuddles whenever your baby needs throughout the session. If they happen to be having an ‘off day’ and are very upset and can not be comforted by what we and you know usually works, then we can chat about whether rescheduling would be best. Largely we just go with the flow! Some of the most gorgeous photographs capture those pure ‘between moments’ when an expression or heartfelt connection is what means the most.