I first got to know Lauren many years ago when we were both members of an amateur dramatics company so I was delighted when she asked me to photograph her forthcoming wedding to her fiancee Dave. And I was even more delighted when Lauren and Dave announced they were expecting a baby!

Needless to say they booked in for a newborn session (which is going to be just 5 weeks before their wedding) and though they originally wanted to keep the sex of the baby a secret, Lauren loved the idea of doing a gender reveal session.

So yesterday afternoon, armed with a big bunch of pink and blue balloons, a few props and the utterly adorable Pixie dog, Lauren, Dave and myself headed off to Cosmeston Country Park in Penarth for their gender reveal shoot.

I use strobes for all my studio sessions so it was a really nice change to get outside and make use of the beautiful early afternoon light. If you've read some of my previous blog posts you'll know how much I love shooting during the golden hour when the light is warm and soft and creates beautiful shadows and yesterday's light was absolutely perfect. 

Cosmeston is a wonderful location for shoots because it provides so many gorgeous natural backdrops. I just loved the way the rushes were backlit by the setting sun, they almost looked like they were glowing. I love to backlight people whenever I can and in this case it helped emphasise Lauren's lovely baby bump and created a beautiful warmth and softness in the images. 

Pixie was really keen to be involved in the session as well and she posed very beautifully with her little pink and blue ribbons. 

After getting a variety of different shots, it was time for the big reveal! Team pink or team blue?

It's team blue!! Lauren and Dave will be having a baby boy.

Pixie is very excited to be getting a little brother.

Quite often I can see the shots I want to get before we even start a session. I've always been a sucker for a shallow depth of field and I wanted to get a few shots with the balloons in focus and Lauren and Dave out of focus behind them. Tying the slate to the balloons was originally just to stop them from flying off in the wide blue yonder but as the heart was so pretty, I thought it would be nice to make a proper feature out of it. 

We finished off the session with another reveal shot this time using just a single balloon. 

I absolutely loved doing this session, it was so much fun and Lauren and Dave were brilliant (and so was Pixie). 

Gender reveal sessions are already huge in the USA and I've got no doubt they're going to grow in popularity here in the UK too. If you'd like a novel way of announcing the gender of your baby, please get in touch.