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Photographer mum Kelly Brown of Little Pieces Photography has been named by Canon Master of the year as their baby & newborn photographer. Congrats Kelly! Jenna Templeton chats to Kelly about her photographic experience and gets some expert tips on how to turn your own family snaps into beautiful memories. I started my photography career in 2004 after the birth of my first baby. I owned a Canon EOS 300 SLR camera and I couldn’t stop taking photos of my own first born. After many out of focus and bad photographs my husband Robert, suggested I should study photography - I did and I was hooked. I think my passion for photography also came from my Grandfather. He wasn’t a photographer but loved taking photos; he knew the importance of documenting the lives of his family. In 2004 I started my own business Little Pieces Photography and started it of with a collection of gift cards I created with photographs of flowers on them that I had taken. I sold them at local markets in the Blue Mountains and to boutique gift stores. From this I moved onto taking family portraits and weddings. A lot of friends and women I knew were having babies and I began asking me to capture and photograph their babies. So in 2006 I began photographing newborns too and I loved everything about it. It wasn’t until 2009 that I decided to solely focus my business purely on newborn photography - haven’t looked back since. Being able to document a birth is truly amazing! I like to photograph newborns in the first 2 weeks when they are still nice and fresh and sleepy. In the morning around 10am is my favourite time to photograph. Running my business from homes means that I can structure my working hours around my children lives so that I don’t miss a minute. I have photographed quite a few births but sadly due to my husband working away from time to time, I’m not able to be on call all the time. However, Two years ago my husband joined me in the business, which means he’s now home full-time. He looks after all of the bookkeeping and does a lot of the running around which I’m so grateful for. This has really allowed me to focus on my career and to travel teaching whilst being a mother. It feels like a dream to be awarded Canon Master! To be acknowledged like this for my work is just so amazing! For me being a Canon Master is the pinnacle, it’s something I never thought could be possible. It’s truly an honour. My style has changed over the last 10 years photographing newborns, I used to love working with bright colours and props, but now I’m drawn to more organic natural tones and textures. I love teaching and have been very fortunate to travel the world as an educator. During my classes photographers learn a lot of technical aspects of photography from camera settings, lighting through to composition and most importantly how to work with newborns safely. They also teach a lot of business strategies and how to price and market their businesses. I actually also host The Baby Summit annually - it’s a unique, three-day photography conference in August aimed at helping attendees learn from some of the industry’s most genuine and passionate leaders as well as connect with like-minded people. It includes a three-day Trade Show and lots of social events. The overall objective of the event is to improve the technical skills and business acumen of professional photographers across Australia who specialise in or want to learn maternity, birth, newborn, and baby photography. Being able to share someone’s story with an image and creating images that I know will be hanging on walls for generations inspires and drives my creative endeavours. Kelly Brown shares her 6 Top Tips for Photographing newborns: 1. Take photos in the morning as babies are usually happier at the beginning of the day. 2. To capture those sleepy peaceful moments make sure your baby is warm, well fed and feels secure. 3. Come in nice and close to capture all those perfect little baby features, their hands, tiny feet, and beautiful faces. 4. Turn off your flash; it can be very unflattering to your baby. 5. Don’t forget to look at what's going on in the background. Busy backgrounds can be distracting so keep it nice and simple. 6. A great every day camera to capture your family is the Canon PowerShot G1X Mark II, I love this camera and travel with it everywhere. I recently upgraded from the Canon 5D Mark III to the Canon 5Ds and love it. It has an extremely-high resolution sensor which makes the image quality incredible. For beginners though, looking to an EOS 1300D is a great way to learn manual settings and get some really nice shots. We’re all about celebrating Australian motherhood and creativity on childmagsblog.com: what does it mean to you to be an Australian creative, who celebrates mothers and their children? In my quest to capture the little pieces of life, last year I photographed 139 newborn babies, mentored 23 photographers and held 19 newborn posing classes across 12 countries. I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to do what I love and capture moments that will be treasured by families for generations. Watch this video to see Kelly at work! Kelly Brown is a Baby & Newborn photographer who has won many awards for her work. She is mother of three children to Georgia, 12, twins Mackenzie + Alex, 9 and lives in Queensland along with her husband Robert. To see more of Kelly’s work you can visit her website and blog and keep up to date with her photographic adventures via Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Interview: Jenna Templeton / Photography: Kelly Brown

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