Photographer Kelly Brown shot this award-winning image – part of a series of 20 – with the help of her assistant (also her sister) who was beside the baby at all times. "She focuses totally on the baby, which allows me to concentrate on the creative aspects," Kelly explains. "This means I can take my eyes away from the baby to reposition a petal, for example, or get the best position in terms of camera angle." Taken on a Canon EOS R5 with a Canon RF 28-70mm F2L USM lens at 38mm, 1/200 sec, f/5.6 and ISO 100. © Kelly Brown
"I think it's really important that professional photographers have personal projects that we can explore and use to expand our skills," says newborn photographer Kelly Brown. "You get to a point in your career and think, 'This is great, I love it', and then you think, 'What am I going to push myself to do next?'"
Kelly, based in Brisbane, Australia, has focused on newborn and maternity work for the past 14 years and has developed an international reputation for her beautiful, meticulously crafted images. The high quality of her photography has been recognised throughout the photographic industry and she is a Canon Master in Australia, as well as a Canson® Infinity Ambassador.
Alongside her professional photography, Kelly's search for new ways to challenge herself creatively led her, in 2022, to submit a body of work to a panel for a Fellowship Distinction from the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers (SWPP).
Although Kelly already had one SWPP distinction, it was awarded for a range of client and personal work about motherhood in general, including some newborn work. This time, she wanted to be recognised at the highest level specifically for her newborn photography. "I wanted to create a body of work that basically represented everything I've done over the past decade – to create something with an artistic approach that was purely for me," she explains.