Babies in Bonnets™ 2021

What is Babies in Bonnets™?

Babies in Bonnets™ is a special photography project run by Heartstory – one of Australia’s most awarded and experienced family portrait photographers – for families with little ones aged 0-2 years old.

This project is an amazing opportunity to celebrate the magic of babyhood with gorgeously styled studio portraits of your baby – and your experience can also include photos of your whole family!

When we have completed all the sessions, we will create a stunning coffee table book, that can be a stunning heirloom for the families in the project, and also available to buy at the conclusion of the project.

This project will also be raising funds for one of Australia’s most important charities: PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia) to help parents on the frontline. This is our third year running Babies in Bonnets and through it, we have raised over $30,000 for PANDA!

Families with babies up to approximately the age of 2.5 (at the time of their session) can apply for a spot.

Check out our books from 2019 and 2020 below. They’re A4 size, hard cover, with over 120 pages, printed in Sydney. Everyone says they look amazing and we have to admit, we’re pretty proud of them!

Please note: Bookings for Babies in Bonnets 2021 are now CLOSED.

Apply for a spot here

If you are debating or not in joining one of the greatest projects in photography. I can tell you now you will not regret it! Babies with Bonnets is such a fun and beautifully created project by Katie. She captured all the charming features of my little girl Charlotte who happens to be the little cutie on the cover of the 2020 book! Not only do you get simply gorgeous photos of your baby/toddler in such amazing care and quality, you’ll be helping such an amazing program for women who suffer post natal depression & anxiety while doing so! So what are you waiting for? Join in the fun!

We had the best time being a part of this whole project. The drive and passion behind it was so pure you can feel how much this project meant to you. Thank you for letting us be a part of this!

Everything from the first phone call with Mel, to the relaxed and fun photo shoot with the AMAZING Katie, to viewing the photos from our session with Jeremy has been such a wonderful experience. Katie was so fabulous, patient and encouraging throughout the whole session. Katie even joined in when the rest of us were singing (yelling) Wiggles songs to keep our littlest one engaged. I was genuinely surprised at how many great photos there were. I don’t think I am capable of articulating just how phenomenal the images that Katie captured are. We can’t wait to display them on our walls to smile at every day for decades to come. Heartstory are the only photographers we will use from now on.

I came across Heartstory through their Babies in Bonnets project. My baby and I had a lovely experience with the session and then selecting photos to purchase. They have captured my son’s personality and special moments that he and I share perfectly. Highly recommend Katie and Jeremy.

Katie was amazing and very patient with all my 4 children and family in general. The session was beautifully laid out. The follow up appointment was very straight forward and very happy with the package with picked and the options we were given.

How does it work?

When: Session times are currently available on weekdays and selected weekends up to late July.

Where: Heartstory’s natural light studio, Suite 104, Loop Earth Building, 17 Market Street, Belconnen, ACT 2617.

Cost to participate: $100, which will be donated in full to PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia).

What’s included:

A Heartstory portrait session with your baby in our Belconnen studio. We encourage you to include your whole family, as it’s a perfect opportunity to update your family photos! We will spend around 30 minutes on your Babies in Bonnets™ portraits, and then move on to family/sibling photos (see examples below). Total time needed is around an hour.
A range of beautiful bonnets in many sizes, for boys and girls, just for this project!
Cute toys, props and other accessories to make your photos look amazing!
A double page spread in the Babies in Bonnets™ book. One page will be the feature photo, the other will have your baby’s name and some words from you.
A personal appointment following your portrait session where you have the opportunity to purchase images from your session. We have a selection of special Photographic Artwork Packages available for Babies in Bonnets™ participants, which include a complimentary copy of the book and around 20% off our normal pricing. See more info on pricing & products.

What’s not included:

Photos from the session. Prints and products can be purchased after your session at your personal purchasing appointment, as described above.
The book itself. We are ‘self publishing’ this book, so we are selling copies for $75 each, which is the same price it costs us to produce it. If you purchase one of our Babies in Bonnets™ Photographic Artwork Packages, you will receive a complimentary copy of the book!

How to apply: Fill out the application form on this page, and we will be in touch to arrange a ‘getting to know you phone consultation’ and then book your session!

Our artwork

Check out some of the beautiful artwork we produce for our families. We have wall art, albums, simple prints that you can frame yourselves and digital files available.

Family photo highlights

These selections give you a taste of the gorgeous family and sibling goodness you can get a part of your experience with us! We can split your session into two parts: the first part is just for Babies in Bonnets, and the second part is this – family connection, fun and personality!

FAQ

Why are we doing this project? Because we love babies! And they look so adorable in bonnets! We love the fun, the unpredictability, the quirkiness and the gorgeousness of photographing babies and toddlers with their families. And we are passionate about using our business platform to support important charities like PANDA because we care about families and making sure they’re supported. Our family has had personal experience with perinatal anxiety and we think what PANDA does is simply amazing!

What’s in it for me? Your $100 participation fee is a direct donation to PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia). You will also have (at least) one image of your baby in our 2021 book, you’ll have a collection of stunning portraits made by one Australia’s best family photographers AND you’ll also have the opportunity to purchase photographs from your photography session and get some amazing wall art for your home. There’s a very high chance you will fall in love with your images and will want to buy some, so it’s a good idea to budget for that, however it’s not compulsory! We can chat more about this at your ‘getting to know you phone consultation’ which is the first step to getting involved.

When can we have the shoot? We have lots of weekday appointments and some weekend ones too, and you can choose a time that suits your baby’s routine. We’re currently booking up to the first week of August. PLEASE NOTE: we only have a few spots left and bookings will close in early July.

Who is the photographer? Your baby (and family) will be photographed by Katie Kolenberg, two time winner of Australian Family Photographer of the Year in 2015 and 2017, and co-owner of Heartstory. Katie is a mother of two boys: August (3) and Toby (13) and she loves babies, especially when they’re wearing bonnets. Katie has been a professional family photographer for 13 years and her favourite subject to photograph is babies with their mamas. She also has the patience of a saint with toddlers (although she admits she’s not as patient with her own children!).

Can I have the whole family photographed? Absolutely! We would love for you to take full advantage of this opportunity and we can photograph the whole family at no extra cost!

Can I purchase photographs? Yes, absolutely we will give you the opportunity to purchase photographs. We will make lots of beautiful images at your session so we can get something really special for the book, so there will be plenty for you to chose from! Unique photographic wall art of your family is such an amazing investment for your home. At your ‘getting to know you phone consultation’ (before the actual photography session) we’ll discuss our products and pricing with you to see what you might like! You can also get more info about this on our pricing and product page.

Will my photograph definitely be in the book? Yes! Every family who pays the $100 donation will be photographed and feature in the book!

Do I get to choose the photograph that will be in the book? We will make the final decisions just to ensure that the design of the book is balanced, however most of the photos in the 2019 and 2020 books were the family’s favourite images!

When will the book be available for purchase? We anticipate going to print in September, however it depends on when the project fills up. All participants will need to pre-purchase the book prior to completion.

How much will the book cost? $75 for all participating families.

About PANDA

Perinatal Anxiety and Depression affects 1/5 mothers and 1/10 fathers, so out of the 60 families selected for this project, 10+ of them will have been touched by this condition. And this includes your photographer. Katie had her second baby at age 42, 11 years after her first. She found that the support amongst health professionals during her pregnancy and after August was born was very different to what it was like 11 years previously, in part due to the amazing work PANDA does in supporting and educating perinatal caregivers. She made sure she had an amazing network around her of health professionals specialising in perinatal care. But despite this, Katie discovered she had postnatal anxiety when August was 9 months old and found PANDA to be an incredible resource, especially their online mental health checklist, designed to help parents find out if what they’re going through might be a little more than the stress and exhaustion of caring for a new baby. PANDA saves lives and provides vital support, which is even more necessary now that we don’t have villages raising our children. And after living and working in Canberra for the past 24 years, Katie knows that it is in this city where so many people move to for work, away from their family and support networks, where services like these become even more important.

Sadly, there is still a stigma around mental illness and new mums feel intense pressure to put on a brave face and get on with it, no matter what might be beneath the surface. As photographers, we meet hundreds of new parents every year and this topic is always on our minds. That’s why we’ve chosen to support this cause via this project. We want to start a conversation, raise awareness and build community while celebrating our beautiful, precious babes.

Canberra’s leading family portrait photography studio EST. 2009