It’s Monday, it’s raining and Arlo is still suffering with a cold.

I was beginning to run out of ideas to entertain and soothe him. Cartoons and cuddles only last so long with a 5 month old adventurous boy…

Instead of pumping Arlo with drugs, I wanted to do something a little different, fun and relaxing. Bath time is a part of our daily routine so I created a mini plunge pool with our kitchen sink and brightened it up with some wilting sunflowers we had. Simple yet effective. The whole scenario had such a pretty vibe, I had to capture it on camera.

Arlo wanted to rip the flowers apart so we just let him, petals sprinkled, soggy leaves floating, water spraying the worktop and the kitchen floor. It made me see how simple pleasures can bring so much joy to this little one.

It didn’t take long for Arlo to appreciate his sink bath, and he quickly seemed less congested and content, giggling at his daddy and playing up for the camera.

The twinkle in his eye slowly wrapping us around his tiny finger.

I found it refreshing not to bother with the baby products we have, the bath toys and bath support. We just used a soft towel for him to rest on and the perfect temperature of warm water, oh! plus the flowers – Arlo’s favourite part.

With these photographs I wanted to test the tones of light, muting highlights and soften the impact of the sunflowers on the white marble worktops.

I experimented with high exposure and low contrast and saturation. Although they are still much brighter and dimensional than I anticipated, I’ve grown fond of the outcome.

The colours really came alive when the petals were scattered around – lending some balance to the shots.

I’m also fascinated by the reflection of the sunflowers within the silver sink. The edges catch fire with rays of sunny yellow.