Preparing for Your Newborn Session

Preparing for Your Newborn Session

Newborn photography is a wonderful investment. You’ll never regret getting professional photos of your child taken. After all, how many times during your child’s life are you thinking, “STOP GROWING!” How many times do you wish you could freeze time??

I recommend booking a session for at least an hour and a half to accommodate feeding, outfit changes, and diaper changes. An ideal session will be 2 hours so that we can get beautiful photos of your baby asleep in baby dreamland.

Newborn sessions from when the baby is born to 3-4 weeks old are ideal if you want traditional newborn photos. This is because your baby will be extremely sleepy and easy to pose. If your baby is between 3–6 weeks old, they will be more alert. This can create beautiful moments of eye contact and facial expressions, but there might be less time for sleepy posed photos. If your baby is older, I would recommend booking for more time so we can ensure there’s a nap in that time frame, and just know that while I will certainly pose your baby and take some traditional photos, many might have a more “lifestyle” feel.

Typically I meet clients at their home or hotel for these sessions. Outdoor sessions in the summer when the temperature is 75-80 are possible, and quite beautiful!

Some tips for before I arrive:

1.) Open window blinds/curtains so that I can see where the best room would be. I’m looking for any large windows and open spaces. Clean, light backgrounds are ideal.

2.) I want your baby to be as comfortable as possible, so I always recommend that babies are fed and changed prior to our session time.

3.) Crank the heat up! I’ll be photographing your baby in just a blanket at times, so we want to make sure they are not cold at all. Sometimes people opt to use a space heater to get the room to a nice temp.

4.) Please put on any noise makers/fans/etc that might help soothe your baby. Reducing background noise is going to be key– so please turn off loud TVs or anything that could startle the baby, and consider planning your session for a time when there are not a lot of people in the home.

5.) If you have any beautiful blankets, hats, favorite stuffed animals, or any prop you’d like to include, please have these out for me at the beginning of the session. Knit, light-colored items are especially great. Anything with loud, distracting patterns will take the focus away from your beautiful baby. We don’t want that!

I’ll be bringing a few items and don’t need any, but it’s always more special if there’s that personal touch. Twenty years down the road, it will be nice to tell your child, “oh, that was your favorite stuffed animal in that photograph.”

During the Session:

If we want some photos of the baby and their sibling(s), we can bring the siblings in at the beginning of the session. Why? The siblings will be super curious about the photoshoot. It’ll be easy to grab photos of them before they get bored and wander away. Afterward, we can take some of just the baby, and baby and parents.

I always like to take some of each available parent/guardian as well. If you have questions about what YOU should wear, let me know. (I always just suggest keeping it simple, with soft light colors.)

I absolutely understand that you might be nervous having a photographer hold your baby and pose them! I am very experienced around newborns (both from photography and from my own family– I have 5 nephews and 1 niece!). Once in a while I might need you to soothe/feed/pose the baby, but otherwise feel free to kick back and relax while I’m there. 🙂

After the Session:

I will be in touch with a few blog photos so that you can have a sneak peek of the session highlights. Then, less than 4 weeks after our session, you will receive a digital album with all photos. (You can also add a USB mailed to you with all images for $30.)

Twenty years down the road, when your child wonders what they looked like, or even what their own children might look like, having these photos will mean the world to them. And they make a great gift for the grandparents in your life. 😉

#Newborn