Thursday Tip: Newborn Sessions

I absolutely love newborn sessions! Photographing a precious new baby ... ah ... I get excited just thinking about it!

Newborn sessions are very different from most other sessions and can be stressful if you don't know what to expect. I've been there with my own kids ... you want them to be perfect, act exactly the way you think they should (ie. smile for the camera), and when they don't: stress!

These sessions are all about patience. Newborn babies want to be held and fed often. They like to stay warm. We want them to wear hats, headbands, wraps, cute outfits, and finally, we want those cute naked baby pictures! If we want the baby to cooperate (sleep), we need to keep them happy during the times we aren't shooting photos and take photographs quickly once they are happy and sleeping. Soothing takes time (it will be what we are doing most of the time), and if we aren't patient, we will never get the shots we want. For this reason, we plan for a regular newborn shoot to take 3-4 hours. They don't need to last that length of time, but that is the time I plan on spending with you and your baby.

Most newborn sessions are done at your home. Having a new baby is an adjustment and being in your own home is one way for you to be a little more comfortable than you may be in a studio. You can go somewhere you are comfortable to feed and soothe your baby. We will set up an area to do the shoot in a main room with good lighting. I will bring everything we need to get amazing pictures with neutral backgrounds, including backdrops, flooring, blankets, headbands, hats, and other props, but I love it when parents have special blankets, outfits and other accessories that they want to have in the pictures. You will want to keep your home warmer than usual to help keep the baby comfortable while we are shooting.

Plan on scheduling your newborn session before the baby is born, and we will set a concrete date after his/her birth. Photographing these little ones is usually easiest when it is done before the baby is 10 days old. They are usually still sleepy and willing to let us move them around more while they are still young. I will not schedule a client if I am sick or worried about bringing any contamination to your new baby. I always wash my hands before touching your baby and am happy to wash them as many times as you would like me to during the session. I have little ones and understand how important it is to keep them healthy, especially when they are so small!

I encourage parents to be a part of the photo shoot. Most shoots will be of the baby, but there is something beautiful about capturing the new relationship between mom, dad, and baby (as well as siblings). I completely understand not wanting to be a part of any pictures after just having a baby, but I wish that I had more pictures of me with my kiddos when they were tiny.

While these sessions require patience, you will be greatly rewarded if you can be calm and listen to what your baby needs. My hope is to make this a great experience for the entire family and capture some beautiful photos of your beautiful new baby!