Newborn Photo Session
Newborns change so much and so fast in the first couple of weeks after birth. As parents, you want to capture your baby’s delicate features so that you can treasure this incredible milestone forever. At the same time, those first few weeks of life with a newborn can be daunting and the last thing you want to be stressing about is a Newborn Photo Session in a studio. Which is why I bring the show to you. My newborn studio is portable allowing me to bring the service to your home. So if you’re recovering from a c-section or childbirth in general, it simplifies your day and your baby’s.
The Newborn Photo Session is designed to be as low stress on you and your baby as possible. The session is only 1hr and includes baby solos as well as family combinations. Feedings and diaper changes don’t count towards your time. The ideal time to plan it is 1-2 weeks after birth. Since delivery dates aren’t always accurate, pre-scheduling your session may not work. Instead, send me a shout when your baby arrives and I’ll schedule you in within the next week.
Based on your baby’s natural sleeping schedule, we’d time your session to align with your baby’s morning feeding. So the morning of, you’d give the baby a nice long feeding and keep them awake for 1-2 hours before your session to ensure they’re good and sleepy. That way both of us are ready at the same time, and hopefully, the baby will sleep through the entire session.
Props and Backdrops
The Newborn Photo Session includes a variety of backdrops, props, and outfits. They’re cleaned/disinfected after each session. While you don’t get to select every item, you do get to select the colour scheme. Many parents opt for colours that match the baby’s nursery so they can display the images later. If there are any particular concepts or combinations you have in mind, do send me samples. However, things to keep in mind, I don’t heavily pose newborns. Most stylized poses you’ll find on newborn studio sites require two trained people to perform safely. They’re not really comfortable for the baby either. The poses I normally do involves the baby just laying on their back like they would any other day. The different accessories are what makes each session unique.
I also don’t offer photos of the baby’s ‘birthday suit’. Ethically I’m not keen on it. I couldn’t imagine any child growing up and appreciating it. I also find babies have a tendency to get cold in this state and have ‘accidents.’ So as a general rule, the baby’s diaper stays on. We’ll just dress it up with cute outfits.
Editing
I offer enhanced editing for both baby and you. Edits include reducing double chins (when possible), smoothening out undergarment bulging/rolls, and erasing spit-up stains from your clothes. Babies around this time will likely still have some amniotic crust remaining on their skin. Things like dry skin, baby acne, and eczema may be present as well. I’ll try to remove these to the best of my ability, however, there are limits depending on the severity. I include these edits in my newborn package prices as a standard. If you prefer to go more natural, by all means, let me know. I want you to thoroughly enjoy this experience and have some great memories to look back on. While baby solos are a great memory for you, the family photos are a great memory for your child when they grow up. So I do make a point of including both.
How to Prepare
- Select a room with enough natural light. My portable studio doesn’t require a lot of space but window lighting is very helpful.
- Have a pacifier at hand if your baby uses one.
- If you are going to be in the pictures as well, dress for the occasion. Most parents coordinate to match each other and allow the baby to stand out.
- If nursing, try to avoid eating anything spicy (ie. pizza, hot sauce, etc) or anything that will cause gas for 24 hours preceding your scheduled session. **This includes products like milk, cheese, yogurt, pudding, cream, milk products, casein, whey, caffeine, soy, fish, peanuts, chocolate, wheat, beef, nuts, eggs, corn, or citrus fruits (Courtesy Babycenter & ModernMom parenting).
- Give the baby a nice long feeding and keep them awake for 1-2 hours before your session to ensure he/she is good and sleepy.
- If you have older siblings that you would like photographed with your newborn, be sure they are comfortable holding the baby. Otherwise, we’ll simply include them in the full family photo
- If circumcision is something you are considering, please schedule it after your newborn session.
- Dry skin and flaking are normal with newborns. Softly exfoliate during their bath when possible, and use baby lotion the morning off.
- If you find your baby or anyone in the home is not feeling well, please let me know so we can reschedule. This can even be the morning of your session if needed. I don’t require deposits and there are no penalty fees for rescheduling. A sick baby is not going to have a happy photo session and they’re the ones running the show.
Newborn Photo Questions
If you are looking for ideas on planning your upcoming newborn session, feel free to send me an inquiry and we can walk through all the steps. I also offer maternity shoots as well if you’re still waiting for the baby to arrive. This particular session was performed during COVID using new safety measures. To learn more about these protocols, check out my COVID Protocols page.
I also photographed their maternity shoot.
