tips & tricks for a great newborn session
the moment your child enters the world is one of the most cherished moments of life!
you will, no doubt, be surrounded by a flurry of excitement and well-wishers and you might even feel a bit overwhelmed, too! sleep? what was that again?
and while every parent and baby experience is different, there is one aspect of that remains the same: these moments do pass quickly. before you know it, they’ll be sitting up, laughing and giggling at you. that’s why I love photographing newborns; there is such magic in the innocence of a new birth, the extraordinary future is spread out before them beckoning them and their parents with a wealth of hopeful possibility. let’s capture that magic!
to help get the most out of your newborn session, and assist in capturing those precious moments, here are some friendly suggestions for your session:
1. my number one suggestion for great newborn portraits is….RELAX! babies are amazing and, even at an early age, can detect stress in their surroundings. a relaxed environment will lead to a happy baby!
2. my second suggestion…. RELAX! you’ve likely been getting very little sleep, and are running on fumes. allow me to take care of everything while you’re at the studio. i know it’s hard to hand off your brand new baby, but trust me to get great images, while you kick back, watch netflix, read a book, surf social media, or take a nap! (yes, for real! i even have a bed in the studio you’re welcome to use!)
3. keep a distance. this is probably the hardest one for new parents. believe it or not, new babies recognize your smell. when you’re around, baby’s natural reaction is to want to eat, even if they’ve just finished. i welcome you to watch what we’re doing at any point, i just ask that you stay back a bit so that baby is more relaxed.
4. try to keep baby awake as much as possible the morning of the session. try some tummy time, have a bath, etc. we don’t want to push baby into being overtired, so don’t stress about this too much; just try not to let them sleep the morning away if possible.
5. try to avoid foods that may affect baby’s mood. spicy food may lead to upset tummies, while caffeine may cause baby to be less sleepy!
6. wardrobe: i have everything we’ll need for your newborn, but if you plan on having some family portraits done as well, i recommend either solid black or white for the other members of the family. we want these images to be timeless. if there are females in your family who are unsure of what to wear, we can always wrap you in beautiful fabrics that we have available at the studio as well.
my goal in every newborn portrait session is to capture the very short, fleeting, time right after your baby is born. they grow so incredibly quicky and it’s so hard to remember just how small they were. the essence of who they are at this special time in their lives is something you’ll want to look back on and cherish forever!
