Newborn Photography FAQ
Your newborn session is right around the corner! Are you ready? We’ve prepared a checklist of things for you to remember in order to make sure you are prepared for their big day!
The Days Before Your Session
Nursing? Avoid spicy foods for 24 hours or more before your session.
Schedule shots or immunizations the week (or at least 48 hours) prior to your session date.
Your hands may be visible. Time for that manicure!
The Day of the Session
Keep baby awake for a minimum of 90 minutes or more prior to your session start time. Those adorable newborn poses you love are easiest when your baby is full and sleepy. Keeping your baby active and awake with a bit of extended play time on the morning leading up to your session, plus a feeding 2-3 hours before your session start time, helps gently lull your baby into a nice deep sleep. During the session, I also keep the studio very warm to make baby comfortable and sleepy.
Loose diapers, a loose fitting wrap, or a loose, easily removed sleeper are ideal clothing choices. Loose-fitting clothing should eliminate red marks on baby’s skin, and is less distracting for baby when pulled off for your session.
Bring more than one outfit. Make sure you always have backup clothes just in case. And we suggest that you don’t change your newborn into their session clothing until after you have fed them.
If you use a pacifier, bring it with you but don’t use it prior to the session.
What happens during the newborn session?
Whether you’re thinking about booking a newborn session or already have a date on the books, we’re sure you’re a bit curious about what, exactly, goes on during a newborn session. How do you get those peaceful looking images? How involved are the parents for the shoot itself? Is it actually possible to “pose” an infant? Below we’re pulling back the curtain about what actually happens during a newborn photography session.
The heat is turned up
It sounds bizarre, but we prefer to set the temperature much higher during a newborn than what you’d normally have it. This helps baby feel warm, comfortable, and — most importantly, sleepy.
We'll Take Care of All the Poses
You don’t have to come up with poses or image ideas. We’ve got all that covered and know exactly how to set up an image to get great shots. We’ll also take care of all the prop setup and wrapping.
Mom & Dad Help Spot Baby
Though we do most of the work, we definitely need parents’ help during our shoots to help position baby and work with us to help create images.
Safety is Always Our First Priority
No matter what, we place your child’s safety above all else. If we need to take a break, we will. If a pose isn’t working, there’s always another one to try.
We Have Tricks for Helping Baby Calm Down
We’ve done quite a few newborn sessions, and we have a few tricks up our sleeve to help calm fussy babies. However, in the case of a baby who is very upset, we are more than happy to reschedule.
Sibling Photos Are Done First or Last
We know that having your kids at the shoot for the entire session may be a bit much for them. For that reason, we suggest having sibling poses done either at the beginning or the end of the session, that way they don’t have to say throughout.
Composite Imagery is Done In Post Processing
We’ll often melt a couple different images into one in order to create the perfect shot. This technique is used by experienced photographers and ensures your newborn images are beautiful.
Frequently Asked Questions
We’ve all seen those adorable photos of new little babies looking so peaceful and relaxed and not a care in the world. As new parents, we want similar photos of our children to send out to grandparents and blast out to our social media pages to show off our amazing baby. But then session day comes around and BAM! – your baby does not want anything to do with it.
If this is happening during your session, I want you to stop, breathe and remember one thing: all newborns cry. This is a natural, real emotion that all newborns have for most of their first few months of life. It’s not abnormal. There is nothing wrong with your child for doing it. It is nothing to be ashamed of. They aren’t doing it to embarrass you. And when you stress out about the fact that your baby is crying, that then makes things even worse because he or she knows you’re upset.
Don’t let the crying upset you. Embrace this moment in time. It won’t be long before you forget how her little forehead wrinkled up whenever she screamed, or how his toes would get all stretched out and tense when he was upset. Let us capture these little details. These crying photos can evoke real emotion and demonstrate the love you have for your child as you try to soothe him or her. Your child can look back at these photos once they’re all grown and remember the solace that they found in your arms. These tender moments are just as important, if not more so, than the sleeping, posed photos.
The point of booking a newborn session is to help you preserve the first memories of your child’s life. While posed photos are cute, you’re not going to look back and think, “Remember how cute she was whenever she would lounge around the house in frog-form?” because that didn’t happen. You’ll look back at these photos and remember all the nights you walked your baby around the house or rocked him in a chair and hummed lullabies to try to calm him down. Those times are very stressful, but they also help you form a bond and that’s what makes these photos treasured.
All that being said, if you have your heart set on those peaceful, posed photos, we can always take a break and try again and, if all else fails, reschedule.
Of course. I will not take any photographs that you do not feel comfortable with. That goes for all maternity, newborn, and milestone sessions. Also, if you aren’t comfortable with me sharing images on social media or on the website, I certainly would not do so.
All newborns have a certain “look” to them. Usually within a week or two, that newborn-like quality starts to disappear. The point of newborn photos is to capture that newborn look, so I always recommend photographing as early as possible.
During our initial consultation, we can discuss the props I have available and what you’d be interested in using during our shoot. For example, I have various backdrops, blankets, baskets and other items. I am also 100% open to you bringing your own props. In fact, I love it when parents have their own props! After all, using the child’s blanket instead of one that I have may prove more meaningful to you.
Of course! I love incorporating mom, dad and your other children into our session photos. While in most cases you, dad and baby will be the stars of the day, I believe it’s so important to have several photographs with the entire family. This is why we offer a package that includes the possibility of family photos.