Hello, and congratulations on your new baby! As a fellow parent, I welcome you to this wonderful, sleep-deprived club. I realize that the absolute last thing new parents need is a stressful photo experience, and it is my goal to keep your session as stress-free as possible. The following guidelines are to help you prep yourself and your baby to have a stress-free session, with the end result being posed portraits you can cherish for many years to come.
How to prepare
- Try (and I do mean try, I realize you can’t control newborns) to keep baby awake for 2 hours before the session. This is a great time to give them a bath, which usually wakes them up a bit.
- Put baby in a zip-down outfit with only a diaper underneath. This makes taking a sleepy baby out and getting them wrapped much easier, without having to take anything off over the head. For most of the portraits, baby will be naked or wrapped but if you are uncomfortable with this or baby hates being naked, then it's best to be prepared with a couple of newborn-sized plain onesies. If you'd like your baby to have a diaper on, a plain one will be best or a white or nude diaper cover. Seventh Generation makes a nice, nude-colored diaper and can be purchased at Kroger. Of course, if you have anything special you'd like baby to wear, that's absolutely fine and should be available with you at the session.
- Feed baby as soon as you arrive to your location or as soon as I arrive and am setting up. This will likely result in a “milk coma” baby that is way more cooperative for poses. If using formula, please bring extra for feeding during the session.
- Bring any props, hats, nursery decor, letters, etc that you’d like to see worked into the photos.
- Please be sure the location we will be using, if indoors, is very warm. This is to keep baby warm while being naked or mostly naked and to help them stay asleep. This makes the naked baby very happy, but sometimes parents and myself a bit uncomfortable. Feel free to dress in layers, and the temperature, if possible, should be around 85F. I can bring an additional space heater if needed.
What to expect at your session
- I have taken newborn posing safety courses, and I am very focused on keeping your baby safe during the course of posing. I’m happy to explain any poses you have concerns about or omit poses that you aren’t comfortable with.
- Newborn sessions can take anywhere from 2-3 hours. Most of this time will be spent feeding and calming/soothing rather than actually photographing. So please, don't feel bad if it seems like it's taking a long time for your baby to calm down. It almost always happens.
- During naked poses, your baby will almost certainly have an accident on a backdrop, prop, etc. This is completely expected and happens every single session. All backdrops, throws, wraps, etc are washed after each session, regardless.
What will I bring?
- I will bring my blanket backdrops, wraps, and accessories that I have. Please remember that I am starting out again after not photographing newborns for a few years, so my stash is limited and we can absolutely use anything you have laying around that you'd like to have incorporated.
What else do you need to know?
- During the course of your session, I will be doing most of the handling of your baby. Don't worry, I do have a lot of experience in this area and am comfortable with soothing and handling newborns. Newborns especially tend to be more cooperative when they aren't able to smell mommy and tend to do better when mom is not in the room but I know how scared you may be to leave your new baby with a stranger so I do welcome parents to stay with me. Of course, if I think baby is getting hungry or needs mommy or daddy's comforting touch, I will hand him or her over immediately.
- You may also realize that I am dressed very unprofessionally. For newborns, this is most certainly a must since it is very likely that I will either be pooped or peed on. I don't mind, it's part of the job, but I definitely do not want to ruin the few nice clothes that I own.