It’s so helpful to know what to expect walking into an in-home newborn session. Just a week or so after giving birth and taking care of a newborn baby, you certainly have your hands full. So knowing what to expect and the general flow for a session is one less thing to have to worry about and can ease your nerves.
So let’s go over what I feel are the key components to an in-home newborn photo session.
1. Prep prior to Day-Of
When is the right time to reach out to book your newborn session? Really anytime starting during your 2nd or 3rd trimester. The earlier you book, the more time we have to prep and to look into wardrobe options that fit your vision. The last thing you want to be doing AFTER giving birth is worrying about going shopping and finding something you feel beautiful in just days before your session. We also will have time to discuss the lighting in your home and know where we will likely be shooting so you don’t have to worry about cleaning your entire house. You can just focus on the couple of small areas we will be shooting. You will fill out my questionnaire and we can chat about a vision for your session. What you want your photos to feel like. Who your family is.
Everything is prepped ahead of time and then you just give me a shout when you get home from the hospital. Then all that is left to do is pick a day.
2. Day-of Session Prep
Most of the time, the session will be in the morning around 9 or 10am.
This will give us that gorgeous morning light streaming through your windows, we are less likely to encounter rainy and cloudy Florida afternoons, and truthfully babies tend to do best in the morning. They are better rested and tend to settle a little easier.
I always recommend feeding your baby just before I get there so they get nice and sleepy on a full belly. Since we will be wrapping and unwrapping your baby, I also recommend not keeping the house too cold so the baby doesn’t get cold and can tolerate being unwrapped particularly for the baby individual shots.
3. Typical Flow of Newborn Session
Once I get to your home, we’ll look at the lighting and decide where to start the session. The flow of any session is very fluid and laid back. We do what I call “baby-led” sessions. This means we do what works best for the baby. If your baby is wanting to be held more in the beginning, then we will do more poses with the baby being held towards the beginning and others of just the baby later on. If the baby is acting hungry, then we let the baby feed (even if it has only been 20 minutes since the last feed). We are very go-with-the-flow and I always find that works best. When we try to overplan, babies often laugh at that and we still end up doing what works best for them!
My photography style is lifestyle. I want your sessions to feel like your family, soaking up each precious second with your newborn baby. These newborn days are so fleeting and babies just change so fast.
I will of course guide you into poses but soak up these moments – enjoy these baby snuggles. Enjoy kissing those sweet newborn baby cheeks. Looking at your husband as a new father and being even more smitten with him than you thought you could ever be, even on your wedding day. Love on your toddlers who are becoming big siblings and learning what it is like to hold a baby.
If there are other children in the session, I highly highly recommend parents to be very positive and not worry about doing any parenting. Sounds contradictory to what you’d expect, right? Kids feed off of their parents energy and respond to it. If they feel that their parents are stressed, they will not be themselves and may act out more. Instead, I encourage parents to go-with-the-flow. Let kids be kids. If they aren’t sitting perfectly, that is 100% okay with me. We can be creative in finding other poses that are more conducive to their energy levels.
Relax and enjoy the session, let me worry about the photos. Just love on your babies.
4. What is 100% Normal
So many things come up that I often have parents apologize for, and there is no need to apologize because these things are 100% normal and expected!
And you probably already know this about me, but I absolutely LOVE in-home newborn sessions.
They are sweet and intimate. Emotional. Tender.
So personal in your own home where they will grow and change before your eyes.
I so deeply want to create images you just love.
Are you an expecting mother and looking for a newborn photographer? I’d love to connect, hear about your family and share with you about the process about photographing your growing family! Please fill out the inquiry form here so we can get in touch!