Newborn Welcome Guide

Welcome...

Welcoming a new addition to your family is one of the most exciting, meaningful events, filled with beautiful moments that simply can't be replicated. Newborn photography sessions provide a unique opportunity to capture your little one within his/her first days of life, ensuring these enchanting memories are captured forever. 

Each session is carefully designed with your little one in mind, from providing comfortable staging elements to soft lighting and swift shooting. With children, the days are long but the years are short - make sure you've captured these beautiful moments before they're gone. 

Preparing for your Session

What should baby wear?

I highly suggest bringing baby in a zip up or button up pair of pajamas. That way I don't have to take anything off over their head and disturb them. I have a variety of wraps I can utilize throughout the session. Make sure to keep the diaper a little loose prior to the session to avoid lines or red marks on the skin. Also, avoid socks which can also leave marks. 

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What do I need to bring?

The only thing that you need to bring is:

*baby

*Extra bottles if not nursing

*Plenty of diapers

*a pacifier 

*any sentimental items we are including in baby's session. (please notify me ahead of time of what this item might be)

How should I prep baby?

Make sure his/her belly is full by feeding baby right before you leave to come to the session. The combination of a full belly and car ride helps to have sleepy babies. If you look at most newborn photography the babies are mostly asleep, that is because during sleep they fall into the best poses and that means adorable photos! Their eyes will definitely open during the shoot, so we can capture those "awake" moments too. Also make sure to put lotion on any really dry spots and clean any eye gunkies out. The less we can mess with them once you arrive the better. I will also have you keep them in the car seat and will take them straight into the studio that way. Going straight from car seat to swaddle is a great way to keep them happy. 

The Studio

My quaint little studio is all of about 224 sq ft and has its own heating unit so I can keep babies extra warm and snuggly without affecting the rest of the house. Because the studio is so small, and I move around a lot, I do ask that mom and dad sit on the loveseat during the session.

Session Length

A newborn session usually lasts about 3 hours. I ask that you allow 4-5 hours just because you never know what will happen. Sometimes baby needs to feed a lot or has a hard time calming down for pictures. We just don't want to rush the experience.

Parent pictures

I love parent poses! Your little bundle will only be this little for a moment and I love capturing parents holding them. Parent poses can be done on solid white, dark wood, white wood, cream, black, or dark gray background. When choosing which background always think of what would look best hanging on the walls of your house. I suggest wearing light colors for your newborn session and try to avoid lots of pattern or tiny pin stripes or checkers because they throw off the camera. You can always send me screenshots of pictures and I will give you my honest opinion on if it will work or not.

Sibling pictures

Sibling pictures can be fun and very challenging depending on ages and how well the new little addition has been accepted. I have several go to setups for sibling poses which is determined by their age, your picture style, and how many siblings there are. Please know that baby's safety is always my first priority. During sibling sessions I do offer bribery such as suckers or balloons (if that is ok with you) and I ask that parents to help. I will do the Parent, Family and sibling images first then I will ask that an adult leave with siblings due to the fact that it can be hard to keep baby content and asleep if we are busy tending to siblings.

Usually there is one style that you gravitate towards. So when you look at these pictures which one do you immediately love first? Do you like the light and bright style with lots of light and soft colors or do you like the darker, moodier lighting like the picture on the right? Please make sure to let me know in your questionnaire. Although your gallery will more than likely have a mixture of both, I would like to spend more time on the style you want to make sure you get the pictures you want.