The MOST important thing I want potential clients to know is that newborns MUST be photographed before they are 14 days old, and that feeding them before you come, will induce a state I refer to as “milk drunk” in which they will sleep more soundly through the session. They younger they are when we photograph them, the more cooperative they tend to be.
During a Newborn session, the studio will be warmed up to approx. 85+ degrees. This is so that we can take “naked pictures” without the babies becoming cold, cranky, or having mottled skin. I recommend that parents wear something very cool for these sessions. When you arrive, you will be given some paperwork to fill out, and then we will proceed into the “warm” room where we will photograph baby. I will ask you to let me remove the baby from their carseat, and undress them. The reason for this, is that baby’s often wake when they smell their mother’s scent. Mom means food, and if baby is on the edge of sleep, sometimes this will cause them to wake.
We will begin with the standard cute naked baby pictures in a variety of poses. I have props on hand like, hats, headbands, and other items that you will frequently see in my photographs.
If the parents, would like pictures taken with the baby, I like to have the parents wear a black shirt (which I ask they bring with them) and we will take some pictures of the parents holding the babies, and of the babies in dad’s hand, those types of pictures, while the baby is still naked. The black helps to create a feeling of intimacy. For those parents, who are a little braver, mom’s can bring (or I have a few “one size fits all” on hand) a tube top, this allows us to get skin on skin pictures, which are truly very intimate. We can photograph dad topless with the baby on his chest, which is also very intimate.
I recommend that we NOT take any pictures with babies clothed. at this young age, clothing tends to swallow them, and they become “lost” in them. The exceptions I have to this, are clothing that are of sentimental value, maybe something that belonged to someone else in the family, or an item that was handmade for the baby.
Always understand, that your baby’s safety is the number one priority during the shoot. For this reason, some babies may not be sleep enough to photograph in the hanging sling. If I have a baby who appears to be sleepy enough for this, we will try it, that will also require a parent to assist, to help insure baby’s safety.
Sometimes, during a session baby will wake and be hungry. Sometimes they also want to eat because that is comforting and soothing to them, should this occur, we will take a break to feed the baby. If mom is nursing, they will have privacy while feeding the baby.
I also ask my parents of newborns to bring with them anything special they would like included in their photograph with their babies, this could be anything, from firefighter helmets, to guitars, to boots, to anything the imagination desires. These things will be incorporated into photographs to create a stunning image that will always be cherished.
