Preparing for your Newborn Photography Session- A Mommy’s Guide

The most involved session of all portrait sessions is unarguably the newborn session… and rightly so. The newborn is not the easiest of models making most moms nervous for their session. If your photographer has shot several (If not many, if not HUNDREDS) of newborns, your photographer has your baby session covered. Your photographer knows your worries, understands your exhaustion and will come prepared for your session.

I get lots of questions regarding the newborn session and thought I would write a post regarding the ins and outs of most newborn sessions. I will be covering the common type of sessions photographers deliver, what to ask your photographer, how to pick your photographer, how to prepare for your session and exactly what I deliver.

Let’s dive in!

Picking the style of your session!

Ahhh, the tough part. There are different styles when it comes to newborn photography. The two most common styles are Posed Sessions and Lifestyle Sessions.

Posed Sessions

This is the session where your photographer will spend a good amount of time with your baby, most likely naked, on a beanbag (or makeshift beanbag). Baby is usually hushed to sleep then place on a beanbag in a flattering pose. The goal is to show off as much as your baby as possible in an artistic way. Posed sessions usually move from the beanbag to other props like baskets, mini-beds and more.

Examples:

The posed portion of the session can take a long time. Poses can take up to 20 minutes to perfect. If the type of session you want to book, you need to look for a photographer that has posed newborn sessions in their portfolio. Some photographers ONLY shoot this type of newborn photography. If you like the images in your photographer’s portfolio, chances are you will like the images your photographer will give you.

It is ESSENTIAL you hire an experienced photographer for your posed session. You want to be sure your photographer will keep your baby safe throughout the session and not try poses that will put your baby in danger. A few popular baby poses are really several photos stitched together in photoshop and you want to be sure your photographer knows that information and will not put your baby in a pose without having extra supporting hands on or around that baby!!! This usually means that the cheapest photographer is probably not your best bet. Pay extra for that experience, this is your BABY in his or her hands!

Scheduling a Posed Newborn Session:

These sessions are best completed in the first two weeks of life. That means you should schedule your newborn session before you have that baby. Some newborn photographers are booked for 9 months in advance. If you have a newborn photographer in mind, you should contact that person and ask when is the best time to schedule your session with them. I like to schedule my sessions at least a few months in advance. My summer and fall book up fast and I want to have some wiggle room in my schedule just for you! Most photographers will book your session about a week from your due date and ask that you keep them in the loop as the due date approaches. Don’t worry, we know that newborns have their own arrival schedule and that date is flexible. The point in booking early is so we know to keep room in our schedule to fit your family in but if we don’t know until last minute, we may not have that wiggle room- so book early! Some photographer will only photograph posed sessions in a very short timeframe and will let you know when you inquire about a session. The big thing is having all of this information in advance so you have the photographer and the type of session you prefer scheduled and there is no stress after you have that cute little bundle!

During the Posed Newborn Session:

These sessions last a while. Posed newborn sessions can last up to four hours and I’ve heard of photographers going even longer than four hours. Our goal as your photographer is to capture the type of images planned and have the amount of “keeper” images to give you a full newborn session gallery. If your baby is hungry, we break so baby can feed. If baby takes an extra long time to fall asleep, we take that time to get them to sleep. These sessions are not rushed. These session revolve around keeping your baby comfortable, happy and safe while giving you gorgeous images. This takes time. Expect it to take time. We have seen plenty of babies, chances are, your baby is normal when it comes to the amount of crying and feeding during a session. Sit back and relax knowing your photographer and seen it over and over again and has left room in his or her schedule for this long session.

My biggest goal is keeping mom stress free! I’m a mom of two. I understand how tired mom is. I bring everything to the session needed, I give mom extra time to get ready if she wants to be in images later in the session. I take extra care of baby. I sanitize my hands each time I touch or pick up your baby. Your baby and your family’s trust in me is of utmost importance! I do not take these things lightly and other experienced photographers will not take them lightly as well. LOOK for those photographers!

During your posed session your baby will probably pee and poop on our blankets. We expect that. If your baby doesn’t pee once during the session, that would almost be weird. Everything is sanitized before and after your session with me. No need to be embarrassed, a baby peeing while I’m photographing him or her is probably a well-fed and comfortable baby! I just pick up your baby, change the blanket and we move on! Easy!

Each pose can take a while to perfect. We are looking for those fingers and toes in the most perfect positions. We are trying to see as much as baby’s face as possible. These little tweaks take time. Just sit back and enjoy the view of your cute little one!!!

Lifestyle Sessions

A lifestyle session has the feel of unplanned images or non-posed images. The secret to a good lifestyle session is a photographer than can perfectly plan the unplanned moment, a photographer that can anticipate the photo-worthy moment before it actually happens. To make these images look professional instead of snapshotty (totally a word, right?), you need a photographer that has vision, understands composition, knows what can enhance an image and what to take away from the scene as it might distract from the subject. There is a lot more thought that goes into lifestyle images than most people might think.

The great thing about lifestyle images is that the photographer is capturing emotion in a moment and these sessions can happen at any age! The baby doesn’t need to be sleepy or in a specific pose. Most photographers that shoot lifestyle newborn sessions will not have such a strict cap on age as to when to shoot. The great news is if you didn’t plan your photography session and oops, 6 weeks have gone by because babies keep us busy like that, you can still get a gorgeous lifestyle session in! I’m a sucker for black and white lifestyle images!

Examples of lifestyle images:

Preparing for your Lifestyle Session:

Lifestyle sessions can be held anywhere but most newborn lifestyle sessions are held in your home. To prepare, you of course want to pick up the house. I know I, along with many other photographers, do not want you to go totally crazy over this part. Do not go crazy scrubbing the floor on your hands and knees, you just had a baby!!! I personally like to shoot in the living room, the nursery and in the master bedroom. If one of those rooms does not have good light, I’ll move somewhere else. Ask your photographer if there are certain areas of the house they like to shoot in over others and focus on those areas instead of stressing over your entire house. Again, don’t go crazy! Make the beds, clear some clutter off nightstands, vacuum and throw everything else in the closet where no one else will be going into. Nothing needs to be perfect and the goal is a stress-free session. The dishes in the sink? Probably won’t be going in there so don’t worry about them! I usually go through the home, find one of the above rooms mentioned with the best light and start there. I’ll take something off the wall if the frame is intersecting with your head and put it back. I’ll move what I need to get the shots I envision. That is totally our job so don’t freak out if you think you need to super prepare your home for this session. Have someone help out with a light cleaning of those popular rooms and go snuggle with that baby!

Siblings:

Let’s chat about big brother and sister! Sibling shots are one of my favorite things to capture. The love and curiosity your older child has for this new thing in the house is so fun to see in print! The best thing to do when preparing for those sibling shots is to really be aware of your expectations and possible outcome. How old is brother and/or sister? When is the best time of day to capture the older siblings in a good mood? There are tricks most photographers have in terms of getting a good sibling shot but we have to remember, getting the perfect sibling shots take work, some patience and sometimes bribery. Are you up for bribery? Is your sibling super interested and lovable to the new member of the family? If yes, these shots will be easier to get if not, we might have to try a few tricks to get a kiss on the cheek or a sweet glance toward baby. Try not to stress if we are going for one shot and the older sibling isn’t having it! We’ll get a few cute shots of the siblings together, just give that older guy or gal some time and keep the session fun so they WANT to stay involved in the photo session!

Picking your photographer:

Chances are, while looking for photographers, something grabbed your attention on a specific photographer’s website and you just knew that was the person you wanted to capture your memories of that one fleeting moment. Most people don’t think about the exact style of photography they like or why they picked a photographer. It’s good to be aware of the type of images you are expecting and the type of images you know your photographer can deliver. Remember, the images in their portfolio is probably their best work. Newborn photography can range from a few hundred to several thousand. Do you want studio lighting and posed images? Pick a photographer with a studio and lots of newborn experience! Do you want a natural light session in your home in the first few months of life? Pick a photographer that has lifestyle images that speak to you! Do you want a little bit of lifestyle and a little bit of posed? Pick a photographer that will come to your home and has a good amount of experience with newborn photography! Chances are, the more you are aware of what you like and what a photographer can deliver, the more likely you are to save and pay for the exact photographer you want… because your newborn is only a newborn ONCE! You don’t want to let that one chance of a gorgeous newborn session ruined by a photographer you didn’t give much thought to and or hired because they gave you the best price. Look for your optimal photographer and save your money for him or her. I promise, it’s worth it! Twenty years down the line, whose pictures do you want in your photo album and on your wall? Thirty years down the line, what newborn image do you want to put in that funny wedding slideshow? Sixty years down the line, what images will speak to you and bring tears to your eyes? Pick your photographer based on your love for their work!

Ask your photographer questions! If you have expectations of the session, tell them what you expect and ask if they can deliver! I have turned people down and given another photographer’s name because the style of images a client wanted did not fit in with my style and I wanted that client to have an amazing fist-time professional photographer experience even if it wasn’t with me! We want you to have amazing images as much as you do but we need to be on the same page and we need to be able to deliver exactly what you want! I’m huge on client communication and give homework to all my clients so I am well aware of what they expect from a session with me and make sure they are well aware of what I can deliver for them. Create a relationship with your photographer. I LOVE my clients. Most of my clients would be one of my besties if I happen to meet them outside of the business. We get each other, we have similar styles, we probably shop at the same places and freak out when the US women’s gymnastics team wins gold at the Olympics (Go USA!). This stuff isn’t important when it comes to small talk at a session, it’s important when it comes to they type of photography they want and the type of photography they know I can deliver. So ask your photograph questions and shop around if you don’t like what you hear!

A newborn session with Holly Strebel Photography?

If you got here from my website and wondering what I deliver, well, I deliver everything you see above. I go to your home if it’s within the Denver, Golden, Boulder, Arvada, Littleton area and we capture your newborn in both posed and lifestyle images. My images are usually in color and black and white. We capture just baby, baby with siblings, baby with mom, baby with dad and the whole family. My sessions last between three and four hours. It takes me about two weeks to edit and you will end up with 25-35 images in your gallery. My edits are clean and classic. I strive for edits that will stand the test of time and not seen as a fad in five years. My goal is to keep the session stress free and super fun! Sound like what you might be looking for?

Above all, a huge congrats on expecting or just having your baby! I wish you an amazing photography experience and gorgeous images! I hope this answers a few questions and helps you prepare for your newborn session with the photographer you hired and takes away any stress you might be feeling beforehand. Feel free to ask me questions or post questions for others to see and even other photographers to answer! As the song goes, “We are family”!

Love you guys like crazy!!!

Holly Strebel