5 tips to prepare for your newborn session

My goal as a newborn photographer is to capture the beautiful, sacred, fleeting first days of life with your new baby. It is such a privilege to be welcomed into your home in these postpartum days, which I know can feel chaotic and exhausting. I never want to add to the chaos, but work to capture your family’s love for each other and your new addition in a stress-free and comfortable way.

After over 10 years of newborn sessions (and 10 years of parenting), below are 5 tips for how to best prepare for our session together.

Be ready to follow baby / child’s lead. I will come in with a game plan and some gentle posing ideas for your session, but I will always defer to baby’s needs and preferences vs my own plan for our time together. In my experience the only one who trumps baby is a big (often toddler) sibling. We all know if they aren’t happy, no one will be happy 🙂 Think lots of cuddles, reading, playing outside, all the cheers for big brother/sister life, etc.

Feeding (and toddler snacking), diaper changes, playing and cuddling are all part of the process and honestly help us capture this season in the most beautiful way. Please do not apologize or feel like the session isn’t going well if all of these things continue to happen. I promise I’m capturing the sweetest images even when you feel like you’re just still parenting vs posing like a model.

Tidy, but don’t clean! You have way more important things to do in this season than clean your home. As a mom of 4, I promise I have perfected the art of sliding things (socks, ugly toys, extra snack cups, you name it…) out of the frame. If you know you want photos in a certain room like the nursery or master bedroom, it is definitely helpful if you have tidied those spaces before I arrive, but honestly that can mean piling everything on a chair or in a closet or drawer. As long as it’s not in the shot, I care about it 0%! I’m also happy to help move things around once I’m there – and likely will to get the best light!

Choose mom’s outfit first! Your body has gone through the biggest change and the most important thing during our session is that you are comfortable and happy in what you are wearing. I promise, it shows. It is 100% expected that you are still in maternity clothing. If not, you do you, but please do not expect to be back in “pre baby jeans” before our newborn session. That is not even the point! If you have an outfit or a dress that you love, wear it! Neutral colors always photograph well, but the other thing to consider is what colors go well with the colors and aesthetic of your home. You know which walls & bedding you’ll be sitting near and how you’d like these images to look when displayed in your home for years to come. I’m happy to help via FaceTime, photos over text, etc before our session, but please don’t forget about yourself!

Gather sentimental items before I arrive. I always ask this in my pre-session questionnaire, but I want to be sure to capture the things you’ll want to remember and have photos of for years to come. Do you have a quilt or handmade blanket that was made by a loved one? A special lovey that was gifted to baby? An heirloom outfit that you also wore? Any pictures of a big sibling that you’d like to recreate with baby? These things will rarely be remembered in the moment, so I like to try to think and talk through them before so that you’re not left wishing we had captured something that we didn’t! No pressure if you don’t have anything like this, but I’m happy to guide us in making sure they’re included if you do!

I always send a newborn questionnaire to help us think through some of these details and plan for our time together. My hope is that once you’ve haded all of these details over to me, you can relax and snuggle your baby while I capture these moments that you’ll treasure forever.