WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO DO NEWBORN SESSIONS?
Newborn sessions typically take place within the first month of your baby’s life. If you desire to have those serene, sleepy shots of your little one in the fetal position, it is highly recommended to schedule your session within the first 2 weeks of baby’s birth. After the 2 week mark, babies tend to become more alert, awake and stronger..this makes posing them more challenging and can prolong your session. Baby acne also tends to sprout up after 2 weeks. (although I can always touch up breakouts in your final images!) If baby is a little bit older for their session, an in-home lifestyle session is ideal because photographs are less posed, family usually always takes part, connections are captured and baby is photographed in their natural environment.

WHAT SHOULD WE WEAR?
If you are looking for a light and soft look to your newborn photos, I suggest clothing with pastel and light colors. Often times soft grey, white/ivory, light blue and pink hues all mesh well together. If you are looking for more of an edgy/funky, pop with bright colors.. do not be afraid to wear brighter colors and let your personalities shine through. For example of this, colors like red, mustard yellow and olive and earth tones look well together. To make the styling of your wardrobe unintentional try to be too matchy..this will make things look more natural. Try to stick with solid, classic clothing pieces with only 1 person wearing a patter, if need be (patterns can make things look too busy/distracting.). Dresses always look nice on moms and so do a pair of jeans/leggings and a flowy top or sweater! Make sure you are comfortable! And if you want to change your clothing once you are done being photographed, you can do that too! I am always willing and available to help style your session and find just the right outfits for your family!

WHAT SHOULD MY BABY WEAR?
Swaddles, headbands and hats/bonnets of several colors are offered in our studio wardrobe for your baby to wear during their session. Most of the time babies are swimming in outfits anyway and this takes the attention off of the baby and their itsy-bitsy details! Do not worry about ordering/bringing your own clothing for baby, unless you really want to! If you have any special heirlooms, knit blankets, etc feel free to bring along with you!

HOW CAN I PREPARE BABY BEFORE THE SESSION?
Try to keep baby awake as much as possible before their photo session. Right before the session begins, I always advise parents to feed baby while we talk about the details, clothes and while I set things up. Once baby is in a clean diaper, is burped and has a full tummy, we will do our best snuggle and rock baby until they eventually fall into one of their deep sleeps! When the baby is in a deep sleep we can swaddle baby easily and quickly transition in-between sets while checking all of the boxes of our shoot list! It is totally normal to stop for feeds during the session, so if you are not nursing be sure to bring an extra bottle and formula! This is why newborn sessions tend to run longer than any other sessions, because we are on baby’s time!

HOW SHOULD I PREPARE MY HOME BEFORE AN IN-HOME SESSION? Be sure to turn up your heat to about 78 degrees before I arrive. This ensures for a comfortable, cozy atmosphere for baby and will help keep them warm while transitioning them during diaper changes, from swaddles and posing. Although, we may be a little toasty, it truly helps keep a newborn calm and sleepy! Tidy up the spaces you want to be photographed in. They do not have to be perfectly clean, just picked up and remove any clutter if possible. This helps keep distracting objects out of the photos and attention on the subjects! Lastly, pull all the blinds up from all the windows…the more natural light, the better! P.S. I always shut off the lights in the rooms I am photographing, because they give off a different color cast.