Newborn Photography

I absolutely love babies.  Actually, I'm crazy about them.  There's just something so gorgeous about the smell, and the tenderness that makes me all giddy.  Tomorrow I get the privilege of shooting newborn portraits for a family that has become dear to my heart.  Mimi (baby's grandma) is my Ethan's Sunday School teacher, and ... well, I'm not sure what they're going to call grandpa, but these folks have been special to me and my family for quite some time.  It's an honor to shoot new grandbaby's pictures!  I'll post some as soon as I can.

In the mean time, I want to give you some REALLY helpful tips.  Here are some things that you can do to help your newborn session go as smooth as possible.  We all know, crazy things happen.  Unexpected things.  It's par for the course, and we roll on.  But the key to a great newborn session is to keep everything very relaxed.  After all, we're trying to capture the beauty and wonder of a new life... not the stress and anxiety of a photo session. 

• About the house – don’t worry about it. You just had a baby! I’ve had three of my own, so I know how crazy the house can look during those first days. I’m not there to write scandalous stories about your dishes-a-plenty, or the baskets overflowing with laundry. I’m there to do a job, and I’m not there to care how clean your house is.
• Loosen baby’s diaper 30 minutes before session time. It’ll help get rid of diaper imprint marks, and may just loosen up what’s in their tummy to move on out.
• Make sure the house is warm. Ideally, you want it between 80-85 degrees. As adults, we’ll be roasting, but baby will be toasty and happy.
• Collect any items you want to use in your images beforehand. Monogrammed blankets, heirlooms, anything that’s special to baby and this new season. We’ll go through them and determine what will work best for your pictures.
• If you want pictures of baby in the nursery, make sure the blinds and curtains are open for enough light. No need to clean. Just make sure clutter has found it’s way to a closet.
• Decide if you want pictures of you taken with the baby (which I WHOLE-HEARTEDLY encourage) or if it’s just baby. Keep in mind, there is nothing more beautiful and precious than the bond between a new baby and mama/daddy.
• A mother’s smell is so recognizable (and sometimes distracting) to a baby. It may be necessary for mom to leave the room for portions of the session. Trust me, it’s not meant to hurt your feelings, but only to allow me to get the baby thinking sweet sleep dreams, instead of hungry milky dreams.
• Be patient. If baby gets fussy or alert, don’t stress out. A new baby is very attentive to anxiety and we want to keep the atmosphere as mellow as possible. We’ll try to get baby as comfortable again, but if that just doesn’t seem possible, we’ll take a break or we’ll work with what he’s giving us. Sometimes, the best pictures come when the baby is following our plan.
• If there is ever a pose that we’re using that makes you feel uncomfortable, just let me know.

Now, I can't stand having a blog post without an image, so I'm going to give you something from the very first newborn shoot I ever did. 

I can't wait to spend some time with Noah tomorrow!!!