Newborn Photo Sessions: A Comprehensive Guide to Everything I Want You to Know

When should you schedule a newborn session?
One hour vs. Two hour sessions
Ideal conditions for a baby session
What to wear
Families with older siblings
Families with pets
Retouching

When should you schedule a newborn session?

If you reach out while you’re still pregnant we will pencil in a day for me to reach out around your due date or I’ll wait to hear from you. When the baby does arrive I will get you on the calendar. Often these are scheduled during a weekday and that makes short notice scheduling easier.
Weekend time is also an option but might be limited during busy months (often May-October).
More important than “How old the baby should be?” is “When do you feel ready for a visitor?” Childbirth recovery or health of the baby may be factors and I want to reassure you that we can take photos that represent the baby stage beyond that outdated timeline of two weeks. I would want to offer advice specific to your comfort level and your situation. Let’s discuss.
I remember newborn photos when my twin boys were 9 days old. Everything is a blur and thank goodness for the photos but I didn’t have a handle on house routines, I was barely sleeping and in general a novice at being a mom. Giving yourself a few weeks or months can be helpful to level up your parenting confidence and feel ready for extra activities…. But that’s just a consideration if you feel like you want more time.
It’s also ok to invite me in for photos the week the baby arrives. My photos will help to satisfy the family members that are eager to see the baby and the newest updated family portrait.
Your baby can be photographed days to weeks to months old. Luckily! Your baby will not turn into a pumpkin after a certain time (or a pineapple) and will continue to be cute whenever you and your family are ready for a session 🙂

One hour vs. Two hour sessions

One hour sessions are simple and best for a household family (parents, baby, siblings, pet). And we will aim to get a variety of shots that include:
- family all together
- sibling(s) & baby
- parents & baby
- just the baby
- solo shots of sibling(s)
If we find the baby is in the mood to be held more than being on its own, we’ll focus more on snuggling and that’ll be perfect.
One hour sessions are scheduled Monday-Friday.

Two hour sessions are everything that the one hour sessions are PLUS more time to focus on sleepy baby portraits. They take patience PLUS a warm room, white noise and a little bit of planning with the feeding and sleeping schedule.
Longer sessions can accommodate outfit changes, exploring more spaces in and around your home or include grandparents.
Two hour sessions can be scheduled any day of the week, depending on current availability on my calendar.

Ideal conditions for a baby shoot:

When I arrive I’ll look for spaces around your house to shoot in. I look for the brightest rooms in the house. Possibly the living room, in your bedroom, baby’s room. Simple spaces with natural window light are great. Don’t worry about cleaning the whole house – please don’t! You don’t have time for that! We need a small space and we can shuffle things around when we decide what spaces we like.
Nearly all newborn sessions I photograph are in the comfort of your warm and cozy house. Sometimes we sneak outside at the end if the weather is nice enough.
My favorite piece of advice for parents before a baby session. Take the time you’d need to get yourself ready to feel like a human – shower, blow dry your hair. Ask for baby help if you’re able.
Ideally we will schedule our session so that the baby is fed just before we start. Having some help makes this easier. Have a bottle on hand or be prepared to feed them again in the middle of our session. Often it is the thing we try when we need to settle a baby because photo sessions (and the getting ready prep) can make it an irregular day.
It’ll be nice to be in a WARM room especially if the baby might be in and out of outfits, in thin clothing or baring skin. The family should dress in layers so you can be comfortable and not overheated since we’re keeping things warm for the baby.
Do you have special things on hand for the baby? A handmade blanket, a small stuffed animal, etc… We don’t NEED anything more than just you and a baby but if you do have things, set them aside so we can use them during the shoot. Just one or two things maximum if possible.
Generally I don’t bring anything so we’ll source blankets, swaddles and outfits from what you have to help keep it personal to your family.
What are the techniques you’ve picked up on to soothe the baby? Sometimes I will pull out my phone with a white noise app if we need to create a sleepy solo portrait of the baby.
All of that advice is great but you don’t need to be perfect because perfection isn’t the only thing that counts. Sometimes we just need to be patient with our time and we will. If it’s an hour session I do block out some buffer time in my day to give us time to be patient. Halfway through we might take a break to feed or change. If it’s a two hour session, same thing, I’ll block out extra, extra time.

What to wear

I think simple, easy to wear outfits are perfect. All of these photos I’ve included are good sources of inspiration.
My universal advice for any family session is that everyone “look like they’re going to the same party”. And that party is a comfortable, at home affair. Most of the photos are waist up so the tops end up being most important.
Generally I think sleeves are a good choice because the baby’s bare skin will “pop” against your clothes and really stand out.
Have backup outfits (or just tops) for everyone, even if we don’t need them.
If you have a baby Santa suit and a Christmas tree then it’s required we take a photo like this.

Families with older siblings

If you have older children with your newborn we’ll approach our strategy and goals slightly differently than if we had only parents and a baby. Rest assured we’ll work quickly and in an order that makes sense for the range of attention spans, needs and energy levels to document a bustling house with all this new love.
I will try for the most demanding shot of our day first: the whole family together and for a moment looking at the camera…. Possibly smiling too 😀
Find a comfy spot to sit, pile kids on laps and smoosh together. Sometimes I use the magic of photoshop to get ALL the eyeballs on the camera in the same image. Read more about my retouching work: Retouch Help
After that is a siblings shot… And really maybe this is the most difficult one. We will do our very best and and our hard work and patience will pay off. Bribes for after the session are wonderful too!
Can we task the older sibling with reading to the baby? It makes for a great shot and doesn’t require anyone to look at the camera. A really sweet sibling moment! Kisses and gentle hugs are awesome too.
I want to make some time to photograph the older sibling(s) on their own. Get the sillies out, show off their room, favorite toys, maybe a chance to run outside.
I usually find time to hang out with the older kids if the baby needs to be fed.

Families with pets

Do you have a family pet? Then they deserve a moment, or maybe a few to be in photos. I usually do this after we’ve wrangled all the other ones.
It can be easiest to get everyone in for a photo if we’re outside but we can also pile onto the couch.

Retouching

I include basic retouching with your favorite digital files, prints and albums.
You can see the retouching work I do at Retouch Help
When you receive the proof gallery it will be with simple exposure adjustments but not yet with retouching.
For newborns specifically I can do minor fixes to your favorite images to reduce redness, flaky skin, baby acne, etc… All of these things are very common with newborns.
Retouching is optional and we can discuss your preferences.