Full Newborn sessions take about two to three hours, and this is what my typical session looks like:
Studio tour: I will meet you at the door, hi! I am usually wearing a mask just to further protect you from any germs my kids might have left with me! I will show you to the studio where I am running an air purifier to further lower the risk of Covid or any other illnesses for my clients. Since I see multiple clients a week and have kids myself, this is all in the interest of protecting you from being sick with a newborn baby in the house. You are not required to wear a mask at all.
I am also fully vaccinated and boosted and will continue to stay current with those at any time new medicines become available.
Hello!
I have a small photography studio in a room right by the front door of my home with paper backdrops, a studio light, shelving for props and two chairs. I pose on a table in the corner and on the backdrops against the wall, and I also have a changing table, diapers, wipes, and plenty of burp cloths.
There is also a back bedroom just past the bathroom where I shoot family photos and clients are free to wait and relax here during the shoot:
I have all the props we will need, but you are welcome to bring something special if you want to.
Family Photos: I will ask when baby last ate, and if you would like to feed baby right away you are welcome to! I will ask if you’d like to use my boppy. If you need to refrigerate milk, just let me know. Then, if siblings are involved, I will sometimes wrap baby to make them calmer, sleepier and easier for the family to hold.
Sibling photos: I shoot these first when toddlers and kids are still in awe of the experience. I adjust these poses based on your child’s age and how they are feeling that day.
Then parent and baby (often Mama- see below), add in partner, add in siblings for a full family shot, and then partner and baby alone. This takes about 15-20 minutes depending on how large a family you have.
Mama hold: I will tell you exactly where to put your hands and I will lay baby right where they need to be. It will feel sort of weird, but just look how great it turns out on camera! Baby looooves the snuggles and often smiles in this pose.
To see a typical family posing flow, check out this blog
Baby Time! Now I will just spend some time shooting as many set ups as I can before baby needs to eat. It is helpful if small siblings are able to go on an adventure with another adult, or have something brought along to keep them entertained, because this part of the session can take about two+ hours and they tend to get bored in the small studio. Families are welcome to relax in the back bedroom as well. The parent who stays with baby during this part generally just relaxes in the comfy chairs and enjoys a nice break during this part.
A lot of the time this part of the session involves feeding baby as needed and moving through any awake time, keeping baby comfortable. Sometimes babies can take 30-45 minutes just playing off those calories or fussing over some gas bubbles before they will settle down to sleep. It’s all part of a normal session. I take photos throughout and just try to enjoy baby and keep them comfortable.
Each pose takes about 10-20 minutes to move through just depending on how complicated it is. I aim for about 5 poses for each session. Once we are done that’s it! You are welcome to head home. You don’t have to worry about paying me or anything like that during our session. Once I send you your viewing gallery of fully edited images through your email, you can decide which 12 you want or whether you are going to add on more all from the comfort of home where you can have discussions with your family.
What if my baby poops on your things? Happens all the time. All the time! I just try to move it out of our way and keep baby calm and in place whenever possible. It will wash right out with soap. I am very used to spit up, all waste and breastfeeding. It’s all a part of taking care of these beautiful babies and doesn’t affect me at all.
When will we see our finished gallery? Sometime within three weeks of your session! I try to turn them around as fast as possible, but each session takes me about 8-12 hours to edit depending on how many special edits I am doing, and how many skin touch ups are necessary.