Planning for a Successful Newborn Portrait Session

Ah, newborns! The wrinkles, tiny toes, and sleepless nights. The first weeks of a baby’s life can sometimes be a little hectic and, let’s face it, outright exhausting. Here are my suggestions to make your baby’s newborn portrait session less hectic and exhausting.

Think Ahead

Ideally, you have met with and selected the photographer you will be working with before your baby is born. I am a planner at heart, so I find planning to be half the fun. Plan your maternity session for around 37 weeks. Don’t skip on a maternity session, trust me. You may be feeling larger than life and uncomfortable (I’m sorry!) but in 10 years you will love looking back at the beautiful pregnant body that brought a new soul into the world. Expect to schedule your newborn’s photo session within 6 to 10 days of giving birth. How do you schedule a session ahead of time when you do not know when the baby will be born? Usually I place dad in charge of this. Once mom and baby are home from the hospital, dad will send me a text or phone call to set up a time for the newborn session as soon as possible. BONUS TIP: Consider adding a “Fresh 48” session. “Fresh 48” sessions are short in hospital sessions that capture sweet memories of where baby was born.

It’s Your Photo Session Too

Even though your baby is the star of the show, do not think you will not be in a photo or two. Photographs of moms and dads holding baby are by far my favorite images created during newborn sessions. Do not fret too much about your outfit. Solid colored tops will work well to create a timeless image of parent and child.

Relax and Enjoy

Newborn portrait sessions typically last longer than 1 hour. Everything happens at baby’s pace. We may stop several times, as many times as is necessary, to feed baby, soothe baby, burp baby, and change baby. And that is perfectly wonderful. There is no need to rush. A hurried attitude will only lessen your (and baby’s) enjoyment of this time together. Take this moment and breathe it in!

By spending an evening or two thinking about the newborn session before your baby’s arrival you can eliminate in the moment stress of planning a newborn session while you are sleeplessly caring for a newborn. Ultimately, my goal is to help you remember these first hectic and exhausting days of your baby’s life. But with as much exhaustion will come an even greater dose of the most powerful joy you have ever felt. Do not miss this chance to remember. As you will soon find out, these days go by so darn fast. 

Check out this cutie's Fresh 48 and Newborn Portrait Session slideshow.

June 2015 Image Round Up

Here's a few of my favorite photos from this month's sessions!

Patrick and Lenisa blew me away during their engagement session. I love the backlighting in this image and the way the field is illuminated by sunset.

And just like that a mom and daddy are created. Hospital or "Fresh 48" sessions compliment maternity and newborn photographs perfectly. 

Austin's parents are big time Texas Longhorn fans. They made sure we incorporated a few Longhorn props into the newborn session. Austin seems to be already be cheering on mom and dad's team.

Only 81 days until Ryan and Melissa tie the knot! Posing these two was very organic. They seem to fit into each other's arms just right. 

April and May 2015 Image Round Up

As a part of our monthly newsletter I will be posting my favorite images from the month's sessions. Here goes!

This is my favorite image from this newborn-ish session (he was about a month old). I normally favor simple blankets and props for newborn sessions but I enjoy how the pattern of his quilt mimics his playful expression quite nicely in this image.

The best family photos show off the interactions and relationship of the family. That's exactly what this photograph depicts.

Besides the adorable expression on mom's face, I love how the backlighting is highlighting the subjects' forms in this image. The bokeh of the tree in the background is pretty dreamy too.

When I work with a family with young children I am always happy with an image that captures both children looking at the camera, at the same time. Yes! I love this photograph even more for the sweet moment between mom and dad.

It isn't often I get to pose my engaged couples on a log over a roaring river, well, roaring for New Mexico standards. I love the beautiful evening light through the trees, the sweet interaction between Justine and Adrian, and the fact that no one fell in the water in the making of this photograph.

I checked something off my photography bucket list this month. Birth photography. The whole experience was amazing. Rather than merely documenting the birth I was able to create storytelling images like this one.

Sometimes a photograph can captivate the viewer simply by not revealing an expected detail. In this photo I purposefully cropped the eyes out of the frame to draw attention to and accentuate her lips.

In this image I used the design element of line to guide the viewer's eye to the subject. I love the dramatic lighting of "golden hour" which is when this photograph was made.

One rule of composition is to not center subjects in the frame. Sometimes it is okay to break this rule in unique ways. In this photo I centered Debbie's engagement ring to be the focus of the image. The composition remains dynamic with the lines of Debbie and Zack's bodies pushing out of the frame.