By now, you have probably done your research, looked at styles, products, prices… but do you really know everything you need to know to ensure you are making the right choice?
After all, this is a big deal!
It is not only a once in a lifetime experience (you can’t take your little one back in time to take better photos), it also is an investment for you and your partner.
… so it’s time to walk through a newborn session with me.
NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHY: THE MOST LOVED CHOICE
When I started photographing babies way back in 2012, newborn photography was pretty new and not many parents knew about it.
In fact, not many photographers knew about it.
Since then, however, newborn photography has grown in popularity so much that it is now the most requested (and loved) sessions in my studio.
Would you like to know more about what is involved in a newborn baby photography session?
Then let me walk you through a typical session with me…
Did you know that less than 4% of babies arrive on their due date!
This makes planning my diary a little complicated, so to ensure that I can capture those tiny squishy newborn details in the first few days of life I only pre-book 2 newborn babies per week.
LET YOUR BABY…. LEAD THE WAY
Ever heard of “baby-led” sessions?
I know that right now you are probably thinking “well, it feels like the last few months have also been baby led!”(yep… I get it!), but this term is especially important when it comes to photography.
From scheduling your session to the workflow used to take photos, a professional newborn photographer knows how to give you and your baby the best experience while still allowing some room for flexibility.
This is one of the reasons why I ask you to allow up to 3 hours of your time for the session.
Firstly, this allows us lots of time for cuddles, feeds and changes of nappy should they be required alongside creating your portraits.
From a more “technical” point of view, this also mean that I have lots of time to settle and pose your baby.
THE BIG DAY
All my newborn sessions are held at my studio, based in Dumfries.
Why? Simple.
My entire studio has been developed and organised to ensure maximum safety and comfort for you and your family and… the best results when it comes to your photographs!
Your session will be scheduled:
- Within the first couple of weeks of the baby being born, because at this stage they are still sleepy and squidgy which allows me to achieve the lovely poses we associate with newborn photography.
- In the morning, because over the course of the years I have found that most babies are more settled in the morning. Even though… as you know all things baby led sometimes the best laid plans don’t always come together!
Once you are settled in at the studio and comfortable, I will ask you to undress baby and, if needed, give him a feed. When you and baby are ready I will take him and sit with him for a while, just chatting away to you all. In fact as the session goes on I will blether away to baby telling him what I am doing and going to do next.
This gives baby a chance to get used to my voice and touch.
For a large part of the session baby will be naked so I need to make sure they are lovely and warm and as such I keep the temperature of the studio around 25 degrees.
While this is lovely (and needed) for the baby it can sometimes be a little too much for mummies and daddies so I have a lovely cool area for you if it is!
This is one part of the session that is hard to put a timescale on as some babies settle really quickly and others simply don’t!
NEWBORNS: SOOTHE, SETTLE AND SLEEP
I am often asked if baby has to be asleep for the session and the answer is no, in fact eye open images are amongst the most popular!
Indeed eye open images are always a firm favourite!
We need, however, to ensure your little baby is settled and relaxed. Every photographer (and parent!) has their own tricks for this, but there are some firm favourites that I always use:
1. Swaddle – At the start of the session I will wrap baby up in a blanket (ideally their own).
2. Shush – I play white noise through out the session and when moving baby from once pose to another I will also say “shushhh” quite loudly….
3. Swing – I have often been known to have a wee ‘dance’ with baby…
CUTENESS OVERLOAD: LET’S TALK POSES!
I usually start the session on my posing table with baby in Taco Pose (technical term used by newborn photographers so here is an example…). This pose is great for babies who have just had a lovely big feed as it allows the milk to settle while they are in a more upright position.
From there I move quickly through a series of poses some of which all babies love, the best example of this is the side pose (this is also a firm favourite with mummies and daddies!)
And one or two that some babies don’t like… A great example of this is head on arms (add in image). As this pose involves baby lying on their tummy I find that a few babies just don’t like it.
That said I will where possible give it a try and while posing baby I keep an eye on their cues telling me that it is not comfortable for them. These include baby stirring, tensing up and wriggling and I will quickly move on to another pose if they are just not settling into it.
Once I have achieved all the poses I have planned for the session we will move onto the prop images. It is also a good time for a top up feed if needed.
And at this stage partners sometimes get a wee job to do…occasionally if I need someone to sit alongside baby to ensure they are safe and settled I will ask one parent to help (don’t worry it is not too taxing and I will fully explain what you need to do!)
AND FINALLY… PARENTS!
Parent images are my favourite, it is beautiful to see the pride, joy and love oozing from new parents when they cuddle their baby and this emotion transfers beautifully through the camera into the printed image!
I know, I know , I know– you don’t feel your best, you have had no where near enough sleep and you hate having your photograph taken…
I have heard these all before – in fact these comments are so common I wrote a blog post on why I feel so passionate about capturing parent and baby images during the session – you can read it here… https://www.fionamckean.com/be-present/
The end .
Well not quite…
Once the photography session is finished we will arrange a date and time, usually around 7-10 days later for you to come back an have a look at your beautiful images.
If you would like to see if your due date is available or you have any questions please drop me a message using the contact form below or email fiona@fionamckeanphotography.com
Is my due date available? – Click here