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How to Prepare Your Newborn for a Photosession
Please find our recommendations for preparing for your newborn session. The suggestions on this list came from years of experience and help us provide you with a session that goes smoothly and allows us to create beautiful newborn portraits that you can treasure for a lifetime.
- This one is probably the most important: newborn portrait sessions go smoothly when both baby and parents are calm, happy and relaxed.
- Please have a bottle of formula or breast milk along with a pacifier if you use one. We understand that many mothers are trying to avoid a pacifier during this critical time of learning to breastfeed, and we can use it if absolutely necessary. We will only use it as a last resort to soothe a fussy baby. If you are adamantly against a pacifier or bottle, please let us know and we will accommodate your needs.
- DO NOT CIRCUMCISE your baby boy before your session. We will be wrapping him tightly while naked and moving him between different poses which can be extremely painful with a raw circumcision. We WILL NOT photograph a newborn boy who has been circumcised less than 6 days prior to the session.
- Sleepy babies photograph beautifully: to help them sleep through the session, you will be feeding your baby a FULL feeding at the beginning of the session, so please schedule your baby’s feeding to have him HUNGRY right before the session.
- Dress baby in loose fitting clothes to avoid any lines on skin – zip-up or button up oncies or comfy outfits that open in the front are best: this avoids us having to lift anything tight over baby’s head.
- Newborn sessions generally take 2-3 hours, so please plan for that.
- If you there are older siblings that will be included in photos, those images will be photographed at the start of the session. We suggest either bringing two cars so that Dad can take older sibling(s) back home or to grab a snack while we complete the session.
- To keep your baby comfortable, warm and sleepy, we’ll be heating our shooting area intensely, up to 80”, so dress in layers that you can remove some if you get too warm and have a change of clothes for yourself .
- No cameras are allowed during your session. We understand this is a momentous time in your life that you want to capture. However, we are working very hard to create unique, artistic images for you and another camera in our midst is distracting and uncomfortable for the artist. Please respect copyright and the artist’s individual creation and do not take pictures during your session.
- I wish I could ask you to keep your baby AWAKE for 2-3 hours before your session. I know this is hard. So most importantly, if you have a chance, get some rest. Happy, relaxed mommy – is what your baby needs the most – it will help your baby to relax as well.
- Spicy, fat foods, sweets, caffeinated drinks can also present a problem for a baby to settle into the deep sleep. Dear breastfeeding moms, please use your judgment as for the diet intensity 24 hours before the session.
- We recommend bringing very few people: no more than yourself, your spouse/partner, children and one guest if necessary. Lots of people during the shoot make for somewhat challenging creative conditions.
What To Wear
To help you out with clothes selection, please check out our “What To Wear Guide”. These are some recommendations specific for the newborn sessions.
For Platinum Sessions that include images with parents, we recommend a long sleeve shirt for Dad in a neutral color (no black or bright white) with no buttons. Buttons can scratch baby’s skin. If Dad is comfortable showing his chest for a few photos this can make for some very tender, skin-on-skin images. Think “muted” tones, to avoid distracting from the baby’s tenderness, keeping your image display goals in mind: it is a good idea to select color choices that will fit well with your home design.
Bring a strapless bra in nude or white for mom. We will be wrapping mom in fabrics here at the studio. Siblings should be dressed in neutral tones like dad. Jeans or khaki pants work well for boys and “sundress” style looks with no pattern look best on girls. Again, keep colors neutral and “muted” so that faces stand out more than the clothes they are wearing. Stripes can create visual distortions. Bright colors detract from your children’s beautiful expressions. Again there is much more information about what to wear and how to coordinate clothing in our “What To Wear Guide”.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call or email us. Thank you and congratulations again on your new addition!
