Well here we are back in lockdown, again! 
I first wrote this blog back in April last year but I thought I would re do it as it might be useful to more people now ( unfortunately) 

Giving birth to your baby during a world wide pandemic is no mean feat! But you are creating history right now, bringing a child into the world at this time is heroic, please do not forget how amazing you are , you can do this!  

Unfortunately, you will not be able to get any professional newborn photographs taken at this time. So I have written a simple guide to help you with taking some photographs of your own baby at home.  

I photograph babies up to 5 months here at Samantha Prewett Photography in Poole in a similar way to newborns, you can read more about this in my baby section. I would love to see you and your baby after this is all over and the world has started to return to a safe place to be.

You really do not need any props to take some lovely photographs at home yourself. Just a couple of blankets. Find somewhere in your home with lots of natural light, turn off your flash and any other lights you have in your home. If you have a nice rug you can lay your baby on the floor. If you have a favourite outfit you can dress them in that, or if you want to take their clothes off for some photos make sure that it is nice and warm in your home first. I heat up my home for a few hours before any newborn photography session.
Don't try and attempt any "poses" that you have seen newborn photographers create. We have had lots of training and many years of experience so we know how to safely position your baby without risking their safety. ​

This is one of my all time favourite newborn photographs. I love taking simple, close up photos of newborns, especially when they are awake. I find the morning is usually when they are most content and happy so if you can try some photos as early as you can, as soon as you have enough daylight. For a natural, uncluttered background, simply lay baby on a light coloured blanket or throw. If you have a special one that you would like to use, all the better for those precious memories.

If you follow me you will know that I love baby feet! There is nothing cuter than tiny little baby toes. So make sure you take some photos of your babies feet and hands. If you have another adult or other children at home, you can get them to hold babies feet or hands in their hands whilst you take a few photos so that you can see how small they are.  

Although you may not feel very photogenic straight after having a baby, trust me you look amazing. The new mum (and Dad) look is something you will definitely want to remember.
I simply love this photo so much, Dad was almost asleep here, you can really feel the closeness in the photograph.
Whilst most parents chose to have parent and baby photos when they come to me for their newborn photography sessions, not all do. The ones that don't still have some photos on their phones of them with their baby. Trust me you will regret it in years to come if you do not. Even if you are on your own with your baby, the wonders of modern technology allow you to take selfies on your phone, just remember to hold the phone so it is looking down on you and your baby not up your noses. 

This is the most important piece of advice that I can offer you.
There is nothing more precious than a printed photo book or a photo album, or even a shoebox full of photographs to look back on over the years. Photographs become so much more valuable over time, trust me , my children are now 9 and 11 and they love looking at all of our photo albums from when they were smaller. 
My professional printing lab was close for a while back in the first lockdown so I have given the FreePrints app a go for our scrapbook photos, I have to say I was impressed. Remember to chose "Matt" finish so your photos are kept free from fingerprint marks.

You can read my Covid-19 statement here, which will let you know what to expect if you are booked in with me and your baby arrives during this pandemic.

When you are looking to book a newborn photographer it is always a good idea to look at examples of full sessions not just their favourites hand picked for their online portfolios. Whilst I hope that my website gives you a feel for my natural style and exactly what to expect, I always think it is nice to share an entire gallery every so often so you get to see an example of everything you get not just my "favourite" images that I choose to share on social media and on my website portfolios. 

I have been doing this twice a year over the past few years and if you would like to see some other examples of full newborn galleries, I have copied some links at the bottom of this blog post for you.

I have chosen (with the kind agreement of his parents) this gorgeous little man for my recent example newborn gallery as they chose to have parent and baby photos too so you can see some examples of these images aswell. He was just 10 days old when he came to see me for his newborn photography session.

A lot of people think of newborn photography to be just cute curled up photos of sleepy babies. Yes this is some of what I do, but I love to see them awake too! It is my job to beautifully capture your precious little one just as they are, if they want to sleep that is great, but likewise if they are awake for their entire session that is absolutely fine too!
This lovely little man gave us both. 

Although I have a large selection of beautiful, natural props here, parents sometimes choose to bring some personal items with them to their newborn photography sessions. You are more than welcome to do this, but please do check with me first if they are large items. This lovely family brought along a few special items to their session.

Mum and Dad sent me some of their favourite images over before their session, so I could incorporate the props and colours they liked during their newborn photography session.

We even managed to get a windy smile, awwwwwww.

If you choose to have parent and baby photos during your newborn photography session you will probably end up with quite a large gallery to choose your favourites from! 
This is because I like to show these in colour and black and white, and where I do not show every single shot I have taken of your baby, I tend to include ALL of the parent ones as I know you will like to choose the way you look and every one has their own opinions on which photo of themselves they will like the best. As you can see here, there is quite the variety!

I would like to thank this lovely family for allowing me to share this session, and I hope they will look back on this blog in years to come ( I do not delete old blog posts) with fond memories as their gorgeous little one grows.

If you would like to read more about my newborn photography sessions, you can find out more in the newborn area of my website, or you can see these other examples of full newborn galleries that I have blogged over the past few years:

​https://www.samanthaprewettphotography.co.uk/blog/full-newborn-photography-gallery-from-february-2020

https://www.samanthaprewettphotography.co.uk/blog/february-25th-2019

https://www.samanthaprewettphotography.co.uk/blog/a-full-newborn-photography-session-from-january-2018

https://www.samanthaprewettphotography.co.uk/blog/a-full-gallery-from-a-recent-newborn-photography-session

It is always a good idea to see examples of full sessions when booking a photographer. Websites and social media are a good place to look to see if you like my style, but you need to see examples of what you get from one session not just my favourites cherry picked for my  portfolio. 

Here you can read about a recent newborn photography session and see EVERY SINGLE shot that was presented in their gallery. 

It has been a while since I shared an entire newborn photography gallery with you all , so I thought it was about time to "update" with a new one. Not because I don't like the other images anymore, neither have they gone "out of date" , but because I love showing you how different every session is.

This gorgeous little girl was just 9 days old when she came to see me. She brought her big sister along too and we also got lots of gorgeous family photos during the session too. We started the session with some sibling photos as I like to show older siblings that they are involved, its not just all about the baby. If they are not keen on the idea we have time to come back to them at the end of the session , or even capture those tiny little moments of interaction during the session as they don't always want to "pose" for a photograph.
On this particular occasion, big sister was happier than little sister to have her photo taken!
Mum and Dad brought some gorgeous matching handmade outfits along which were made by a lovely friend of mine at Loved Garms.

I always ask before the session which props and colours parents would like to use during their session so I can set them up ready. Depending on the package you choose, we usually have time for 3-5 different set ups during newborn photography sessions.

Newborn photography sessions that take place here with me are generally focused around your baby, but we can include a few family photos if you would like. If you would like a more family orientated session, a newborn lifestyle session where I visit you at home might work better for you.

I like to take some photos with no props as well, just baby. But as you can see even when I do use props they never dominate the image, your beautiful baby will always be the focus of every single shot that I take during your session.

Like "most" babies she was awake for a lot of the session but we got her to sleep towards the end for some sleepy photos. Every newborn baby is different, all of my sessions are baby led, so if they are wide awake that is completely fine I work them to produce these gorgeous natural images that you will treasure. We work to their schedule not mine. 

At the end of this session went spent a few moments capturing some gorgeous natural family photos. These photos are always informal and you get to sit and snuggle up together on my lovely new sofa whilst I capture the moments for you to treasure.

I would like to thank this lovely family for letting me share their gorgeous photographs with you all.

Please contact me for more information on newborn photography sessions or if you would like to read more about newborn photography with me in Poole, Dorset you can visit the newborn photography section of my website.

I first wrote this blog back in 2016, attempting to inform people why I shoot with natural light only and why (to me) it is better than artificial light. 
​To this very day, it is still THE most important aspect of my newborn photography, but 4 years down the line from originally writing it, I don't need to convince people anymore as you all know! Every single client who visits me tells me exactly what I have been trying to tell you all for the past 7 years, that the natural light and home environment that I shoot in is wonderful, so relaxing and calming to walk into and that they would never want it any other way.

Rewinding back to when started my business 7 years ago,  people always used to ask why I shoot with natural light only, or usually they assume I shoot with it until I am able to get myself a "studio" with artificial lighting. Hence, I felt the need to explain myself, as it is a topic that I feel very strongly about. 
Well, the answer to this question is in the question itself, it is natural. Natural is part of my brand, natural posing, natural light, natural newborn photography, natural baby photography, natural family photography. Now I don't as most people know this! 

I know most photographers use artificial lighting indoors, especially here in the UK where the weather can be very unpredictable. But if you know how to use it correctly , it really can be the most beautiful natural resource.  Yes, on some very dull (and likewise very sunny!) days it can be harder to work with, but by changing your camera settings and sometimes moving baby slightly, or yourself, you can achieve some amazing results.

Natural light is not the easy option. Quite the opposite in fact, it takes a lot more work than studio lighting. There is so much more to learn , to think about, than setting up one or two lights and not having to think much about lighting during the photography session.  Natural light is constantly changing, so as well as settling and "posing" baby, camera setting often need to be constantly changed as does positioning of baby and the set up with the change of the power of the sun. But I would not have it any other way.  I have used artificial lighting in the past on many occasions, so I have an in depth knowledge of both, however I was always taken back by the beauty of natural light so I made the decision to work only with this. I feel that it offers the client a beautiful, gentle, pure, natural, organic feel which is what my brand sets about to achieve. 

If you would like to read more about your newborn photography experience with me, here are a couple of other useful articles that when all read together pretty much sum up my newborn photography business. 

* Why I offer newborn photography from my home 
* Newborn photography experience with Samantha Prewett Photography

You can see more of my beautiful newborn photographs and find out more information such as pricing in the newborn area of my website. If you are interested in a photography session please do contact me and I will happy to send you a beautiful booking information pack.

Over the past 4 years, I have had the absolute pleasure of watching this gorgeous little boy growing from a tiny helpless dependent little newborn baby into an independent adventurous 4 year old big brother throughout our 9 photography sessions together

I first met this gorgeous little one back in July 2016 when he was just 14 days old. He came here to Samantha Prewett Photography for his newborn photography session and we have continued to have regular photo sessions ever since. 

For his 6 month photography session, I visited their home to capture the next stage in his development. When your baby starts to sit up on their own, its the perfect time for their next photo session. It was so lovely to see how he had changed, and we even took a photo on the same star blanket that they brought to his newborn photography session here with me in Poole.

I returned to their family home for his one year birthday celebration photography session. What better way to celebrate than with a birthday cake! This little man is lucky to have a summer birthday so we could do some indoor and outdoor photos during his session. As you can see he loved getting stuck into his cake, and we also managed to get some lovely natural family photographs during this photo session too. 

Two years isn't always the "easiest" age to photograph, we are long past the stages of being able to gently pose them or get them to sit nicely for their photograph to be taken. So we decided to capture an adventure, one of their favourite places to go as a family, . Sessions like this bring a whole new meaning to professional photography, a snipet of time captured forever. All those lovely memories of what you love to do together professionally captured to look back on for years to come.  This is why I thoroughly enjoy photographing your children of all ages, and getting to capture them as they grow is even more rewarding for me, and you. 

In June 2019  he was promoted to big brother!! I was super excited to hear their news and had been looking forward to this session for a very long time. It means so much when families come back to me with their new babies, even more so when I have been lucky enough to capture their journey over the years.

In November 2019, I was invited to capture the latest family memories for this lovely family at their home. Little sister is now 5 months old and he is such an amazing big brother! 

Wow we have now had 9 sessions together! This gorgeous little man has just started school and now has a 1 year old sister! This year we created more memories at the same place we went to for his 2 year photography session in Wimborne, Dorset. It was so lovely seeing how much he has grown and he is a lovely polite happy little boy. I loved watching how he was with his little sister. Here are just a few of the photos from their most recent session:

It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know this lovely family over the past four years, who I can now proudly call friends and not just clients, and I can't wait for our next adventure together. 

If you are ready for me to capture the next stage of your family journey, you can check out my family photography page or you can get in touch here. Don't forget you can use your £25 voucher that came with your photographs AND if you have only recently had your newborn session and are not ready for the next stage yet you can even book a session for next year at this years price. 

Hello, I am Samantha. I would like to welcome you into my beautiful home and my world of newborn baby photography. 

Bringing your tiny precious little newborn baby into my home is a perfect relaxing experience for all of us. I want you to feel at ease here, as you would in your own home. This is my main reason for choosing my home as my "studio" space rather than a purpose built studio which can sometimes be a bit daunting to brand new parents. Let me make you a hot drink for you to enjoy as I settle you and your baby in.

My lovely open plan space has a full kitchen should you need to warm up any bottles, and I can even provide you with a tub of cotton wool and water which to clean your baby if we need to, sometimes newborns have gacky eyes so a quick wipe now saves me lots of editing time and helps your beautiful photographs stay natural. My bathroom is just the other side of the wall where the photography session will take place, so you will never be far away from your baby should you need to use it whilst you are here, please don't feel you need to wait until you get home!

If you haven't already given me your "wish list" of photos we will sit down together to discuss which props and colours you would like me to use.  I focus on this more than which "poses" you would like, as every single baby is different, some like to go in certain positions, some not so much. You can expect to spend 2-3 hours with me, and I spend all this time getting to know what your baby likes and what soothes them, making your baby led experience with me as enjoyable and relaxing as possible. I have years of experience on hand, but your baby is always in charge. Quite often they will not want to sleep as it is a new environment for them, but please do not worry , I have lots of ways of photographing awake babies, and I absolutely love to see their eyes open in some of the photographs. 

Most parents to be / new parents have lots of questions when they get in touch to book, so I have recently created a new page of FAQs to read. If you would like to read more about your newborn photography experience with Samantha Prewett Photography, I have another useful blog I wrote a couple of years ago but it is still applicable. This goes into more detail about what to expect when you come to me. I hope you have enjoyed reading this little insight into my world of newborn photography, and please do get in touch if you are interested in booking your newborn photography session with me. 

If you follow me or any other newborn photographers on social media, you will notice we are often going about "booking" in whilst you are pregnant, not waiting until your baby arrives to get in touch. But how do we "book" you in when we don't know when your baby is going to arrive? Unlike some other photographers, I do not give you provisional dates  (which will undoubtedly need to be re arranged) I simply make sure I have some times around your due date kept available for you, then once you get in touch to let me know your baby has arrived, we arrange a mutually convenient time for your newborn photography session. As you can understand I need to be quite flexible with my time, hence I can only book in a certain amount of babies per month. Babies are often early or late, which sometimes leads to me having a few last minute spaces available, so I sometimes can accommodate clients who get in touch after their baby arrives. But I can not guarantee space, and I often have to say that I am unfortunately fulled booked.  If this does happen, I will never turn you away but simply say we might need to wait a few weeks. I photograph all ages up to 5 months in a "newborn style" but as you can imagine they grow really quickly and a 4/5 week old baby will not be as curled up as a 7 day old. You can read more about my "older newborn" photography sessions in another blog post that I have written.

There are other reasons and benefits to booking in before your due month. It is easier for you to find and book a photographer when you are expecting as you will have more time, and once you have "booked in" you don't need to do anything else until your session apart from a simple message to let me know your little one has arrived. We can spend time talking about your session and what you would like, and it gives me chance to post out your lovely booking form and if you are local get a Little Pack of Love goody bag over to you, which contains lots of fantastic freebies and vouchers. 

Also by booking  in early you get the chance to get a free beautiful wooden photo block as a thank you from me for being super organised (as it helps me to be more organised too!) and if you are booking a maternity photography session too, you can get a £25 discount (terms and condition apply, please message me for more information) and a further £25 discount off any future family photography sessions.

 

You can find out lots more information on newborn photography sessions in Poole with me under my newborn photography section or read more newborn photography articles on my blog. If you would like any further information or would like to book in, please contact me.

Dad's and their babies. Not so commonly talked about and shown in newborn photography as we may think. After all, its usually Mum who takes lead and spends hours looking online for their perfect photographer. 
But how do they feel about all this, what do they think?
Do they mostly come along to the session for support, or because they are told to or are they equally involved?

With some exceptions it is usually Mum to be/new Mum who gets in touch to arrange their newborn photography session and whilst it is usually a joint decision, Mum usually initiates this. Usually Dad does come along if they are still on paternity leave which is a great reason to have your newborn photography session as early as possible. 

Whilst some Dad's are more than happy to be photographed, and in some cases it can be them to suggest it rather than Mum, just as many, if not more are very anxious about it all. I want to help you to relax and put your mind at ease if it something you are currently or may soon be thinking about. So with this in mind, I have spoken to two Dad's who I have photographed recently with their newborn babies when they came to Samantha Prewett Photography in Poole.

​"I always remember being very nervous on the drive there, I was quite short with everyone in the car but we got there and seeing Edward just being allowed to be free and he was so cute, then I can remember being worried about the photo with me cause I was looking scruffy as a tramp with low standards but I held Edward and just looked down at him, and knew I needed this wonderful memory, and everyday I look at the canvas of our little family and just feel proud. I love the photos we have they always look so warm and just capture our pure love for Edward, I even quite like the way my bald spot looks"

​"I  was slightly apprehensive about having my photo taken as I'm self conscious and I always thought it was more of a 'mum and baby' thing which dads didn't generally get involved with. However towards the end of the shoot Samantha invited me to have a parent shot and, after seeing the lovely set-ups for Orla during the shoot, I felt more confident that the end result would be great. I actually felt very relaxed during the shoot and enjoyed spending time with my baby. Now I have beautiful photos with my little girl and, as she has grown so quickly, am very glad I took the opportunity while she was so tiny. I would definitely recommend having parent shots taken to other dads - it's not just a mum thing!"

I feel so privileged to have such wonderful clients who are happy to share such beautiful personal thoughts with me, I hope these wonderful Dad's  help you when you are planning your newborn photography session and you consider having a photograph with your newborn baby, they are only this tiny for a really small amount of time. I would like to thank both Graeme and Rob for their beautiful words. I couldn't have written this article without you both.
So what do you think? Did you have a photograph with you baby during your newborn photography session? or are you ready to book your newborn session, and have some beautiful timeless photos with your baby which you will treasure forever. 
Please don't feel pressured though, every session goes by your and your babies pace, what ever you want is always good for me, and I still do quite a few newborn sessions with no parent photos at all, especially if you are planning a family session soon and have other children. If you do choose to have parent shots, your newborn session is focused around your little bundle so you will only be in the "spotlight" for a few minutes and you can relax for the rest of the time you are here.

So if you are ready to find out more about a Newborn photography session with me, I have more blog posts crammed with useful information under my newborn category or you can visit the newborn section of my website here. And please do get in touch if I can help you plan your newborn session further. Thank you.

It has been over 6 months since I shared an entire newborn photography gallery with you all , so I thought it was about time to "update" with a new one. Not because I don't like the other images anymore, neither have they gone "out of date" , but because I love showing you how different every session is. I also think its really important if you are looking for a newborn photographer that you see this, rather than simply the "best" of their images which feature on their website/social media.

This gorgeous little man was 12 days old when he came to see me here at Samantha Prewett Photography in Poole.  I usually photograph newborns around 7 days (but anything up to 2-3 weeks is good), he arrived on Christmas eve so I gave him the first slot I have available for 2018.
We started off with some wrapped up photos, as you can see he was so content that this sent him back to sleep, aaaaawwww.

Some babies take a while to settle in when the arrive, but he was very content. Your session is totally baby led,  I work with your baby when you come in so I never have a set list to take certain photos in a certain order. Sometimes we start with lots of cuddles and settling, sometimes your little bundle is ready for photos straight away. Every baby is different.

After the first set of photos, he was wide awake and still very content and happy, time for some awake shots. Whilst we all love curled up sleepy baby photos, I simply adore awake ones too where you can see their bright eyes. A perfect session provides a balance between the two,

After the second set up, he was still not ready to sleep. But that does not matter, I have plenty of ways to photograph both awake and asleep babies. So we moved onto the next lot of photos, again he was wide awake and we got to see his gorgeous eyes.

After these photos, we all decided it might be time for little one to go to sleep. Mum and Dad were particularly set on some certain images where had to be asleep, so I wrapped him up and helped him and he fell asleep. This does not always happen, so please don't worry if it does not, we will still get some beautiful photographs.  

To finish up the session, as requested, we did some parent photos. Most of my clients have photos with their babies, but some are not ready. Again this is totally your decision, but I do urge you all to definitely consider letting me capture a photo of yourself with your newborn. If you are not keen when you see your gallery, you don't need to choose it.
If you decide to have parent photos whilst you are here, you might end up with a large selection to choose from as I like to leave the decision making to you!

Their session was absolutely perfect and I could not wait to start editing these gorgeous images. Somehow they have managed to choose their favourite 10 images, via their private online gallery which have now been ordered and will be on their way to them really soon.
I would like to thank this lovely family for letting me share their gorgeous photographs with them all. I am really looking forward to organising and sending their prints and USB over soon.

If you are expecting a baby this year, now is the perfect time to "book" in your newborn photography session. If you book before 36 weeks I have a brand new offer where you can claim a free wooden photo block with your photography package, worth £30! Please contact me for more information on this amazing offer or if you would like to read more about newborn photography with me in Poole, Dorset you can visit the newborn section of my website here.

A newborn lifestyle or "fresh 48" session takes place in your home soon after you baby has arrived. My main aim for these sessions is to capture the new addition to your family in his/her natural home surroundings.
​For this session, at the request of the parents, I brought a small amount of props with me and managed to capture a beautiful mix of natural lifestyle and some slightly more "set up" images.

I met this gorgeous little man last month at his home in Poole, Dorset for his Fresh 48 photography session. He is very lucky indeed, to have 2 adoring older brothers, who were amazing at having their photos taken with him.

I was very lucky this home had a large window so I was in natural light heaven. I managed to get some gorgeous shots in front of the window before moving on to some family photographs.

I always aim to capture some natural shots during these lifestyle session, of you feeding, cuddling, interacting with your baby , and this is exactly what we managed to do.

There are so many beautiful photographs from this Fresh 48 session, I can't possibly include them all on here. But Mum and Dad loved them so much, the decided to buy them all! 

Newborn lifestyle photography sessions are becoming increasing popular, they are an even more natural way to capture your family , and they work perfectly if you already have children as they are always more comfortable in their own homes rather than coming into a strange new place. If you are expecting soon, and would like more information on a newborn photography session, please visit my newborn area of my website, or contact me. I look forward to hearing from you.
info@samanthaprewettphotography.co.uk
01202 465053 
​07929888074