Newborn Photography Session June 2016

When you book a newborn photography session with me you get a pack of information including a session "guide". We all know babies are un predictable though,  so I thought it would be nice to share a recent session with you as an example of what happens when you come to have a newborn photography session here with me in Poole, Dorset.

Your newborn session will most likely take place in my home, I have a studio space in my large open plan living room, and I am sure you know by now that I like to use natural light. I have many reasons for this, if you are interested in why I don't use studio lighting please take a look at my natural light blog post. This is part of my natural business model and it works for my small friendly natural photography business. If you book a FRESH48 session, this will take place in your home. I can also come to your home for a newborn session, but please contact me to discuss this if required beforehand.

Last week I photographed the gorgeous little Edith at 14 days old.   
I put some relaxing music on and start setting up for her arriving.
​Her parents arrived with her at 9:30am, I find this the most convenient time for newborn sessions especially as we need to allow up to 4 hours.  I really enjoy welcoming clients into my home,  and having all the "home" facilities to hand.  I made them a hot drink each , which is always a novelty when you have a newborn! After chatting (which I tend to get carried away with) I take Edith out of her car seat and start getting ready to take photos. This is the stage which usually takes the longest time as she was nice and settled from sleeping in the car. She wakes and eventually decides that she wants a feed, this is fine and all expected, we have plenty of time. Dad suggests that I take some breastfeeding photos, I jump at the chance!  

After Edith has settled herself in, I dress her in some knitted dungarees and lay her on a fur rug on the floor. I tend to start sessions off like this, babies like to have a good stretch after being in their car seats during their journey over. All babies are different though and sometimes we do go straight into the sleepy "poses" or I tuck them up into a basket to start the session. I have to be totally flexible and go with the flow on the day.  
​And we are off, time to start taking photos!
Edith is wide awake and happy.  Some parents worry that baby should be sleeping for their photos, where as in fact an ideal session contains both wide awake and sleepy gently posed shots. Some times baby is awake for the whole session, this is totally fine too! It is always lovely to get some alert shots of your newborn.

After Edith has has a good kick about and has shown us some adorable facial expressions, we go into "prop" shots. This time I decide to use a small wooden crate and a small round bowl. I have lots of baskets and boxes here to choose from, I give parents the option of which they would like but most are usually happy for me to choose. I also show Mum and Dad my photobooks and ask if there are any particular images they are after today. They are happy to go with the flow, as are most, but some parents do have a particular idea of what they are after.  Edith's Mum and Dad say that they like the sleepy tummy pose, so I try my hardest to get this for them later on during the session.

After a few feeds, and nappy changes we manage to get Edith to sleep.  I gently put her down on her tummy ready to try and photograph her in the sleepy tummy pose.  She likes to be wrapped up, so I start taking photos and then slowly take the wrap away, and hooray we have done it! This is usually my "aim" of a newborn session, to get you a photo like this, but we don't always get there, and that is ok, we always manage to get some gorgeous awake or wrapped shots if we don't. 

We decide to call it a day when Edith becomes unsettled again. I could go on taking photos all day, but I usually leave it to baby to tell me when they have had enough. She has been amazing today, and we are wrapped up in just over 2 hours, which is the average time of my newborn sessions. 

If you would like more information on newborn photography sessions please visit my newborn section, where you can also find a price list. Or please contact me if you are interested in booking in.