Welcoming baby Gray to the studio was just a dream. His mama reached out to me after he was already born and was hoping it wasn’t “too late” to book a newborn session.
As the popularity of posed newborn photography has grown, there are tons of photographers out there who look at babies as clay they want to mold into these perfect poses taught to them by expert photographers who are masters of poses with names like “froggy”, “taco” and “huck finn”. They feel that if baby isn’t young enough, deeply asleep enough or flexible enough that they can’t possibly pose for a newborn photography session. I know this because I’ve learned from several of these experts, and I’ve spent years executing these perfect poses. And they are beautiful, don’t get me wrong.
But after a while, what I learned is that mom and dad aren’t looking at the photos inspecting whether the baby’s fingers are laying flat under their cheek or if baby’s bum up pose is curled enough. Mom and dad will look at the photos searching for that cute face baby made at this phase when they were about to yawn or the way baby always liked to sleep with one arm over his head.
Not only that, but as a mom of three babies who started as newborns, I know a few things to be true:
1) Birth and the early postpartum phase rarely go as planned. So while I love to schedule sessions in baby’s first two weeks - mostly because by week three, baby has already grown and changed A LOT! - sometimes baby arrives early and needs NCU time (or arrives on time or late and needs NICU time), or mom has complications with delivery and recovery and needs time to get a handle on her own health. All of these things are MUCH more important that a 14-day window for newborn photos.
2) Adjusting to life with a new baby at home with older siblings is no small feat. I know this from personal experience. When we brought our third baby home from the hospital, my middle child who was 22 months old at the time decided to jump right out of his crib two nights later. The next two weeks were insane, dealing with an overtired toddler who wouldn’t nap or sleep and a newborn (and a 4 year old acting out because everyone else was getting all the attention). It was rough. In the midst of those insane first two weeks, we dragged our sleep deprived family of 5 to our posed newborn photographer that I had hired, and while we managed to make it work, I wish I would have been able to give myself some GRACE. I’m sure we could have captured something equally beautiful a couple weeks later once I had my “mom of 3 sea legs”.
3) Not everyone is a planner. While I encourage mamas to schedule their session in their second or early third trimester to ensure a place reserved on my calendar, many moms don’t realize that they should be planning these sorts of things in advance. While I can’t always guarantee last minute availability, I always do my best to make time in my schedule for last minute newborn sessions because I love new babies. LOVE.
Babies are perfect subjects at any number of days, weeks or months. There is no wrong time for your baby's first photo session. This sweet guy who came to my studio was one day shy of his one month birthday, and he couldn't be any cuter!
My style of posed newborn photography is flexible and baby-led. If baby is sleepy, we aim for some sweet sleepy poses. If baby is awake, we photograph baby awake. If baby is fussing, we pause to care for baby, recognizing that even these moments of soothing baby can be beautifully captured as well. If baby wants his hands by his face or stretched over his head, we roll with it, because that’s who he is. We led baby lead the way with gentle guidance from me, a seasoned photographer who lays him in beautifully minimal set ups and in gorgeous light so that baby’s details can shine.
