What To Expect
Pre-Session:
Planning Your Session
After the session fee is paid, I will send over a Newborn Pre-Session Questionnaire for you to fill out to help me plan and design your session.
Date
I suggest booking your appointment as soon as possible, as I only take a limited number of sessions each month. I highly recommend booking by the beginning of your 3rd trimester to ensure we can fit your newborn in. If you’ve already delivered your baby, you can still contact me and see if I have any availability as some babies come before or after their expected date. Once you have signed the contract and paid the sitting fee we will set a tentative session date based on your due date. I completely understand that babies rarely come when they are predicted so we will set an official date as soon as your baby arrives. When your infant is born, please get in touch with me as soon as possible. I prefer to photograph babies in their first two weeks of life. They sleep better, don’t have reflux or colic, and usually haven’t developed baby acne or cradle cap.
Location
I have a portrait studio at my home, in Pleasant Grove, that I invite all my clients to. I will have all necessary equipment (i.e. blankets, bowls, baskets, headbands, and/or hats) all setup when you arrive for your session. I offer my home studio for all my newborn sessions because it allows me to fully prepare for your session beforehand. This saves us both the setup time at a different location and allows me access to all my equipment should we need to have a quick prop change.
Outfits
I photograph all my babies in their birthday suits and some specially made outfits or wraps. Don't worry, I take every precaution to make sure that all private areas of the baby are hidden. My style of newborn photography is sleeping, naked baby. If you have a closet full of outfits you want to use in your session, please take inventory and pick ONE of your favorite outfits. We'll use it at the end of the session if the baby is still sleepy. Each time we change an outfit, we wake up the baby and run the risk of not getting them back to sleep. This is the main reason I ask to not bring in outfits from home. I would be happy to schedule another session down the road to photograph your baby in any special outfits. Feel free to bring along any special accessories like headbands/bows, hats, bow ties, etc. I might fall in love with something you have and may want to use it in your session. So not only will your additions give us more to choose from but they will be unique to your baby's photos.
Siblings
If siblings are included in your session, we will do those either at the very beginning or end of the session. If someone is available to bring the siblings over to the studio toward the end of the session, or take the siblings when we are finished with their portion, it helps the session go smoother (it’s quite boring for a 2 year old to sit in a warm, quiet environment for several hours). I do however have a few toys and free wifi available to help entertain your other children.
Model Release
Before your session, I will ask you to sign a model release. This allows me to use your images to promote my business. This will be sent to your email before your session and can be signed online.
Preparing For Your Session:
Feeding
Before you arrive at your newborn session, feed your baby a full feeding plus some. Make sure and burp your baby after their very full feeding. A gassy tummy can make a very sad baby. We’ll take as many pit stops during the session as needed to fill the baby back up if they’re running on low.
Diaper and Clothing
Please make sure that you bring your baby wearing a loose zip sleeping pajama set, or with only their diaper on. Having your baby in their diaper only will eliminate the need to undress them, thus waking and/or upsetting them. Please have the diaper loosely applied as well. This will decrease the need to photoshop out skin wrinkles made by the diaper edges.
Soothing
Babies need to suck to soothe. Sometimes the difference between nailing the pose and missing it is as simple as a binky. I will also have white noise and a space heater on hand to help make your baby feel more comfortable.
During Your Session:
Time
Expect your newborn session to take anywhere between 2-4 hours. Babies are on their own schedule with eating and sleeping, so it’s my job to just be patient with them and enjoy rocking them to sleep.
Heat
It’s going to be warm….very, very warm during your newborn’s session. My goal is to get the studio up to about 84 degrees. I have heating pads under the props, heaters throughout the room, and the studio heat is on. This way when your baby is undressed they won’t be chilled and get upset.
Posing
Typically, I will begin by photographing your baby on my bean bag. I have a variety of blankets that I use for this time frame and they will be interchanged at times. By using the bean bag, I am looking for some great body shots and capturing your baby’s little details like his or her hands and feet. I ensure that your baby is always nice and cozy by placing a heating pad on a low setting underneath the blanket that is being used at the time. I also place a pee pad on top of the heating pad to catch any accidents. After the bean bag poses are achieved, I move on to photographing your newborn in props and then with siblings or parents.
Messy
The one thing I can almost guarantee will happen…. I will be peed on multiple times in a session. I am prepared for that. Towels, wipes, rags all within easy reach for a quick clean up. Guess what, your baby will poop. Probably more than once. Sometimes once per set-up. I’m used to it, I expect it, I dress for it! I wear cheap and comfortable clothes that I can throw away when they get pooped on! All of my fabrics are specially made for newborns, they are all washable and get washed between each session!
Parents
Your job during the session is to catch up on any reading, sleeping, or social media! I may ask for your assistance during certain poses to keep the baby safe. If we are doing parent images, I will guide you in how I want your hands positioned, then I will hand you your baby and maneuver hands, feet and head to get the perfect shot.
After Your Session:
Ordering Appointment
After your session we will schedule a time for your gallery viewing/ordering appointment. I typically like to have this be a few days after the session so I can go through your images and select the very best for you to choose from. At this appointment you will select which images you would like, and have the opportunity to purchase professional grade products. The images you select will then be fully edited and a link will be emailed to you within 2 weeks from the order appointment. Product purchase delivery time is based on which products are ordered.