How does a newborn photo session work?

Is this your first baby, and your first experience with a newborn photographer? Im sure you’re wondering what you can expect for your newborn photo session with me! Below I will run through my workflow for a regular newborn session. No appointments are built the same, because no baby is the same! I shoot in a baby-led style. If baby is not liking a pose, we always move on after one or two tries. We want this to be a safe and stress-free experience for you and your baby, so this means your baby is the boss! Each session will be slightly different as we make adjustments for your unique child.

When you arrive at your session, You can get comfortable in the parent area. You will notice most of your props and set-ups are laid out. During your booking process you will receive a questionnaire that will help me get a feel for your style and preferences for your shoot. This helps me pick and style your sets before you arrive. If you have seen props or set-ups on my page that you love, you can put these in your questionnaire so that I know to incorporate them into your unique photo session.

If your baby is asleep when you arrive, I will remove them from their seat and begin our session. Sessions can be long so we like to make the most of our time! I will begin my session with baby wrapped or half-wrapped. This helps settle them into a deep sleep, and set us up for a productive session. Depending on the wrap style for the first set, you may see your little one wrapped in more than one layer. I always start off my potato wraps with a “base” wrap. This allows me to easily change our top (decorative) wrap, without waking or disturbing your baby. The extra layer also helps keep your baby secure and round in shape. Depending on your package, we will run through 2-5 prop set-ups. I do normally change the wrap style and colour through these sets as well to give you a variety of styles and looks for you to choose from in your online gallery. Once we have completed your props, I will move over to your classic table poses.

My newborn posing table has a few little gadgets that help keep your little one comfortable during posing. I use a Lullavibe and a Rockit on the table to help sooth baby and help them settle into poses. The rockit clamps to the side of the table and gentle rocks it, while the lullavibe vibrates. I like to compare my table posing the best car ride ever haha! Table posing is also the reason I like to keep my studio really warm. Most babies do these poses nude, and it would be pretty hard to keep them comfortable if it isn’t super warm. On top of our regular heaters we use a space heater near the posing table to add some extra warmth for our little model. On the table I will start with a partial wrap on your baby, which helps your child settle back to sleep. We will do some back poses and then unwrap for tummy poses. Some parents choose to do these poses with diaper off, and others prefer an outfit. I can accommodate either style depending on your preference. These table poses are also the reason I keep my studio so hot. This makes it more comfortable for the little one to sleep through their newborn photo session without being too upset or uncomfortable. I tend to do a different set of poses depending on the baby. This portion does tend to be one that requires more patience. Since I am a very baby led photographer, I have to move slowly and with intention in order to pose them without making them upset. This portion can be long and might have a lot of padding, shushing, rocking and resetting as I call it.

To end our session, we will do family photos. If you have older children, we star our session with the family photos. That way we have your sibling and family images before your older children have gotten tired or cranky. I have a couple options for backdrops. Generally I do a darker grey backdrop but I also have white and pecan to choose from. I like to keep my families in neutrals, I also have been favouring similar coloured shirts for families as well lately. Once were done our session I will go over current turnover times for editing.

And that’s it! I cant wait to work with your family <3