Welcoming your newborn home is such a special adventure, whether as first-time parents or seasoned pros with a handful of siblings at home. In-home newborn sessions are up there with my most favourite to document. But they can also be challenging as a photographer and a little stressful for the families if things don’t go completely smoothly (which let’s be honest, they rarely do when little loves are involved).
I like to give my families extensive information, coaching and tips and tricks leading up to the session. This week I wanted to wrap up with a share of little Leo’s session and a look 5 simple steps I take to make these sessions as successful as possible. So, if you’re booking in these sessions or planning to schedule one in with your family photographer soon, this one’s for you.
Here are 5 simple ways I approach an in-home session and some tips and techniques I use to keep things relaxed, real and relatively stress-free for the new families I get to work with.
Start swaddled
I like to arrive a little early to say hi and get settled and to take a look at the outfit choices and light around the home. While I do this, I like to suggest that they get baby cosy. I suggest they get baby down to a diaper and swaddle them up nice and cosy for a feed so things start off slow and sleepy. A neutral swaddle to begin with allows us to get lots of clean detail shots in the best-lit room in the house. The most ideal space for light is generally the master bedroom but don’t discount areas that you could move a few things around in to create a cosy, clean spot to start off in.
TIP: Ahead of the session, I send a client guide full of tips for a successful session. Within this guide, as well as in a reminder email the day before the session, I ask my clients to do a quick clear of the rooms we will be using ahead of time. Moving any wipes/piles of laundry/additional wires/baby toys or bundles of newborn things helps with the overall look of the session and saves us time on the day of the session.
Keeping the siblings sweet!
I’m not sure I’ll ever get over Leo’s little hairdo (or how sweet his big bro was during their session!) But, it doesn’t always go that way with the siblings. Age-dependent, I ask the siblings to be my “big helper” when I first arrive and usually do a couple of “test shots” with them to make them feel important. I make a big deal about them becoming a big bro/sis.
TIP: I tend to arrive with a treat for them to celebrate them becoming a big sibling. I check in with the parents ahead of time for any allergies/family rules and it’s usually a balloon/something without sugar to start (and then I use the Smartie treats for the end to say well done).
As always, things with little ones rarely go according to plan so when older siblings are involved the shoot very much flows with how they do. Big bro L was very into cuddles, but also needed some time expending his energy playing in his big boy room and showing me all his tractors.
Cherish the quiet time
My newborn sessions are typically a little longer than my usual family sessions, especially when my clients choose their home as the location. I like to allow time for the sweet slowness of these sessions, which can result in real, beautiful moments unfolding naturally to be captured and cherished. The longer session times allows for feeding breaks, bum changes and taking a breath if things get too fussy.
TIP: These moments often end up as additional black and white images in my final gallery deliveries because I love the timeless, softness the edit adds to them. However, if an image is included as black and white, I’ll always deliver a colour version of it in the final gallery, in case my clients want to use them in a printed frame of images or within an album page that needs the colour version. This saves me additional editing time when I’m in the album design process down the line.
Outfit changes & going with the flow
If mom and baby choose a collection that requires an outfit change (or if they’re taking a moment to feed or soothe a fuss), I’ll usually use that time to focus in on the nursery decor or so some individual portraits of siblings and fur babies. While mom is busy freshening up, I grab Dad/the other parent and do individual portrait time with their new addition. I try to include any sibling shots here too.
TIP: I find it’s most effective to get the parent lying or sitting comfortably first, and then pass the baby over and gently pose as needed from there. I try to do all lying down/sitting shots at once and then move to standing/interacting poses so that there is minimum fussing with the baby required.
I like to keep things calm and as quiet as possible and let everyone hang out just like they would on a normal Saturday morning. Of course, normal life with a newborn is also a little chaotic so it’s important to go into an in-home newborn session without too much of a rigid game plan for how you want the session to go. I completely relate to how delicate and often very vulnerable these first few days as a new family unit are so I always make sure to communicate to my clients that they are in a safe space in front of my camera and can make any calls for breaks or changes of pace as needed.
TIP: Especially if mom is still in recovery in the first 12 days when I like to schedule these sessions, it’s important to keep that in mind and check-in to make sure she has had a sip of water/has everything she needs during the session to be as comfortable as possible.
Decor details
So much love and attention to detail is poured into the safe spaces for these sweet little ones that I like to document the details during the session as much as possible. Depending on the session and the siblings involved, I’ll either start the session with photographing the nursery space or we will wrap up with some lovely details and baby portraits in this space. I like to grab purely detail shots, as well as the baby in the nursery, even though this isn’t usually where they spend their first days.
TIP: If siblings are involved, this is usually a good time to get them distracted or doing something else because it’s a special time to capture with just the parents and new babe.
These sessions are so sweet and special and it’s such a sacred place for me to be in with a new family. I’m always incredibly honoured to be invited in to tell this part of my clients’ story. I also love nothing more than seeing these sweet babes during their first year for a sitter session at 6 months and then to celebrate their first birthday with super fun cake smash sessions. This is the longest blog post of all time but I couldn’t help but leave you with just a few more images of little Leo and his sweet family. *Disclaimer: I can’t be held responsible for any broodiness this blog post causes!
NOW BOOKING: September/October sessions. Contact me here and let’s get chatting about celebrating your new addition!
xx
