newborn guide
BOOKING YOUR SESSION
Newborn sessions are most successful when done within the first 7 days of birth. Most of the poses will be done while baby is sleeping and we will be posing them in those cute curled up newborn positions and we want to make sure they’re sleepy enough for us to handle them. After the first 10 days of life they become a bit more alert and discover the joy of stretching! They’re less likely to be sleeping deeply enough to be scrunched into those cute posing positions.
AFTER THE SESSION
We will begin the photo editing process, including setting up your online gallery. This process generally takes two to three weeks. During the busy season of fall, this may be longer . Once your gallery is complete, I will contact you via email with your link. At this time you can chose make purchases within your gallery store.
IN YOUR HOME VS STUDIO
A lot of people decide to take a more candid approach to their baby’s first photo session. These shoots take place in your home.
Or you come to our studio. We provide all the props and setups. Contact us beforehand if you’d like to incorporate your own prop into the session. There is a small seating area for you and your family. The studio is located upstairs at 69 Elmwood Avenue in Allentown. You enter through the alleyway, in the back door and up the pink stairs.
PREPARE THE BABY - so iMPORTANT!
Our goal is to have the baby as sleepy as possible. We encourage giving the baby a bath right before the session to tire them out. A well fed baby is a happy baby. Please feed and burp baby right before our session. This will ensure a nice sleepy “milk drunk” babe. We are also happy to take as many breaks as baby needs if he or she gets hungry during our shoot. It’s tough work being new in the world!
THE NITTY GRITTY
Poop happens! Please don’t be upset or feel bad if baby decides it’s time to go potty when he/she is in the buff and being photographed! This is totally natural and it’s just part of the job. We launder all blankets with non-scented baby detergent between sessions. It would definitely be helpful if you had a stack of old towels, extra wipes and blankets available for when things get messy though.
Can family members and pets be in the photos?
YES! Parents, siblings and pets can be in the photos.
CLUTTER
De-clutter the areas where you’d like the shoot to take place. We will also need some nice natural light so please make sure there are some nice windows nearby. Open all the curtains before our arrival. We can also bring some lighting with us just in case but we prefer natural light when possible.
WARM IT UP
Crank the heat! It’s super important that your naked babe feel all toasty when we are doing naked poses. If they’re cold they’re likely going to be awake and/or upset. We ask that the thermostat be about 80 degrees. If you’re sweating baby is likely the perfect temp!
VOLUME
Manage noise. Please do whatever you can to keep the noise down during our session. If you have noisy pets please make plans to keep them quiet during the shoot. If you have other children it can be helpful to have a sitter or family member plan to take them out for a few hours. We bring a white noise machine but it doesn’t always block out all noises.
WHAT SHOULD WE WEAR?
If you plan on being in some of the shots with baby we suggest wearing neutral, well-fitting clothing that you’re comfy in. The same goes for siblings. Keep things mainly neutral with pops of color. For example, choose mainly khaki, grays, browns, creams or ivories - with shots of rust or green or navy. Steer clear of brights or neons as they do not photography well and often cast unflattering colors on various skin tones.
PROPS
We have a nice collection of blankets, bowls, headbands, etc that we can bring, but typically less is more with lifestyle sessions. Let us know if you have a prop you’d like to incorporate into the shoot and have those items ready when we arrive. We can go through them together and choose what will work best.
SUPPLIES
Good things to bring with you are a pacifier, changing mat, lotion and a hair brush.
TIMING
It can typically take 2-3 hours for our studio and lifestyle newborn shoots. Please make plans to spend at least this much time with us. The baby is in charge so we like to give enough time for feeding, cuddles and calming baby. We want this experience to be as stress free as possible.
RELAX
The most important thing? Relax! Bringing a new baby into the world is tiring and sometimes stressful. We are very experienced handling and posing newborns. Your baby is in safe hands! It can sometimes be best if mom steps away if baby is hard to settle. Their little noses know moms scent and it can be hard for them to relax if they want to be in your arms.
Is retouching extra?
We do some light retouching as part of our editing process. If extensive retouching is requested, there will be an additional cost of $15 an image.