An important conversation I have with my clients, as their Plano newborn photographer, is how to prepare for the newborn photo session! It is a big day and I want to do everything I can to prepare you and baby so you will know what to expect! I shot this quick video with 7 tips on how to prepare for your newborn session. I’ve also included the script of the 7 tips below if you prefer to read instead of watch.
- Dress baby in something easy to take off, if you have some loose fitting that easily zips off, so I don’t have to pull an outfit over her head and irritate her right when she gets here.
- As you know, your newborn baby does sleep a lot, but he or she also has periods of lots of crying and awake time. So, we will attempt to persuade your baby to be in one of her sleepy times when we do our session. The way we’ll do this, is for you to try to keep baby awake for a while before your session. You can give baby a bath, you can take baby’s clothes off and talk to her, stimulate her so that her eyes are wide open looking at you and just using up energy to be awake, and then letting her fall asleep at the time of our session. Baby will probably sleep in the car on the way over here and that’s fine, that’s just going to happen, but if they had a longer period of an awake time before getting in the car, usually they will either stay asleep or go right back to sleep when they get here and I swaddle them and wrap them up for the beginning of our session.
- Feeding: After baby has her awake time, feed her right before she is going in the car and going to sleep. This will help keep her in a deep sleep when she gets here. Even if she starts to wake up when you arrive and take her out of her car seat, she will probably easily fall back to sleep, especially if I start with wrapping her up for the start of the session.
- Prepare for 3 or more hours: newborn sessions are long! We respect baby’s needs, so we will take breaks for feeding and soothing. Each pose or setup takes time to get baby settled into position and sometimes there are times of waiting for baby to settle down before I even pick up my camera to get the shot. I am very patient and love working with babies so you have nothing to worry about. Your baby will sense stress, so I am very relaxed and slow with posing babies, because I do it all the time and am used to being relaxed and waiting to get the perfect shot.
- You do not have to bring any props for baby and her session. I have all props, wraps, outfits, headbands, etc for us to use. If you have a specific concept you want to create, we will talk about this at your initial consultation and I will have determined if I need to acquire any additional props at that time. If you have any heirlooms or sentimental items that you want to include in your session, then of course you can bring those, and we will have discussed that in our pre-session consult.
- What to bring: baby’s pacifier, bottles, extra milk or anything you need for breastfeeding. Snacks for mom or dad.
- What to wear: wear simple neutral colored clothing. No busy patterns or bright colors. We want the focus to be on your faces and not have distracting clothing that would bring the eyes to the clothing instead of the face. Siblings can wear maybe a plain white t-shirt and jeans for boys and girls something like a simple neutral colored dress.
Thanks for watching or reading!
If you are pregnant and planning a newborn photo session with your precious baby when he or she arrives, please contact me to discuss your vision, thoughts and ideas. You will have an amazing experience as I custom design everything down to the last detail for you. The best time to plan your newborn session is while you are still pregnant.
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