The diary of a newborn and baby photographer is a complicated place. Nobody told your baby that they are expected to turn up for their portrait session and while some can’t wait to get here, some are fashionably late. This makes my diary a wonderfully fluid place.
The ideal time to have a newborn photography session is when your baby is around 8-10 days old, before they lose that special newborn look, although I can take photos of your baby at any age.
Book your session with me for approximately 10 days after your due date. Once your baby arrives and you have settled back in at home just email or ring me and we can then con rm the best date and time for your session. I’ll ask you to compete a booking form and model release form.
Portrait sessions will usually take place in my relaxed home studio, in Anna Valley, nr Andover. The space
is designed to be warm and comfortable. The room temperature will be set to around 21oC and a small heater is used to heat the area where baby will be lying to 28oC, so baby does not get cold when posed. I want you and your baby to feel relaxed and comfortable so you will be able to feed on demand and change baby as needed. I provide tea, coffee and biscuits to help keep energy levels up and play white noise or relaxing music to help soothe baby.
Your newborn portrait session can take up to 3 hours and the reason for this is your newborn will need feeding, cuddles and cleaning throughout the session which is baby led rather than photographer led.
Please try to feed your baby soon before the session begins, so that baby is sleeping for as long as possible during the session. This is when most of the posed photographs will be taken. I will of course also take photos of baby awake, but it is near impossible to position baby in certain poses when they are awake.
If it is not possible for you to come to my studio, I can come to you, although this costs a little bit more as it will extend the length of the photo shoot, as I need to set up and then pack away all of my equipment.
So that I can capture your baby perfectly while they are still so brand new, for most of the session your baby will be in just their nappy or their birthday suit. I provide a number of wraps and props wraps in a range of colours that you can choose from. Newborn clothes never t correctly so we don’t get to see all those beautiful details that say ‘hey I’m brand new!’ Come to the session with your baby dressed in layers which are easy to take off without going over baby’s head, as we may be undressing baby asleep and do not want to wake them up as some of the shots will be of baby asleep.
One of the downsides of photographing baby undressed is that your baby is guaranteed to poop and/or pee on props, blankets, perhaps even me or you! This is just par for the course, something I’m used to dealing with and something I allow for. I have 2 children of my own after all! All of my blankets and props are washed after each session in an eco non-biological detergent for sensitive skin. My okati rug is steam cleaned before and after each session. I have plenty of cloths, wipes, towels and sanitiser to hand. All of my blankets, props etc are stored in an airtight box to keep them away from our pet cats, who will be hiding or sleeping upstairs during our session. You might want to pop a change of clothes for yourself into your changing bag, just in case the worse happens!
You may have some particularly special items of clothing or toys that you would like to be included in the photos. Please remember to bring these along to the session and I will be sure to include some shots of these special items for you.
Please wear plain (ideally black or white) clothing to the session yourself, as patterns and contrasting colours can be distracting in the nal image. Other family members/ friends being photographed should also wear plain coloured clothing.
It might surprise you to know that the newborn photography industry is completely unregulated. Photographers like me, who take safety seriously, have to take it upon ourselves to be trained and educated on how to ensure the beautiful images we create, are done safely. I am a member of the Baby and Newborn Photography Association (www.banpasforparents.co.uk) where I am able to undertake regular training and keep up to date with best practice in photographing newborns. I would be very happy to talk to you about this. I will ask you to be hands on, to help with positioning and to keep a constant eye on baby to ensure they are safe and comfortable at all times.
Following the session, I will professionally edit the images, which I do using Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. I will provide a set of around 30 images for you to choose from, which will be securely displayed on my website for only you to access, using a password, for a period of 2 weeks. Once you have chosen which images you would like, I will supply these to you in your chosen format.
I hope this answers many of your questions. If you would like to discuss your session please get in touch via my contact page.
Helen x
