So your newborn photography session is coming up, you’ve read How to Prepare for Your Newborn Lifestyle Session, and now you’re wondering what actually happens when I’m at your house?
First, I’m going to wash my hands.When I come in, we’ll say hi and meet, and then I’m going to wash my hands. I do bring hand sanitizer with me, but I will wash my hands as well.
Though I am fully vaccinated, I will wear a mask the entire time during our session. I do not expect you to wear a mask at any point during your session. Great moments happen unexpectedly, and I would hate to miss one due to asking you to remove a mask.
If you do have any symptoms of Covid at all, please let me know as soon as possible, and we will reschedule your session until you are well or can be tested with a negative result. Lifestyle newborn photography has a lot more connection and emotion when baby is 2-3 weeks old, so we are not on as much of a time crunch as we would be if you were doing a more traditional posed session.
Things may get chaotic for a little bit
If you have dogs, this will be the point where they go crazy. This will be the moment where your older child(ren) will start to misbehave for attention. It may get crazy for a few minutes. This is fine. It’s normal.
If you have older children, I’ll probably ask them to show me around, show me their rooms, and while I walk around, I can evaluate the light in your home and see what room we’re going to start in. If you don’t have older children, we can walk around together and you can show me your home and any ideas you have. I may suggest moving some furniture so we can get shots that maximize your lighting available.
I allot 2 hours for newborn sessions because I want to make sure we are not rushed. If your new baby needs a snack and a break, we’ll take one. I’m not worried at all about time, and I encourage you not to be as well.
Once your children and dogs have calmed down a bit, we’ll start with your family photos in the master bedroom (or whatever room has the best light). If your older children aren’t up for it yet, we might just try some photos with mom & new baby. Your session is very flexible. We will do our best to capture it all.
We will move into some sibling shots and family shots, as well as shots with dad, mom, and baby. If you have any pets you want to incorporate into the session, we can photograph them whenever they are ready. Maybe your dog will do best in the beginning of the session. Maybe your dog needs time to settle down after I get there and can be encouraged to join in after.
If you have a story you read to your children every night, or often, we can read it during your photographs. (Goodness knows, my son loved Goodnight Moon when he was a baby. Now he’s obsessed with The Snowy Day.)
Before you know it, your session will conclude, and you can go on with your day as normal. If we moved any furniture, I’ll help put everything back. Within two weeks, you’ll receive your edited gallery where you can download your images and order any prints or albums you may want.
