When you’re expecting a baby (especially your first), there’s SO much to worry about. Labor and delivery. Breastfeeding. Sleep. The list goes on. And for some, planning newborn photos may be stressful, too. It doesn’t have to be, though! Here are three things you shouldn’t stress about before your session!
Your Home
I feel like a bit of a hypocrite telling you all not to worry about your home before your in-home session because guess what I did before our newborn session last summer? I stressed about my house. Ha. I started cleaning it a little bit each day for the week leading up to our shoot. Even though I knew dust wouldn’t be visible in photos and that my friend wouldn’t photograph any clutter, I stressed. But you really shouldn’t, and here’s why. I simply won’t photograph things that will look distracting in photos. I’ll move clutter if necessary, shoot in a different direction if possible, but your messes won’t be visible unless you want a totally documentary style session.
But what if my house is small? Or poorly lit? Or we just moved in and it’s not decorated yet?!
Don’t worry, I’ve got these scenarios covered too! The size of your house really doesn’t matter. I’ve got wide angle lenses to take care of that, and in the absence of lots of rooms and different backdrops, we can get variety in other ways. A poorly lit house can be challenging, but even so, we can set up shop by some windows. Bare walls? Sometimes that’s better! I’ve done newborn sessions in newly-purchased homes too. This North Shore, MA newborn photography session took place in the family’s home that they had just moved into a few weeks prior. They finished decorating the nursery, but everything else was still pretty empty, and it was TOTALLY fine. There were so many other things to love about the home- the great light and the snuggly subjects, to name a couple ;). I once did a session in a house that was actively under construction. The nursery was fully decorated though, so we just did the whole session in there. If a client were ever really worried about the appearance of their home, I would just be careful to not take many wide angle shots and I’d crop in tighter.
Your Baby/Kids/Fur Babies
When an expectant parent reaches out to me about booking a newborn session, the first thing I tell them is our time together will be relaxed and we’ll let baby run the show. We can take all the time we need for feeding, changing and soothing breaks. With time for these breaks, newborn sessions typically take me about two hours. I never want a parent to feel stressed about their baby fussing, so it’s important to me to take this baby-led approach. Similarly, I don’t want parents to worry about siblings. Toddlers are given many breaks throughout and they’re not expected to participate in the entire session (or even half, really!). If they’re being wiggly and wild during photo time, I’ll rapid fire to make sure I capture those fleeting cute moments. The same approach works with four-legged siblings, too!
Yourself
This is a topic that’s pretty near and dear to my heart. As someone who gained 50 pounds with her second pregnancy, I’m not exactly in love with every postpartum picture of myself even 7 months after my son’s birth. So if you’re a mom-to-be who’s worried about how you may look in photos, please, take a deep breath. I sincerely understand, and I will do my damn best to curate a gallery that you feel good about. I’d also love to help you plan your clothing. This can really impact how we feel about ourselves in photos, and after trying multiple dresses for my own newborn session, I settled for jeans and a lace kimono. Finding clothing was a labor of love, but worth it!
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Melissa Rabbitt is a North Shore, MA newborn photographer. She is currently booking May and beyond. You can reach out to book your session here!
