When I was pregnant with Greyson, I had considered hiring a newborn photographer to come to the to hospital. I ultimately decided against it because I wasn’t sure how I would feel post childbirth. Much to my surprise, I actually felt pretty good and wished I had hired someone. We did a newborn session at our house when he was ten days old, but I would have loved to be in some hospital photos with him, too. So I thought I’d pop on here today to talk about all the advantages of a “fresh 48” or “just born” session. For the record though, I really detest the term “fresh 48.” It just…bugs me.
As you probably know, babies are typically super sleepy when they’re only a day or two old. This means the sessions are generally quick. They usually take me about 45 minutes to an hour. Secondly, babies change SO FAST. That’s quite the cliche but it’s also true! By two weeks old, they will look different than they did when they were first born. Another advantage is that you won’t need to stress about your house being clean! I personally think this is huge. I remember frantically cleaning my house the night before our newborn session. It’s totally not necessary to do so, but let’s be honest, most people panic about this to some degree!
Perhaps most surprisingly, I have found that a lot of hospital rooms actually have better natural light than homes in this area. I have photographed newborns at several Boston area hospitals (Mount Auburn, Newton Wellesley, and Brigham and Women’s), and found them all to be reasonably well-lit. It’s definitely worth considering a short and sweet session at the hospital either as an add-on to a newborn session, or instead of :).
