Behind the Scenes of a Newborn Session

With an increase in my Kansas City newborn photography bookings (yay!), I’ve been thinking for a while that it would be fun to offer a little “behind the scenes” post here. I’m not so great at drawing – you’d of gotten a lot of stick figures – so last summer pitched an idea to my friend and fellow photographer, Erin; I would photograph her newborn and she would photograph me in action. She said “deal”, and in early September she brought her 7 day old sweetie by my studio, with her own camera in tow.

So let’s talk about what a typical newborn session at my Kansas City studio (in the heart of Waldo!) looks like!

When You Arrive

I always warn my clients, it’s going to be warm! When I say “warm”, I mean mid-80’s warm, so I always recommend bringing a light shirt to change into after the family portraits are done. Personally, I find the studio to be a very soothing space. The light filtering through the sheer curtains, the calm decor, the quiet… really, I’m surprised parents don’t fall asleep during the session!

If you’re fighting sleep, you’ll find coffee and soda in the mini fridge, along with water, and organic chocolate milk for the older siblings. There’s a basket of snacks, wi-fi for you to use, and a basket of toys, crayons and coloring books for the kids. You can get the full virtual tour of my Kansas City studio here!

The Usual Timing

If your baby has an older sibling or two (or more!) and you want sibling pictures, as well as a quick family portrait, we usually knock those out first. Considering those are not the primary focus of the session, we usually just take 10-20 minutes doing those, and by the time we’re done with those, the baby is often asleep and ready to be the star of the show!

Erin opted to leave her older kiddos at home (she is a photographer herself after all, so could take those images herself, in her home, in her own time), so I don’t have any behind the scenes of those. I’m sure you can just imagine though what kind of silliness goes on to get siblings looking and happy!

After that, we move on to the various sets and props that I’ve pulled ahead of time. I choose color schemes based on favorite colors the parents have mentioned, colors used in the baby’s nursery at home, and a mix of the latest props I’ve bought and just can’t wait to use!

You’ll see me swapping back and forth between various baskets, crates, furs, back drops, wraps, blankets, and my giant, hockey puck shaped bean bag (which kids can’t seem to resist jumping on).

You’ll see a whole lot of patience! With time, I’ve learned you cannot rush these tiny beings – moving too soon can mean a pretty big startle, and having to start the waiting game over. There’s a lot of shushing, on top of the white noise app I have running on my phone. There’s a lot of patting, a lot of rocking and swaying, and we usually need to take a feeding break or two.

Safety and comfort of a baby is most important to me! Sometimes I’ll have a parent come sit right next to the prop we’re using, so that a hand can be on the baby while finishing touches are made, and in the seconds leading up to the shutter click. It’s because of these safety standards that there isn’t an image of me actually photographing this little guy in this crate; after I finished prepping, I had his mom put her camera down so that she could sit next to him, with a hand on him while I moved to my spot. I then counted to 3, and on 3 she lifted her hand 6 inches above him, I pressed the shutter, and then she rested her hand on his back again. With a minute of work in Photoshop, her hand was removed from the frame, and we had a beautiful image that had been safely created!

Within a couple of hours (usually), we’ll have a beautiful assortment of images for me to take home and polish for you!

You view his whole newborn session here.

After

You, your family, and friends can keep your eyes peeled for sneak peeks on the Faces You Love Facebook and Google+ pages! (Written permission is always obtained for that.) Then, a week or two later (depending on the time of year), I’ll e-mail you your password protected, online gallery. You’ll oooh, and ahhh, and get excited about which favorites you’re printing. Before you know it, your baby will be growing and changing, and you’ll be so glad you took those couple of hours to come out, and have your sweet newborn’s early days documented.

Thanks to Erin of Longshore Photography for letting me play with her sweet boy, and for capturing me in my element! 

Share the Love