Once you announce that you are pregnant, the world becomes a bit brighter. The excitement is tangible. There is much to do, yet you find each task fun…right down to choosing the right burp clothes. You decorate the nursery, you ‘nest’, and your family and friends surround you with love. And you start to plan for ‘the big day’. Which for many, is the second biggest day next to your wedding day. The baby’s birthday. And I hope that in all of your planning for your tiny bundle’s big day, you will think about newborn photographs.
There are a few different kinds of newborn photography and who you choose to capture these first moments of your baby really depends on whose work you love. And you really should love the photographer’s work, whomever you choose, because you can’t go back in time and get those moments back for a do-over. A bit of research up front can make all the difference. Typically, each photographer has a style all their own. I am not a photographer who uses a lot of props in my newborn photography. I prefer to let the sweetness of your baby come through naturally. To focus on the family, the details, the newness of it all…the things that will become a blur in the first few days, but the images will live on forever. Once you decide on a photographer, you should reach out as soon as you can. Most of the time, photographers need to ‘hold’ a few dates around your due date in order to capture your baby when it is still sleepy, squishy, small, and beautifully new. Once you connect with a photographer that you love, put them on the email or speed dial list and enjoy the last few weeks, get some rest! I will repeat that again…sleep as if your life depended on it 🙂
Why hire someone to come and take pictures of your precious baby? Because those days in the hospital and the first few weeks at home are a blur. And if you do not have children already, please take my word for it, babies change so fast. By the time you are ready to leave the hospital, they have changed. Also, a photographer will be sure to capture all of those details that you might not think to photograph, but will become important to you later on. All that peach fuzz on her skin. The blonde hair he was born with that changed once it all fell out. How gorgeously blue his eyes were, but changed by the time he was 3 months old. But also as important, a photographer will be able to actually film you with your baby. I have no pictures of me with my firstborn, other than one my mother took, and I regret it. I really don’t like how I look and I wish I had photos of how small she was in my arms. As a photographer, my job is to film my freshly made mommas in the best possible light and angles to demonstrate not how you look but the memory of you with your baby. And your new family. Trust me on this. Aunt Agnes, while sweet, will not understand how to pose you and then let the magic unfold. I don’t have to tell new mommies and daddies to smell their baby, touch them, kiss them….that magic happens all on its own, and I am there capturing it all. THAT is the reason for newborn photographs.
I would love to celebrate your baby with you, and preserve those memories.
- I love coming to your home and capturing the connection with you and your baby, in your own nursery.