Asheville, NC based Maternity and Newborn Portrait Photographer shares insight into planning a newborn portrait session!
With so many things on the to do list when you’re expecting, scheduling and planning your newborn portrait session can feel a little daunting!
Luckily, when you book your Newborn Photos with us, we’ll walk you through every step in the process to ensure that you receive the most beautiful images, that you will treasure forever from your baby’s newborn portrait session!
Step 1: Review our Portfolio & Investment Page!
It’s pretty important that you vibe with your newborn photographer’s style! Some photographers are into trendy things like dark and moody lighting, photojournalism (no real posing or props such as baskets, buckets, bowls or wraps and headbands etc. for baby) and some are into using different colors, props and textiles in their set design for newborn photos! If you love what you see in our portfolio and the investment fits within your budget (we actually have options for almost any budget!) please reach out for more information via the Book Me page and someone from the team will get back to you asap with booking information so that we can put your due date and newborn session on our shoot calendar!
See our Maternity + Newborn Photography Portfolio here: PORTFOLIO
Step 2: The Planning Phase
After booking (receipt of your signed contract + payment), we ask all of our new clients to schedule a Pre-Session Phone Consultation via our consult sign up page! With our Newborn Portrait Clients, we go a step further in asking them to browse Pinterest or Etsy for newborn photography inspiration. We ask them to send us links to anything that catches their eye or inspires what they would like from their own baby’s newborn portrait session! During our Pre-Session Phone Consultation, we discuss wardrobe for family portraits with baby (moms, dads and siblings), color theme for baby only portraits, props needed and other ideas for the session! We’ll answer any questions you have and go over best practices for a successful newborn portrait session!
Step 3: The Procurement Phase
After working professionally as a Newborn Photographer in Asheville for the last 13 years, of course, we have a massive prop archive which includes everything from backdrops and posing drops to baskets, bowls, boxes, buckets, furs, wraps, headbands, hats, felt items and floral stems that our clients certainly have access to! We still often need to procure at least a couple prop items for each session we shoot because each Newborn Portrait Session we shoot is completely custom and because most parents have different ideas about which color schemes and prop items they would like to see used for their baby’s newborn session. Approximately $200-$300 of your session fee goes toward the procurement of various prop items for your baby’s session! Many of the items we order come from artisans (read: small businesses) on Etsy and are made to order and often take 2-4 weeks to arrive in time for your baby’s portrait session! This is why we suggest booking your Newborn Session at least 2-3 months in advance! (so that we have plenty of time to get anything we may need delivered!)
Step 4: Preparing for your Newborn Portrait Session
Ahead of your Newborn Portrait Session, we always send out our newborn client prep guide to remind parents about the things we discussed during the pre-session phone consultation and also to share a few pro tips for ensuring a happy, sleepy baby — for a quick, successful portrait session!
You can see the prep guide here:
Step 5: Shooting your Newborn Portrait Session
On the day of your portrait session, we’ll begin with family portraits with baby followed by baby with mom and dad together and individually. After the family portion (which usually last for 30-45minutes) we’ll ask dad to take any siblings home so that we have a quiet, calm studio to work with just baby! At this point, baby’s usually waking up and it’s a nice time for a break to feed baby while I set up the baby only sets! Once baby is fed and fast asleep, we’ll get started with photographing baby alone! Depending on how your baby is sleeping, we could get through this portion in an hour or two or it could take us all 4hrs allotted to complete the session if baby is restless or cluster feeding etc. We’ll stop as many times as we need to for baby to nurse or get settled so it’s not all that uncommon for portrait sessions to last for around 3-4hrs!
And finally, a word of advice:
Not all photographers are created equal. Hire a photographer who is specialized in newborn portrait photography. I would not, under any circumstance recommend entrusting your tiny, newborn baby to someone who is not highly experienced in photographing infants. (Read: someone who is portfolio building, someone cheaper etc.) The decision to save a little money could be a dangerous one, even potentially fatal for your baby. The best newborn photographers have a ton of experience photographing infants, they have invested a significant amount of their time and money into continuing their education, learning how to safely wrap, pose and handle your baby!
I hope to see you soon! -Brittany