What to Expect (when you're expecting a newborn session)

So, you're having a newborn... session...

... and chances are, you're a little anxious. What should I wear? What if the baby refuses to sleep? What if we can't convince the toddler siblings to cooperate? No worries! With a little preparation, your session should run smoothly. Here are six quick tips to help prep:

1. The most important thing is for the baby to be deep asleep for their session, so try to keep baby awake for at least an hour before you head out to the studio. If baby falls asleep during the ride, that’s okay! 
2. Make sure baby has a full belly & a clean diaper, and that they're dressed in zip-up jammies, something that’s easy to remove without disturbing them. 
3. Even if baby isn’t keen on it at home, please have a pacifier handy. Also, since the session will run around around 3 hours, please have a bottle ready or be ready to nurse if baby wants soothing or a little top off. 
4. If you’re nursing, please avoid caffeine and spicy/gassy foods for 24 hours before the session.
5. For parent/family poses, black, grey or cream (for outfits) works best. Avoid bright colors, loud prints, and graphics/logos on shirts. For toddler siblings, I have LOADS of little outfits we can use in the studio closet.
6. I start each session with sibling and family photos, so once we're done with those, daddy (or someone else) can take the siblings out for chicken nuggets while we focus the rest of the session on baby, without any distractions.

Honestly, that's really all you can do, or need to do, on your end to ensure the session goes well. If baby doesn't want to sleep, that's okay! We'll get some adorable awake shots (plus I have a few tricks up my sleeve to help baby doze off). Toddler siblings don't want to cooperate? That's fine, too! We'll get what we can and chances are, it'll be just fine.

Okay, you're at the studio — now what happens?

A typical newborn session goes like this: sibling and parent photos, with baby wrapped and cozy; baby wrapped in a prop; then if baby is awake now, a quick top off and/or diaper change, then more photos with baby wrapped on a plain background, then gradually move to more unwrapped poses on the plain background. We'll choose props and colors once you arrive. If you have a special heirloom item to include, we can incorporate that! I'll provide all of the other props and wraps, so if you have a special theme or color scheme request, please let me know when we book the session.

Seriously, no worries! We've got this — and when you're done, you'll have adorable photos and you'll wonder why you worried at all.

(A big thank-you to Christine at Visual Folklore for the super-sweet behind-the-scenes photos from Benjamin's newborn session.)