6 Tips for a Successful Newborn Session | Central Valley Newborn Photographer
As a Central Valley Newborn Photographer I assist my customers through every step of the way from planning the session, to what to wear for parents and siblings, to what props are that match your style, to designing wall art and albums for your home. Every detail of the session is planned around your family and who you all are.
Planning for a Central Valley Newborn Portrait Session is of utmost importance in making the session go smoothly. These 6 Tips will help you prepare for your newborn portrait session:
1) SCHEDULE YOUR NEWBORN SESSION:
Book your newborn's portrait session PRIOR to your baby's arrival to ensure a spot on our calendar. Contact us during your second trimester and we'll put you on the calendar.
Contact us as soon after your baby arrives so we can arrange a time for the session.
2) NEWBORN'S AGE:
Newborn sessions must be scheduled within the first 14 days of life. The best age for portraits is around 4-7 days old. They have filled out a bit by then yet haven't gotten to the stage where they have a ton of baby acne. Also, once the newborn is above about 14 days old they are way more awake, so it's harder to soothe them into a deep sleep for posing them for their portrait session. After 2 weeks old they are so much more alert and an awake newborn flails their arms around, etc so it's hard to get them into those cute curly poses when their moving so much. It's amazing how much newborns grow and change in just a matter of weeks!
3) SLEEPY NEWBORN:
Keep baby AWAKE as much as possible before the session: This is why I schedule sessions in the morning. So the baby can have their regular morning feeding and then the parents can both try to keep the baby awake as much as possible prior to the session. That way, the parents arrive with baby. Mom gives the baby a good feeding and more often than not the session is off to a good start with the baby in a good deep sleep and ready to be posed.
4) SNACKS AND DRINKS:
Parents bring drinks and snacks to the session. Newborn sessions can take around 2-3 hours. Having your favorite snacks and drinks along are just helpful for the parents. The newborn studio gets nice and toasty so your baby will sleep. But it gets quite warm for us adults so having snacks and drinks that you especially like make it more tolerable. Also, naps are encouraged. When do parents get time away from their newborn and get to nap or relax? Not often. So other than helping with feeding or helping adjust blankets for the next pose, the parents are encouraged to relax.
5) SPECIAL PROPS AND BLANKETS:
Do you have any items that are of great significance to your family? Heirloom family items, handmade baby blankets, family antique jewelry, etc are great items to include in your baby's portrait session. This gives heirloom quality to your newborn's portraits so that they have special meaning when they are viewed by family and looked at over time
6) PATIENCE:
Newborn sessions can take anywhere from 2-4 hours. It all depends on the baby's comfort zone and their willingness to sleep. This isn't something we can predict! We ask that everyone remain calm, relaxed, and patient throughout the session. Having a quite, relaxed studio makes a huge difference and the baby can sense when people are stressed. So sit back, relax and enjoy the peace and quiet for a bit.
BOOK A NEWBORN SESSION WITH RACHAEL VENEMA PHOTOGRAPHY TODAY!
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Go to the Contact Me Page to Schedule a Session!
Serving Ripon, Manteca, Modesto, Escalon, Tracy, and Surrounding Areas.