Newborn session DEEP DIVE
Newborn babies, they have half of my photographer's heart. The other half belong to their mommas. From the beginning of my photography journey I knew that outside of my own children, I was drawn to newborns and their mommies. I knew nothing about how to get there, but it’s exactly where I saw myself. I have said “yes” to photographing just about everything- families of all sizes, seniors, couples, headshots, I’ve even said yes to weddings even though I always swore I wouldn’t. I want to try everything at least once! The fact that I’ve tried all of these things, and outside of photographing for myself, all things baby bring me the most joy. Announcements, maternity, birth, newborn- all of them, I can’t get enough. The way my heart fills when I get to do multiple of these sessions with the same family sigh. I just love it so. I actually offer discounts if you book multiple sessions, you can check out more info on that here (scroll down for the momma + baby section!)
Specifically for this blog topic I’m delving into newborn sessions. There’s soooooo many options right? Do we do them at home? Do we do them in studio? Should we pick cute outfits for the baby? Casual? Posed? What what what what- so many decisions! The good news is, if you decide to opt for one of my regularly priced newborn sessions (this is included in any of the bundles you might choose from), we can do just about anything.
I’m going to do my best to go over all the options and give you visuals to help you making these decisions.
You can choose to do these:
-in your home
-in my studio
-in another agreed upon location
IN HOME SESSIONS:
Usually we pick a couple of rooms and shoot there. Living room, nursery, porches are all common. I’ve seen some done in the kitchen though too and they’re really cute. I haven’t done any yet, but if someone’s game I am!
IN STUDIO SESSIONS:
Done in my studio. I like to tailor the background/setup based off what colors we decide everyone is wearing. No two sessions in my studio look the same. They are all a lifestyle feel, I do not have a glam portrait studio.
Other locations might be: at a park, at an air bnb, something like that. I’d be open to talking about other ideas for sure!
Okay location. Got it. Let’s move on and start talking outfits and props.
It’s always fun to incorporate something sentimental to you. This is an option even in my studio, not just for in-home sessions. Some examples include blankets that maybe someone made for the baby or was yours when you were little, a bassinet or cradle you bought, outfits you chose specifically for baby. All of these can be fun to incorporate! And, if you don’t have anything, that’s great too. You literally cannot go wrong.
^^ the bassinet the baby is in was a ^^ the blanket the baby is sleeping ^^mom had this outfit and the bassinet ^^ the outfit and the headband were
gift the parents received on was the dad’s when he was little that were sentimental to her mom’s choice
As you can see from the images above, there are different ways to incorporate something meaningful or something that’s yours into the session. The first photo on the left was taken in my studio, the rest were taken in home.
I always, always, come prepared. If were doing sessions in home and you don’t have a single thing you want to incorporate or a single outfit.. I’ve got you! I bring wraps, blankets, outfits options and I bring it alllllll.
^^this green romper is mine ^^the wrap/blanket/bowl combo is mine ^^neutral chunky knit sweater is mine ^^mustard yellow knit romper, headband
soo cute for little boys! I also wanted to note the incorporation of perfect for boys + girls + blanket are all mine
the name sign, something personal!
I have so many wraps and blankets it’s insane, definitely have something to match whatever colors you have in your home. Of course in my studio it’s not an issue.
I also like to include both lifestyle interactions and some more individual posed newborn photos. These are both accomplished in home and in my studio.
Lifestyle interactions look like:
Posed newborns look like:
Another option I like to have with all of my newborn sessions, are intimate breastfeeding photos of mom and the babe. These can be showing off your postpartum body or just showcasing the bond between you and your little. I include this in your newborn questionnaire when I send it upon booking.
The first two are from an in home session and the two on the right were from a studio session. Fun fact: one of my daughter’s favorite photo I’ve ever taken is the second from the left. She loves the baby toes and mom’s belly. Also, I have a million of these and I’m finding I’m wanting to showcase them all :’)
Details.
Detail shots are included in every session. Who would wanna miss out on those sweet baby fingers and baby toes?
You literally cannot go wrong. Think about where you’d like to do them and if you want to incorporate any of your own props, and I’ll help take care of the rest!
Before I wrap up this in=depth look of what newborn sessions with me can look like, I’m going to talk about my latest offering:
Mini Studio Newborn Sessions.
If you follow me on insta (@mpxmegan), you might’ve seen me touch on this. It’s something I’ve been debating, but my heart’s telling me to give it a go. These would be done in my studio and include 10-15 edited images of just your babe, plus a couple with you + your partners hands if you want them as part of your 10-15 edits. You can still bring whatever props or outfits you might want. We can do two different looks so you have some variety, and we’ll still get the details. These would be color images only.
Reasons these can be more affordable than a regular price session include:
I’m not traveling anywhere, it’s only of the baby so less time/effort/posing involved (and I’m not helping wrangle other kids and dads lol), they can be batch edited because the lighting situation is consistent (meaning I’m not having to hand edit every single photo, it’s mostly tweaking), the colors don’t vary, so all of this cuts down on editing time, fewer looks/setups than what you get with a regular session, fewer edits, there’s less planning and preparation involved, no black and whites cut down on editing time, so many things that play in to all of these pricing decisions! You still get great, professional quality newborn photos that are styled and edited exactly as I would any other session.
Okay so why the hesitation? A few reasons. I like to give my whole self to my sessions and my prices reflect my emotional investment, my time, my value, my costs of doing business, all of it. Running my business as a business is my biggest struggle because I like to lead with my heart. I can’t afford to undercut and undersell myself. I can’t afford to not have boundaries. I want to continue to this, and this is part of my job. As soon as I set a discounted price option it is really easy to draw in bargain hunters, which in my case is not ideal. It takes a lot of trust and communication between me and my clients. I’m trusting they are choosing me because they see my work and appreciate/value it. They are trusting me to deliver quality images and provide a positive experience. When the focus becomes just on money, a lot of things are lost. I also don’t like saying no, because I want a great experience, but it could be really easy for someone to want to take advantage of the discounted session and try to get AS MUCH as they possibly can- asking for siblings, wanting to do ten thousands looks, whatever might seem like a small request it really isn’t. I’ve thought all of these things through and am giving you the most fair price for the service I can provide. Plain and simple. If you want exceptions I would recommend bumping up to a regular session where none of it is an issue. For what it’s worth, I also allow for flexible payment options on my regular sessions, so I truly am doing my best here to help reach as many of you as I can. I’m being as open and as thorough as I can with this to provide literally the best experience for you! I am also at a place where I have to politely turn away those that don’t align or understand as it’s just not conducive to my business (or my mental health). I am assuming if you are here, on my blog, and have taken the time to read all of this you are most likely my people. I so love and treasure my people. I want to reach more of you, I want to snuggle your babies, I want to talk birth and navigating motherhood with you. I want to ooh and ahh over your snuggly. babe. And I want to give as many as you as I can the opportunity to have professional, artistic, newborn photos hanging on your wall and in their baby book.
If you’d like to get started planning your newborn session you can reach out to me by clicking right here.
