Earlier this month, I wrote about What is a Lifestyle Newborn Session and you can view that here. I love the personal feeling of visiting my clients’ homes and photographing their families there. My most popular session is the Posed Newborn Session which takes place in my private studio in Palatine, IL. There are benefits to both types of session but the posed session provides the best lighting usually. Occasionally I visit my client’s homes and they have the most dream lighting to work with. However, many times I have to be creative on how to use the light in their homes to get the best out of their photos. Lighting is the most important thing in a portrait as it really changes the whole mood and quality of the photo. It also can be more or less flattering for my client.
Lighting is the most important thing in a portrait.
So now, the question is, “What is a Posed Newborn Session?”
A posed newborn session takes place in the studio with studio lighting and neutral backdrops. It allows for clean images that are very timeless in nature. I prefer to work with neutral backdrops and organic style props, such as wooden crates, bowls and buckets. I love to wrap babies in beautiful fabrics. It is fun to see babies in a timeless bonnet and other cute outfits too.
My studio has thousands of props.
These are things that are accessible to me and my clients in the studio. My studio has thousands of props and accessories. This includes but isn’t limited to flokati rugs, blankets, fabric backdrops, larger paper and cloth backdrops for family, cute outfits for baby, bonnets, fabric wraps and cloth decorative pieces for stuffing props, textured materials for stuffing props, wood floors, themed backdrops, headbands for little girls, little pillows for under babies head, and so much more! The studio has everything for your session and you really only need to think about baby’s personal needs (ex. bottles of milk, pacifier, diapers, etc.).
My clients come in and have everything accessible to them which is another huge benefit of a posed studio session. I prefer to start with family images first. This will include mom and dad if my clients just had their first baby or the whole family if there are other children. Occasionally I even have grandparents join in on the fun and that always brings a smile to my face. I love to capture multiple generations in one photo or a grandparent with their grandchildren. I think this provides the whole family with a beautiful memory of that moment forever.
This is a big part of why I became a professional photographer.
I love to document all of those special moments in my clients’ lives but also to preserve memories of people. To me, the portraits I take allow people to be seen and remembered clearly even when they leave this earth. If you have lost someone close to you, you will know that photos help us remember them so much more clearly and become cherished and dear to us.
Most people if faced with the crisis of a fire say that they would attempt to save photographs of their family before any other possessions. That is how precious and loved our photos are and I want to be sure to get those beautiful new moments of a family 3 or more. We only have those firsts once in life and then we move onto something new. We can never go back to those moments again but can bring our minds back to them again through photos.
After I capture the family together, I like to photograph mom and dad with baby individually. There are usually 2-4 poses each that I like to photograph with each of them depending on how many other people and set ups there are. Next, I will move on to the sibling portraits. I love to photograph toddlers or older children with their new baby brother or sister. It brings a warm feeling to my heart to imagine how close they will be as they grow up together. I have several poses for each age group to make sure I can get some beautiful memories of that first connection they have together. Sometimes it is a candid moment and other times my little clients ham it up for the camera and pose perfectly for me. Either way, they always are beautiful memories for the family.
I always consult with my clients.
The final part of the session is for baby by him or herself. I start with 2-4 poses on the floor which includes props on the hardwood floor or some on the flokati rugs. I have two hardwood floor options, an off-white or dark wood. They both are beautiful and have different props that coordinate with each.
I feel the dark wood floor images produce beautiful black and white portraits. After the floor images I set up my beanbag stand with 2 blankets for the beanbag. I always consult with my clients on what colors they prefer as I do for all of the session details. I attempt anywhere from 3-6 poses on the beanbag for a different look.
That takes us to the end of the session. On average a newborn session takes about 1.5-2.5 hours. It is usually on the longer side with siblings and extended family members added in. Sometimes baby is a little fussy or needs more breaks and it can extend a little longer. With my clients using the newborn prep guide I send and preparing baby, it usually cuts down on the session time.
I like to keep things calm and simple and flow through the session with ease. If one pose or prop doesn’t work, I am quick to move to another idea. I do not like to force things and my style is very baby centered so baby stays comfortable and happy. Many times I find cute wrapped poses to ensure baby’s comfort especially if they are a little older. Ideally I like babies to be between 6-21 days old for a posed newborn session. However, I’ve had many older babies in the studio for a posed newborn session. We just adjust for their larger size and they usually are awake longer during the session.
Are you curious about a posed newborn session for your family? You can view all of our offered sessions here. We do offer a petite session that is 30-40 minutes for baby only. This does not include family, siblings or anyone else. The signature or deluxe sessions include family. Contact the studio for more details at 224-801-1680 or our website here.
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