What to expect during your Newborn Photography session
A newborn photography session gives you the opportunity to take time with the people you care about, allowing the photographer to isolate specific emotions and tell a story in a split second in time, capturing the deep love and connection between parents and their newborn baby.
All too quickly your child will grow up, these images will act as totems to bring those memories back to life, helping you remember the feelings you experienced during the first 12 months of your child’s life.
To give you some insight into what you can expect during your newborn photography session, our team put together some valuable bits of information…
What items should you bring?
Think about items you have that hold a special significance to your family, perhaps something that has been passed down through generations - Great Grandpa’s pocket watch, a blanket knitted by Nana, your favourite childhood teddy.
How special would it be to look at your artwork and tell your little one’s stories about where these special mementos came from and the relatives who are linked to them.
If teething is an issue, consider bringing along cooling chew toys, numbing creams or medication.
The Team at Zest is your Guide.
Looking after a newborn baby is a life changing experience. Those early days where you spend time learning how to care for this little person can sometimes be challenging, dealing with post-partum depression, birth trauma, lack of sleep and disconnected partners might be overwhelming right now.
We understand you might be feeling a lot of new emotions and are here to help guide you through your first family photoshoot, we can give you direction on how to hold and pose with your baby, how to express emotions through pose and expression, we can create a positive experience for you to treasure.
Capturing Relationships.
Our focus is to capture real emotion within your photos and show the feelings that you are experiencing in these beautiful moments. As a mother, father, brother or sister, you will have different perspectives and bonds with your new baby - this is what we love to photograph.
As well as the family grouping we also spend time with just mother and child, father and child and siblings together. These different relationships are special and will be so valuable to look back on.
The Studio - A relaxing environment.
Creating a serene environment in the studio will help to pacify your baby, when you are relaxed your baby will likely be relaxed.
Much of the time in our studio will be spent on soothing and relaxing your baby: this might include plenty of gentle rocking, sweet lullabies and calming cuddles, with soft lighting, gentle music and comfortable areas to relax in.
Our booking consultants will help to find a time that suits you, usually in the morning just after their longest sleep session is the best time.
During your newborn photography session, there may be some crying and time to settle your bundle of joy. Our team is very patient and allows time for this to happen naturally.
Feeding your baby.
It can be a good idea to feed your baby just before your session starts (we have comfortable rooms for you to relax in while your baby feeds) and we can take breaks during the photoshoot to top them up with milk.
Some parents like to include the feeding into their newborn photoshoot, capturing moments where you are bonding and caring for your baby so intimately.
Skin-on-Skin.
We love skin-on-skin sessions, capturing the intimacy and close connection with your baby, holding them in your arms and warming them with your body heat.
The scars and tattoos we carry on our bodies tell the story of our lives, to proudly show them off while holding your child close to your body can create highly personalised images.
We have alot of fun together.
Your skin-on-skin session means your baby will not be wearing a nappy, leading to some hilariously messy situations where you will be peed or pooed on during the photoshoot.
This is totally normal, and we have prepared for it, providing plenty of wipes, towels, and mops to clean up afterwards.
It is a good idea to bring a change of clothes to your session just in case.
Clothing.
Clothing can also be a distracting element in your artwork: messy fabric folds, heavy patterns and logos, bulky jewelry and mismatching colours are all things to avoid.
As your child grows there will be plenty of opportunities for costumes and cute outfits.
For your newborn session we would prefer you to keep things simple such as darker colours with no patterns or logos. The most pure and authentic look is skin-on-skin, however, the choice is yours.
Enjoy every moment.
In your newborn babies first year of life, the changes are happening day by day and week to week - it’s astonishing.
The photos captured within your newborn photoshoot will be extremely valuable as time is moving very quick right now. Be sure to prepare your nappy bag, clothing and bring along a few accessories.
We look forward to seeing you!
If you have any further questions or are interested in booking a Zest Photography Newborn photography experience, call 0862453150 or email us at info@zestphotography.com.au.