Important tips on how to prepare for your session
Tips from San Diego Newborn Photographer, Sophie Crew Photography
Yay, baby has arrived and we are ready to hold our newborn photography session. A date and time has been set, and everyone is ready to start creating some magic in the studio (or outdoors) with your little one. Here are a few tips on how to prepare for our newborn session to ensure a happy, comfortable and seamless day! So here are some vital tips in preparing for your newborn session with Sophie Crew Photography:
Now, keep in mind that our newborn photo session can last up to three hours. Why so long? Because we want to make sure baby is comfortable and happy at all times in order to get those great, indicate poses. Ideally, we aim to have baby remain asleep during the entirety of the session, as intricate posing can be achieved with a sleeping baby. Don’t worry, if baby is awake, that’s just fine! I always have a plan A and a plan B ready for all babies, depending on what they want to do. When baby is awake, we will focus on getting some great eye contact, all while posing baby in a safe and comfortable way until they decide to take a little snooze, at which time we will move into more detailed posing.
I always instruct parents to keep baby awake in the hour or so before leaving from your home to come to the studio. This is a good time to give baby a bath to help stay awake. Once parents arrive to the studio, parents will have as much time as needed to feed baby. It is important that baby be fully fed to begin our session – we want baby to be ‘Thanksgiving Day Full’ to ensure a happy and comfortable sleep and session. Sometimes this means ten minutes of feeding, sometimes it’s one hour. There is no rush, as every baby is going through their own different phase of feeding. You may notice that baby eats less but more frequently when under two weeks, or they might cluster feed for a few days every now and then. Baby may be formula fed or breast-fed, both with their own level of satiety. Some like to poop right after a feed, which might keep them awake longer, some might go #2 an hour later.
Wear light clothes. To keep your newborn comfortable, temperature-wise, the newborn photography studio will be warmed to about 82-84 degrees (less when swaddled or clothed). To newborns, this is a happy, comfortable temperature, but for us adults, things can get a little sweaty, especially if wearing long sleeves or warm clothes. I suggest wearing layers, so that you can easily add or remove as the temperatures adjust to satisfy baby’s needs.
The use of a pacifier during our session may help our session run more smoothly, in the event that baby might need additional soothing during our session. A pacifier will help a baby that might not be hungry but needs to be soothed back to a comfortable sleep. I strongly recommend bringing one along to our session. The use of a parent’s finger as a pacifier is not recommended as hands tend to get in the way of posing. However, if parents prefer to not introduce pacifiers to their little ones, that’s no problem, we will absolutely use alternate methods of soothing and posing to make sure baby is happy, safe and comfortable.
Finally, the most important tip on how to prepare for your newborn session is not not stress! Babies are very in-tune with their mothers’ emotions and stress levels. Sit back, relax and enjoy our newborn photograph session together. Pull up a seat next to me to watch how adorable your baby is while we work, or kick your feet up on the couch and catch up on social media. Enjoy the day – magic is happening!
I hope that these tips on preparing for your newborn session with Sophie Crew Photography have been helpful. I can’t wait to see you in the studio and to capture these special moments for your newborn!
San Diego Newborn Photographer
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