In-Home Newborn Session Prep Guide
In-home newborn sessions are unique to each family. They tell your story, from the comfort of your home. No rush getting everyone out the door, making sure the diaper bag is packed and baby is strapped in the carseat. In-home newborn sessions are my absolute favorite to shoot. There is little to no posing. From diaper changes to feedings to lounging on the couch, I document it all!
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What is an In-Home Newborn Session?
In-home newborn sessions are unique to each family. They tell your story, from the comfort of your home. No rush getting everyone out the door, making sure the diaper bag is packed and baby is strapped in the carseat. In-home newborn sessions are my absolute favorite to shoot. There is little to no posing. From diaper changes to feedings to lounging on the couch, I document it all!
What to Expect
After your baby arrives, I like to have my mama’s shoot me a quick text after their little one is here, that way I can start to clear my schedule and find a good day for our session. Most all my newborn sessions take place when baby is anywhere from 5-10 days old. This is important because I like to shoot when baby is still in the womb-like stage and very sleepy.
What types of photos will I take? I cannot emphasize enough the lifestyle nature of this session: it is super heavy on the candids and truly just capturing your new life at home with your newest family member! We will do lots and lots of candid pics to really get some genuine smiles and laughs and all of that with babe. I really like to capture all of the wonderful (and range of!!) emotions going on at this new stage of your life.
Home Prep
Once we narrow down our session date and time (they usually take place around 11am-noon, for lighting purposes) I will ask what areas of you house you would like to session to take place in. I like to have clients pick one or two rooms that have the best natural light. Master bedrooms, living rooms, baby’s nursery and spare bedrooms are most common. Opening all blinds and curtains before my arrival will help me to figure out which spaces are best. Please do not feel the need to deep clean your entire house before I come. However, if you can, try and declutter items on counters/floors in the spaces you’d like me to photograph in. Less is more when it comes to these type sessions. That’s why spare bedrooms are always clients favorite rooms to shoot in because most of the time, those are the rooms with just a bed. Also, keep in mind your bedding. There are some really wonderful colors and patterns out there (which is amazing) however, if you have a white sheet/blanket/comforter definitely bust that out and lay it on top. The reason being, bright and bold colors will cast shadows and colors on skin, leaving a tint of whatever color the blanket is. So if you can, keep it simple and plain. Whites and creams are always ideal to ensure esthetically please images to the eye.
If you have older kiddos, let me know before we schedule a time. I always like to make sure we aren’t heading towards a nap while I’m there. I try my best to be flexible on the time of day we shoot to accommodate for such schedules.
Baby Prep
If possible, try and keep your house warmer than usual. Babies love being warm and cuddly and when the house is cold, they’ll let you know if they don’t like it.
Try and feed babe shortly before your session time. This ensures baby has a full belly and will hopefully be happy and cooperative for photos! If you would like any feeding/nursing pictures, we absolutely can do this at the beginning of the session…so hold off feeding babe until I get there and we’ll get some feeding/nursing photos done first!
For every in-home newborn session, I bring some props along with me. They usually include a basket, wraps in a few colors, and headbands (if you have a little girl). If you would rather not use these props, that is perfectly fine!
Getting everyone dressed & ready
Simple is best. Comfort is key. Keep colors neutral but don’t be afraid to add a little bit of color! Whites, creams, grey, and subdued colors always photograph the best. Try and avoid bright and bold colors (neons), super dark colors like black and navy blue and big patterns and shirts with large logos on them because all that can take away from the overall feel and look of your images. We want the focus to be on you and your little one, not what your shirt said. Same rules apply to siblings. Try and avoid clothing with characters, sequins and neons.
Same goes for siblings. No contrasting colors or busy patterns. I don’t suggest clothing with other large prints or logos as those can be very distracting.
If you have older children who will be in some but not all of the photographs, I recommend having a helper who can keep him/her/them occupied when we are doing mom, dad & baby shots, or even mom & baby and dad & baby shots, as jealousy can sometimes be an issue. You know your children best, so I just bring this up as something to consider!
Lastly, just relax!
The beautiful part about in-home sessions is that you can truly be yourself while also capturing the beauty of this season in an authentic way. These sessions are laidback and flexible so that we can capture all the beauty that parenthood is. I love delivering to my clients a diverse gallery of moments from naturally posed to even documentary. The gallery you receive should be a little time capsule into this small window of time that often flies by in a haze.
So take this as an excuse to get a long shower and feel refreshed. Maybe even spend a moment to put on some makeup or blow-dry your hair.