When Should I Have My Baby Photographed?
This is a great question and one we get often. The short of this is: Newborn (within the first two weeks of birth), at 6 months (or what we love to call sitter stage, when babies sit independently) and at one year (when babies look like little versions of their adult self are walking and exploring the world around them more independently).
If you didn’t opt to document your pregnancy with a professional maternity session, the next best opportunity for you and your baby is a birth session.
Birth
This is baby’s very first photos, the moment they are born. The photographer comes to the hospital, birth center or home and documents labor, the family, and the actual birth and that first magical hour after your baby takes its first breath and the reaction of the family who welcomes them. These are very journalistic type images, nothing is posed.
Fresh 48
As we mentioned earlier the closer to birth day your baby gets photographed the more of his newborn likeness will be documented. For this reason, may families opt for a Fresh 48 session, as the name implies is done within the first 48 hours of birth. For this session your photographer comes to your hospital room and captures baby in adjusting to his or her new world. Since these are most often done in hospital or birthing center many of the details that are a blur to families are documented for baby. Details like foot printing, medical bracelets, ect are captured as part of baby's first days story. . This is lifestyle style of photography meant to truly capture your baby right before they depart for home life.
Newborn
Newborn Studio Session- Images are done within the first 2 weeks of life to capture the sleeping curled up images. After 2-3 weeks the newborns hormones begin to change resulting in newborn acne. Also, newborn just out of the womb is easier to mimic just like how they posed themselves in the womb. After a while, they start to stretch out and move around, and are more easily awakened. Plus, it is amazing how much they change in appearance after just a few weeks. The more posed and props images are usually done in a studio as that gives the most selection of different colors and props and allows the required space for those type images
Lifestyle Newborn Session- Some parents opt to have a less posed, more lifestyle type images taken in their homes. These images can include baby’s nursery and capture their first home for all time. Since this type session does not require baby to be posed or in props, baby can be photographed within the first three weeks, or sometimes even later. Most moms want to do images as soon as possible to use for newborn announcements, and because babies grow and change fast! With older siblings, you will want to schedule your session within two weeks, while the older child is still enamored with their new sibling. That first excitement wanes quickly.
Six Month Sessions (or Sitter Sessions)
A sitter session, as the name suggests, is an amazing time to photograph baby because their personality is in full bloom, can usually sit unsupported, baby is not yet walking or crawling which makes this often the first time that baby expresses interest in engaging with the camera.
One Year Old Session (Big Baby Milestone)
The one year old session is considered a wonderfully fun milestone to celebrate and photograph. Often families will opt to include a cake, new haircut or have us create a themed session to highlight the year and baby's personality. Although the focus is baby, it is also a time to celebrate a year as parents and reminisce over the events that took place on baby's actual birth day. We love really styling these sessions as these images showcase a mini version of what your child will look like as an adult.
If your baby is entering into one of these wonderful stages or you are expecting and planning ahead for baby's first year. Give us a call, we would love to create magical portraits of your baby. Don't forget to ask about session bundles and our baby registry...both a great way to plan for a year of smiles.