When Katrina emailed me to let me know that their baby BOY had arrived, I was so excited! I recently posted their maternity session in the field, and you can check out those images by clicking here. Baby Jackson came a while past his estimated due date, but he was definitely worth the wait. We scheduled their newborn session, and I sent over our newborn prep packet for them to review beforehand.
The morning of their session, the new family of three arrived and I got started right away. Jackson was going through a bit of a growth spurt and needed to eat very frequently. If this happens with your baby, know that it’s totally okay! I only schedule one newborn per day on my studio schedule and I am not going to rush through your session or be impatient with you or your baby. We’ll work around the needs of your new little one and keep everyone happy and comfortable throughout. Because Jackson kept needing to eat, he would open his eyes when he started getting hungry. I loved it because it allowed for some of the sweetest images with direct eye contact! I work with plenty of awake babies - the trick is that they also need to be calm. Awake and angry babies don’t make for the best photographs. ;) Once I finished the solo portraits, I had Katrina give Jackson a really long feeding and hold him for a bit so that he would fall asleep. We thought this had worked well, but he woke up shortly after being moved again. So I whipped out a few techniques from my bag of tricks, and had him sound asleep after a few minutes. Come to the studio for a newborn session to find out what those tricks are! ;)
We went right into the family and parent portion of the session and worked our way through it. I won’t lie - this part took some patience on everyone’s part because Jackson kept startling awake. What you can’t see is all of the soothing and walking back and forth to get him to settle. I would literally have Nick walk back and forth and then stop in place and take photographs in the in between moments, and that was all we needed. Katrina was tired from the lack of sleep that comes along with a newborn, and I could see that she was concerned we weren’t getting what we needed. I did my best to reassure her… but the proof is in the pudding.
When she looked at her proof gallery, she immediately emailed to thank me for my patience and that it had paid off. She absolutely LOVED her images, and was definitely a bit surprised. I can’t tell you how many of my clients have that concern that their session isn’t going well while in the moment. What they don’t realize is that I only need 1/800th of a second and a lot of patience to take a photograph if their little one isn’t sleeping or “cooperating”. I hate to even use that word because I feel like it places an unrealistic expectation on little ones. Of course a 10 day old doesn’t know how to “cooperate”. They know when they’re hungry, tired, or need to be snuggled - and it’s our job to make sure their needs are met. As a new parent, sometimes you’re still figuring out their cues. Our session together will be relaxed and laid back, and your baby’s comfort and safety are my top priorities. They run the show, end of story.
Enjoy a few of my favorite images from Jackson’s newborn session! Isn’t he just the SWEETEST!? When Katrina came by the studio a couple of weeks later to pick up her newborn collection, I was lucky enough to get to see him. Even though I know firsthand how fast babies grow, I am still always shocked when I see how BIG my newborn clients have grown in the few short weeks since their session!
If you're expecting a baby or already a parent and looking for a newborn, maternity, or family photographer, I would love to work with you to create images that you will love for a lifetime. Watch this video to hear about my philosophy and see how I work in the studio so you can determine if I'm the right fit for you. I can't wait to meet you!
Lily Sophia Photography specializes in newborn, baby, maternity, and family photography in Atlanta, Georgia and surrounding areas.
