I first worked with Courtney & Jay when they were expecting their daughter for their maternity session at the field location. I was so excited to see them again for the baby girl’s newborn session after she arrived. You can view their gorgeous maternity session images by clicking here.
SCHEDULING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR YOUR NEWBORN SESSION
Don’t put off reserving your newborn session! MOST of our clients contact us early in their second trimester to reserve a spot on our calendar for their due date month. Some reserve in their first trimester if they’re comfortable doing so. Confused about how you can schedule a newborn session months in advance? Don’t worry, you’re not the first one - we get this question a lot!
Reserving your newborn session is NOT scheduling your exact date in advance.
It is impossible to know EXACTLY when your baby will be born months beforehand, and there are many factors that go into when we have you come in after your baby is born. We’ll want to know when your baby arrived in relation to their due date, how much they weighed, if you had a c-section, how you’re both doing, etc. When you have reserved a session with us, you don’t have to worry about whether or not we have room for you - because you’re guaranteed a session date.
We take a limited number of newborns due per month. Once we reach our monthly session cap, we are closed for that month. Why? Because we have very high standards for our client experience, and we want to make sure each and every one of our clients receives the same level of unparalleled service that we are known for, and proud of!
For those who are late to the game and reading this with their newborn baby already here, know that our reserved newborns sometimes arrive earlier/ later than the estimated due date, so there are some months that we DO have the ability to take on a last minute newborn session. Contact us today if that’s you, and we may be able to fit you in on our schedule.
WHAT TO EXPECT AT YOUR NEWBORN SESSION
For a first baby with no big siblings involved, it’s pretty straightforward since there are no nap schedules to take into consideration! Your newborn session will start in the morning generally between 9:30 and 10ish AM depending on where in the Atlanta metro area you’re coming from. We like to schedule for a time that you will hopefully avoid rush hour morning traffic.
The first 90 minutes of your session time is devoted to photographing your baby alone. Courtney had chosen to add on hair and makeup services again, because she loved it so much from her maternity session!
The beginning of your newborn session is the perfect opportunity for you to treat yourself to our add on hair and makeup services since you’re going be sitting on the couch doing nothing anyway during this time! Why not treat yourself to a relaxing experience which will likely be the first time you've felt truly pampered since giving birth? As an added bonus, our HMUA’s are really, really, really good at working their magic so you don’t look as sleep deprived as you might feel!
MAGNOLIA GRACES’ NEWBORN SESSION DAY
When Courtney and Jay arrived with Magnolia Grace, Courtney settled into the hair and makeup chair. She had a pretty good idea of what she wanted to wear from our studio wardrobe since she had looked through everything at her maternity fitting. I pulled a couple of her favorites out for her to make her final decision from, and then took Magnolia Grace out of her carseat to get started!
Magnolia Grace was the SWEETEST little thing. She stayed sound asleep for the entire first portion of her solo portraits, and was very relaxed and curly. If you have a baby girl, I always check with you before we get started on what your preferences are regarding the use of headbands and tiebacks. Courtney and Jay both love the way they look and wanted them used for all of her images. I can do a mix, all, or none at all - the choice is yours! I don’t do giant oversized flowers or bows in this studio, and have curated a darling collection over the years of the daintiest options for your little girl. My intention with for headband or tieback in my studio collection is that it NOT distract from your baby!
Magnolia Grace slept soundly for the first half of the newborn portion and then was WIDE awake and hungry. I took the opportunity to photograph some eye contact images, and then handed her off to dad for a diaper change and snuggles. Courtney fed her in the hair and makeup chair while finishing up her services. When hair and makeup was done, Courtney made a final decision on her dress and we moved right into the parent and family portion. Magnolia Grace was still awake at this point, but I knew that she would be falling asleep again soon. Sure enough, she did - and we flew through the family portion. Once we were done with those images, I took her back to the newborn area to finish up with a few more sleeping images. I don’t always do this, but I knew that she was completely conked out and I’d be able to get a few more wrapped images very quickly.
Courtney brought along a special family heirloom - her christening gown from when she was a baby. She wanted to include it IF possible, knowing that it might not be. Since Magnolia Grace was still completely out, we were able to change her into the gown without waking her and even managed to get the matching bonnet on for a few as well. I absolutely love incorporating meaningful family heirlooms into sessions, so if you want to do that - let’s discuss, and I’ll figure out the best way to include it in your session!
WHAT TO EXPECT AFTER YOUR SESSION
We keep it simple for you! About a week after their session, Courtney & Jay viewed their proof gallery and chose their collection. They knew that they wanted to keep all of the digital files and wanted an album too, so they chose our Heirloom Collection which includes those things. When the final images were ready to go, they were sent back that gallery to choose the images to include in the album. Clients are choosing between color and black and white versions of each image for their album. You can choose to have the entire album be all color images or all black and white image, or a mix of both - the choice is yours!
When they submitted their favorites, I then designed their album, and sent them a proof to review for approval. Once they had approved it for print and selected their album cover, it was ordered! It takes about 4ish weeks for heirloom albums to arrive due to their handcrafted construction. Once it’s in and ready for pickup, you’ll receive an email with a calendar scheduling link! The link will take you to our available contactless pickup dates and times for the week ahead, and you reserve what works best for you.
CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION
Are you expecting and interested in learning about working with our studio for your newborn session? We’d LOVE to speak with you about the client experience we offer and how we can serve your growing family. Contact us today to set up a time to speak on the phone and chat!
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.
