I first worked with Erised & Dan when they were expecting their first baby for their maternity session and was so excited to hear from Erised that she was pregnant again! She actually told me in person when she was at the studio to pick up an order from Benicio’s First Birthday session, and I may or may not have screamed in my excitement. Erised opted to enroll in The First Year collection to enjoy all the member perks - her favorite part of being a member is that she doesn’t have to remember to reach out to schedule upcoming sessions!
I LOVE working with clients for their maternity and newborn photos! Your maternity session is such a great way to get to know each other - much like an engagement session with your wedding photographer! When you bring your baby to me for their newborn session, you’ll already be at ease with me and in front of my camera.
WHEN SHOULD I SCHEDULE OUR SESSION?
The sooner, the better!
I know you are excited, and probably a little overwhelmed juggling work, home, and all the baby prep! Why not get this checked off your list ASAP so you can set it and forget it? I have a limit on the number of newborns due in each month I accept for a guaranteed session. Most clients secure their session while they are early in their second trimester to ensure they have a spot on the studio calendar! Many of our repeat clients reach out as soon as they get a positive pregnancy test because they know how far in advance we fill up! (Don’t worry, your pregnancy news is safe with us if you’re waiting a while to tell the world!)
Remember: booking your newborn session doesn’t mean that you’re scheduling the exact date of the session! It simply reserves a guaranteed spot on my calendar, and we’ll schedule your date once baby has arrived and we know how you both are doing. There are lots of factors to consider when scheduling such as your baby’s birth weight, whether you had a c-section, and if there were any other complications. Typically we’ll schedule for 8-21 days of life with those factors taken into consideration!
Don’t stress if you’re reading this and your baby is already here! Sometimes our reserved newborns arrive earlier or later than their estimated due dates. When this happens, that means there are some months I can take a last minute newborn client. Contact us NOW to check on if that’s possible for you!
NEWBORN SESSIONS WITH AN OLDER SIBLING INVOLVED
When older siblings participate in a newborn session, we need to know what their nap schedule (if they take one) is. We want your older child(ren) to be as well rested as possible and will take their nap time into consideration when planning your session. If you have a school aged child - please know that we do not schedule newborn sessions on weekend days or late afternoons. Our clients treat a newborn session with us like they would a doctor or dentist appointment and plan for their child to be out of school for a couple of hours. Typically we see older siblings get checked out of school right before the noon hour to come and join at the studio for the session.
I start newborn sessions in the morning between 9 and 10 AM, with the first 90 minutes of session time devoted to photographing your baby alone. This is the perfect time for you to take advantage of our add on hair and makeup services since you’ll be sitting on the couch doing nothing anyway while I photograph your baby. So, you might as well treat yourself to some pampering. ;) Erised was a hair and makeup artist early on in her working life before children, so she usually does her own!
When Erised and Mateo arrived, I took Mateo out of his carseat and got started right away while Erised looked through some of the dresses I had pulled for her to look at. Since I’ve worked with her so many times previously, I knew which dresses would be perfect for her skin tone and were in line with her style preferences. Ultimately she chose to wear the same dress she had worn during her maternity session since she loved it so much! This is such a fun way to nod back to the days of pregnancy, and some mamas who have studio maternity sessions enjoy having a couple before/after images with similar posing of cradling their baby bump and then having baby cradled in their arms.
Mateo was the sweetest little guy with the most beautiful eyelashes, and such a great sleeper! He looked so different than his big brother did as a newborn too - although some of that was due to their weight difference at birth! Big brother was much bigger size wise than Mateo! As I was finishing up with Mateo’s solo portraits, the rest of the family arrived. Erised had brought a special outfit for Mateo that coordinated with Benicio, so she got him changed into that. Please know that you do NOT need to have matching outfits or a special outfit for your newborn unless you want to! If you choose to do that, be sure that the outfit is not too large for your baby and fits them snugly. If it’s too big, they’ll be swimming in an overflow of material and it can be hard to keep it from shifting up and looking strange.
NEWBORN SESSION FLOW WITH THE WHOLE FAMILY
Mateo was in and out of sleep at this point, which is always completely fine! I actually really love when I have an awake and alert newborn in the family images! Sometimes I get lucky with a photo of everyone actually looking at the camera (rare, but it does happen sometimes!). If your baby is awake and NOT calm, don’t worry. We’ll work together to figure out what they need and get them happy and content again! Sometimes all your baby needs is another feed, a diaper change, or some snuggle time with you.
Your baby’s safety is my TOP priority when you’re in my studio. I will not place your baby near their older siblings if they are not calm and still. Every toddler is different, so every session will look different! I’ll gauge how big siblings are doing with baby when deciding which types of photos are safe to do. Since Benicio was not interested in being next to his brother at first, we defaulted to family images with brother interaction. Eventually, we were able to get the brothers to lay next to each other - but you’ll see that Erised and Dan needed to have a hand on each child for safety.
Once Benicio was finished being in the photographs, he went home with grandma and grandpa! We undressed Mateo to wrap him in one of our studio blankets, and I finished up the session with parent images and a few more solo of Mateo.
WHAT TO EXPECT AFTER YOUR NEWBORN SESSION
I keep it simple for you! You just had a baby, so the last thing you need is to deal with anything complicated. About a week after their session, Erised & Dan viewed their proof gallery and chose their collection. They knew they wanted to keep every image and have an album just like big brother Benicio had!
When their final images were completed, they chose which ones they wanted in their album, and I designed a proof for them. Album proofs are viewed online, and if revisions are requested, I’ll take care of that for you! 99% of the time clients approve the first go, which Erised did. She chose her favorite leather album cover, and I put the order in!
CONTACTLESS ORDER PICKUP PROCESS
When your order arrives at the studio (typically within 2-4 weeks of ordering!) you’ll get an email from me! Each week I send out an email to my clients who have orders ready for pickup. The email outlines the pickup process with a link to a scheduling calendar for the week ahead. You’ll simply click to make your reservation and come to the studio at that date and time for your contactless pickup!
CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION
Are you pregnant and interested in reserving a newborn session with us for your baby? We would absolutely LOVE to chat with you about your family, the experience we offer our clients, and how we can serve you. Contact us today to 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.
