At-home Newborn Photo Session

Brian and Annette have had a busy last few months. They drove across country for their move from New Jersey to Walnut Creek, bought a house, and settled in with their 12-year-old dog, Baxter.

Then, one week after her due date, Antonia Marie was born at 7 lbs. 15 oz. and 19 ½ inches long. A week after that, Annette contacted me to do a newborn photo session for Antonia. Ideally, newborn sessions happen 5-10 days after a baby is born. This timing is important so that the baby is still in that sleepy, curled-up stage that makes for such great photos. After this time, babies become more alert, can develop baby acne, and we might miss those sweet, sleepy poses that people often want from their newborn photos.

I always try to plan ahead for newborn sessions, putting three different dates on the books for my pregnant clients so that we can fit them into the ideal newborn window for their sessions. You never know when babies will be early, on-time, or late so I want to make sure we have the timing covered even if it means several scheduled appointments.

However, it’s not unusual to get emails from parents requesting newborn sessions after the baby has already arrived. When this happens, I do my best to get the photos done in the 5-10 days old time frame. Thankfully, because I always have multiple sessions penciled in for other clients whose babies haven’t been born yet, it allows me to have last-minute sessions available too.

With Annette and Brian, we were able to fit our session in on Super Bowl Sunday before the big game. Antonia was so comfortable and content in all of her photos. Though she was 11 days old, and typically babies become more alert at this age, she slept through most of the session and looked so adorable in all of her pictures. Annette and Brain's wedding colors were a soft purple and asked to tie in a touch of it into a shot of their rings with their daughter. I love being able to tie in wedding rings into newborn sessions as I feel it is because of their love that the beautiful baby is with us.

I love doing newborn sessions at a family’s home because I get to capture the family in their own environment, see adorable nurseries. I love the custom sign of Antonia’s name which was handmade by A Charmed Life Inc.. They specialize in creating custom heirloom quality wood names and use non toxic finishes on their products.

Though this family has gone through big changes in the last few months, they already look so settled and comfortable; I’m so happy I could be a part of capturing these moments for them.