Sloan | Newborn

I met sweet baby Sloan's mama and big sister at the beginning of March. All maternity sessions have the option for a complimentary 20 minute mini maternity session. At the beginning of the year I made the decision to offer the complimentary mini maternity sessions with a booked newborn session. Too often, we mama's put ourselves last. Too often, we feel tired and don't carve out the time to do something for ourselves.

With the mini maternity, mamas are able to receive a few images of them glowing in their pregnancy. One day, baby will love seeing these images as their family prepared for them to come into the world. 

Photographing young kiddos with newborns or with maternity is challenging. We all have a vision of how we want them to look and behave. Ultimately, we let the toddler be themselves and that is how the best images are obtained. Pinterest is full of amazing ideas and images, but many of them are not posed - they just happened. It is nice to see inspiration images but just know that how I photograph maternity and newborn with sibling toddlers is very similar to how I photograph the toddler at their own individual sessions - I let them lead and we let them be themselves. 

Sweet baby Sloan! She was such a great little sleeper during our session. Every baby is truly so different. Trained newborn photographers understand the technical elements to a pose, and with many babies given the right technique and patience a pose can be perfected. An important element is baby's personality and comfort though. I never force a pose if it makes baby uncomfortable. 

Of course, shooting my camera 'up the nose' is not my typical method ~ I was in the process of preparing for the next set and Sloan decided to give a little smile. So camera went up quick. Emotion is so importrant to capture. Maybe she had baby gas haha but maybe she was just that comfortable and decided to give us a dream-smile. 

I love to hear the colors that will be in baby's nursery. This way we can customize a set that will look beautiful hung on a wall in their bedroom. 

 Another decision I made at the beginning of this year was to not add additional charge for new parents receiving a portrait with their newborn. I almost, okay I really do insist on mama at least allow me to capture an image or two of her with the new baby. I have lots of maternity prop outfits that can be slipped on, you don't have to look at the camera, and I don't expect that you'll always want a 16x20 image of the image on the wall. But, you'll have it for the baby book. It will be a moment that was captured - a moment that can't ever be again.

My studio is a safe place for new mamas. Whether it is your first baby or your fourth. I'm sure the emotional roller coaster of having delivered your sweet bundle, your body's hormones all over the place, and of course the mixture of being so happy and so tired is just so over-whelming. As my clients know, when you come for the newborn session ~ I fully encourage you to partake in the snacks I have set out and snuggle up on the sofa and take a nap. My assistant and I will be photographing for 2-3 hours and you might as well relax.

There is no judgment if you need a good cry, to step outside, or to just sleep. Hey, I give hugs too. I want you to feel comfortable and secure. I want you to know that my assistant and I have the safety of your new baby and your comfort level as our top priority.

I recently have received training by the world's top glamour and women's photographer. She has taught me how to do some amazing little tricks with women's skin and body contouring. I don't need to tell you what was fixed in editing, but what I do need for you to know is that I will always take care of you in images to the very best of my ability. 

A few collage options, remember, to view more ideas look through previous blog posts as I always try to create a few collage ideas at the end of each post. 

The top is intended to be a 16x20 and the bottom can be 11x14 and larger.