Newborn Lifestyle sessions are one of my absolute favourite sessions to do, and they’re my favourite for a number of reasons. Firstly, those newborn days are filled with excitement, change, and the glorious period of getting to know your new little baby. They are also filled with chaos, exhaustion, anxiety and often whizz by you in a blur that you can’t quite hold onto. A newborn lifestyle session is able to truly capture all of that and also allow you to have some beautiful memories which include your own home – the nursery your baby sleeps in, the couch you spend your days on, the chaos in the lounge room – all whilst meaning that you don’t even need to leave your own house!!! How amazing is that!! Often leaving the house with a newborn can be stressful, so by having your shoot in your own home, it’s immediately more relaxing.
This is extra perfect when you have siblings involved! Your other kids are able to be in their own environment, and they’re able to come in and out as they like without any pressure. They can immerse themselves in their favourite toy or favourite book, and you can capture those memories together as a family. There is no pressure to ‘perform’ during a newborn lifestyle shoot.
This brings me to my next point. My style of photography is all about capturing the natural moments, the raw emotions, and the beautiful connections. For this reason, I don’t do typical posing, and this is especially true for newborn lifestyle sessions. Your baby doesn’t need to be asleep, they don’t need to be in a good mood, they really don’t ‘need’ to do anything. They can just BE.
So what does a typical newborn lifestyle session look like? It’s really a session which is very much ‘go with the flow’. Where we start depends on what your baby needs, and if there are other siblings then it depends on their moods as well. If the siblings want to be involved straight away, then we jump on that and grab that moment before it passes. If they need some time without being photographed first, then that’s fine too and we’l just focus on you and your baby. Often it’s during this time that siblings start WANTING to be involved, simply because they’re not being asked to be involved!! If your baby is asleep we’ll start with you holding your baby, laying with your baby, or grabbing some detail shots. If your baby needs to be fed, then we’ll start with that. If your baby is unsettled, then we’ll go with whatever makes him happy (some of my favourite shots are of babies being settled as this is real life!!). If nothing is making your baby happy, then just remember that photos don’t have sound, and the images can still be beautiful. We can also take the opportunity to grab some shots of their feet or hands or clothing and other details which don’t require their crying face to be included all of the time.
I like to try and focus on the things that you do regularly with your baby – the couch you might sit on, the wrap you might wrap them in, the carrier you wear them in, the multi-tasking in the kitchen, and anything else that’s important and relevant to you and your life. These sessions are personal and totally dependent on what your ‘real life’ is like. One day you’ll be able to look back on your images and remember what time was like during that period in your life – what it looked like, felt like, sounded like – and you’ll also be able to realise how fleeting it all was. How quickly it all changes, how fast your baby grows and how special each and every day with them is. Even the tough days. Newborn lifestyle sessions really allow you to FEEL something when you look back on them – it’s a very specific, very fleeting, and extremely special part of your life.
If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to ask! You can find more info here What is a Lifestyle Session? and you can view my Lifestyle Newborn Portfolio here. Please contact me with any questions, or if you’d like to book a session. I also offer gift vouchers if you’d like a great present idea!