Why Should I have my newborn photography session captured under 14 days old?
When you have reached your first trimester of pregnancy it can be an overwhelming time (especially if this is your first pregnancy). It seems like an odd time to start researching newborn photographers but trust us, it is the perfect time.
There are a lot of newborn photographers out there and it’s up to you to find the style, editing and lighting you like most. We always suggest working with a photographer where safety is their number one priority and preferably, they have extensive training and experience. You may have some budget parameters you’d like to stick with as well. The further out you book, the better chance you will have of securing the photographer of your choice. You may also want to consider a Maternity package at this point which is a great time to meet your photographer and learn about your newborn session!
Which brings us to the main point of this blog, why should my newborn be captured under 14 days old? There are LOTS of reasons which we are sharing with you here -
1- The main reason we find is that those tiny little toes and fingers will only stay small for a few weeks! Trust us, you will want to capture those details right away. We also suggest (from experience) that you do the foot and hand print clay moulds and/or have their imprints taken (we can do this in our studio) in case you’d like custom jewelry made by someone like https://www.instagram.com/smallprintvancouver/.
2 -Under 14 days your newborn will still feel like he/she is in the womb. They are very bunched up, sleepy and easy to pose. We swear that the minute day 14 hits, they change. It becomes harder to flatten those fingers, posing them naked or half naked becomes almost impossible and they are more awake and alert (we like them sleepy in their session). Here is where we really need to say we have captured newborns up to 2 months old before but, those sessions look very different. There is a lot more wrapping involved and no nude/partially nude images. Some of them have been sleepy enough to pose but, the parents really had to work at it before they arrived to their session (these are in the details we send to our newborn families weeks before their due date).
3- They start to move more after 14 days. Safety is our main concern over at Mark Your Moments Photography. We will never put your newborn in a position where they could move and harm themselves. There are newborn poses that may really matter most to you. We will discuss this with you upon booking. Below you will see our froggy and front-laying pose. These are compilation images meaning your baby’s head is being held in one image, and their arms in the other. We then photoshop the images together to make the final product. These poses can only be captured when the newborn is fast asleep and not moving around at all. If they are moving, the pose will never happen. We find that this pose has been best captured at 7 -10 days old or, when the umbilical cord comes off and has healed over (let us be honest, nobody would want to be laying on their front with a plastic clip digging into their stomach so, we don’t like to capture this pose until it’s gone)!
4- Size matters. Newborns tend to be anywhere from 6 - 9 pounds on average. The average newborn length at birth is between 19-21 inches. As they grow past the two-week point, they grow out of our newborn posing outfits, props, and some wraps. We have had newborns come in that are between 10 - 12 pounds and that was a bit of a challenge to find the props that work for them. In the pictures below you will see our newborn posing bed, our heart bowl, a wooden bucket, and a round bowl. These are just a few of our most popular props which will not fit larger newborns.
5 – We have found that feeding a younger baby is easier than older ones. Their stomachs are so small, and they become much more content when they are full!
6 – Last but not least. What if you need to reschedule your session or have a second newborn session captured? Life happens, things happen, we have our own photography style and photography is a subjective preference. We all know with newborns; we need flexibility sometimes. In our 8 years of capturing newborn sessions and over 700 newborns, we have only ever had to reschedule 2 sessions due to the baby not settling (we did the recapture) But, we have also been the second session for multiple families. One time another photographer, unfortunately, lost a client’s set of twin images and refused to recapture the twins again because they were a bit older. A couple of times either a newborn was just not cooperating in their first newborn session or, the clients quickly discovered the photographer was not experienced enough and they did not feel their newborn was in safe hands. We have had clients who simply did not love the first set of images from another photographer and/or just wanted lots of photos. Whatever the case, there is SUCH a short time frame to capture the images you want, and you may want to take full advantage of that!
So how do we ensure your session happens under 14 days? First, we hold sessions for you a month pre and a month post of your due date. Once your baby arrives, we ask that call your family, call your friends, call everyone you need to let know your wonderful news and then text or e-mail us to say your baby has arrived. Before your session, we discuss the days of the week that work best for you. When you let us know of your newborn’s arrival, we send you all the dates available.
We typically capture newborns from 10 am - 1 pm as that is when they are the sleepiest however if you find that just before your session, they are more alert in the morning and sleepier at another point of the day, you can let us know so we can adjust your session accordingly.
We are always happy to answer any questions you may have! Please let us know if you would like to schedule a call to chat about your photography wishes!
And many congrats on your pregnancy.
