My Tips For Planning Your Fraser Valley In-Home Newborn Session
An in-home lifestyle newborn photo session is one of my favorite things to document. It is a privilege for me to document and witness such a fleeting and beautiful moment within a family’s life. But a common misconception about these sessions is that your home needs to be sprawling, stylishly decorated, and every room perfectly tidied a la Pinterest in order to have a worthwhile photo session. I am here to tell you that you do not need a Pinterest-worthy home to get beautiful in-home newborn photos!
The fact of the matter is that many of us in the Fraser Valley are raising our families in smaller spaces, and oftentimes our options for window lighting are limited. Furthermore, it can be difficult for some families to tidy their whole home during that first month of their baby’s life. But neither of these factors should be deal-breakers to booking an in-home newborn session.
The truth is that I only truly need a tidy space around one good window to do a beautiful shoot for you and your baby. If you have more space and more windows, and you want to include shots of your family in multiple rooms of your home, I love it and am here for it! But I am also equally here for capturing this moment in your family’s story in a smaller home. No matter what your situation is, your life doesn’t have to look like a Pinterest board for me to show you how beautiful it is.
When our second child was born, we were months away from moving to the Fraser Valley from Washington, D.C. We had an in-home newborn session in our beloved apartment where our family began. We somehow had every room in that apartment clean and beautiful and had photos taken in every room. It is such a treasure now to have those photos of us living, loving, and welcoming our daughter in that space we first called home. When our third child was born, I did our newborn photos myself in our small townhouse (which, by the way, I do not recommend and I would never do again — it’s so stressful even for a professional, let alone a newly postpartum professional!). Our master bedroom barely held a queen-sized bed, but it did have a big, beautiful window. We did all our newborn and family photos in that tiny space and the images I have from it are beautiful and intimate, ultimately emphasizing our connection during those early days as a family of five. I have had in-home newborn sessions both ways, so to speak, and I treasure both of those sessions equally. Even in their differences, they are beautiful to me because they are true to those two particular moments in our family story.
So, when preparing for an in-home lifestyle newborn session, here are three essential things to keep in mind to get the most beautiful photos:
Think of the spaces in your home that get the best natural light, and the spaces where you and your family naturally gather. Prioritize preparing those spaces when getting ready for your newborn session.
For clothing, wear what is comfortable and true to you, while keeping in mind the colors in your home around you and complementing them. You ultimately want to emphasize the connection between you and your baby within your home and not draw undue attention away from that.
Above all, remember that this session is about capturing the truth of this unrepeatable moment in your family’s story. Focusing on connecting with each other and being fully present to the moment you are in is what creates the most memorable and beautiful photos for you and your family.
That’s all you truly need for beautiful in-home lifestyle newborn photos. Anything else is just icing on the cake! Please reach out to me today to learn more about booking your own in-home newborn session!
