is it too late for newborn photos?
What is the ideal time to schedule your newborn photos? We always say- THE SOONER THE BETTER. Some women who follow us and our work come tell us before they tell anyone else that they're pregnant! Amazing huh? Thats not necessary though, so no worries there. We do suggest to get on our newborn schedule as early as possible for many reasons. A couple unique things to consider about newborn sessions: 1- they take a long time! It's not always possible for us to squeeze in an unplanned 3 hour long newborn session ( yup a true newborn session is approximately 3 hours, because babies operate on their own schedule. Especially when they're new. They take forever to food, burp, poop a lot, all the things. So while we're never actually photographing a newborn for the entire three hours, the session itself takes that long).....2- The ideal timeframe of photographing a true newborn session is within the first two weeks of babies life. This rule isn't set in stone, but it's HIGHLY recommended. This is when babies are sleepiest, and most flexible (therefore easier to pose into those sweet newborn poses we all love).
Okay, now that we know whats ideal ( reaching out approximately in your second trimester to hold your due date on our calendar to ensure a spot for you newborn when he/she/they arrive....and shooting the session within approximately the first two weeks of their tiny new life) we can now talk about an "elderly newborn" session ( that nickname was created in the newborn photography community and its hilarious and its stuck in my brain forevermore). Elderly newborns are anywhere from about 4 weeks to 4 months. We hear from moms all the time who are so sad that they missed that ideal window of opportunity for newborn photos of their sweet babe. Some either didn't plan on doing them, some had a rough go in the beginning with PPD, some of their newborns made an abrupt entrance into the world and were either born early or with complications and had an extended stay in the hospital. No matter the reason, many moms simply want the chance to capture their still-new, yet not newborn, baby. That's great. The images above are a perfect example of what that can look like. These babies will not tolerate poses like "froggy" and likely won't sleep a wink, but we can still create little sets for them to capture "newborn-esque" imagery for the mommas to all appreciate and treasure. To allow that sadness of missing out on a newborn milestone to be eased a bit. I missed the window of oppportunity myself when my daughter was born years ago and it still breaks my heart a bit. Goodness gracious these babies grow so quick. In the moment we don't see it. The age old saying; " the days are long but the years are short" sometimes takes my breath away. Truer words have never been spoken to me. I had no idea until I became a mom. THATS MY RESOUNDING 'WHY' of why I do this job ( and love it, and treasure it and believe in it with.every.fiber.of. my.being). So, in summation- reach out to us. I cannot guarantee that we will have an opening if you're not pre-planned on our calendar for your little one's arrival, I can promise that I'll do my damnedest to make it happen. You'll never regret documenting your family.
