10 tips to help you prepare for your newborn session

Hello and a Happy New Year (is it too late to say that now? :-D). I hope you had a beautiful holiday season and a great start to the year. I can't believe we're in March already and I haven’t put up a blog post! Christmas was such a busy time and I guess it took me a little longer than intended to recover from everything the season came with (mostly way too much yummy food!). I had such a fantastic time doing Christmas mini sessions with all the beautiful families I got to meet and also spent some much needed quality time with my family and friends. After all that goodness, it’s no surprise why the days after the holiday season is over are so hard to do! Doing work you actually enjoy and love does make it less daunting though.

The new year started pretty busy for me and I’ve had quite a number of newborn and maternity photography sessions since then. And one of the questions I get from all my clients is “What should I do to prepare for my session?” Having a new baby can be very overwhelming and I always try to provide as much information as I can to help my clients prepare for their session. So, I’m going to give a few tips on what to do to prepare for a newborn session.

1. The last diaper you put on your baby before the session should be loose so that there are no lines on baby’s skin when we do naked photos of him/her.

2. Bringing a pacifier along is always a great idea as this could help in soothing babies if they get unsettled.

3. Your baby should be well fed. I usually ask my clients to feed right before they leave for mine so that your baby gets really full and sleepy. A sleepy baby is a yes yes! A lot of times, when the drive is a long one, your little one will be fed again before we start.

4. It's better for baby to wear clothes that do not pull over his/her head to make undressing less unsettling for him/her. If she/he takes milk, I always encourage parents to bring that along too so that I can feed baby without having to pass her/him back to mum.

5. For your family photos, it is usually better to wear solid neutral and plain colors like cream, white, black, brown or beige. They always come out beautifully in images.

6. Light makeup is usually a much better look. Babies are soft and beautiful and we want to keep things subtle. Less is more in this case.

7. As much as I love to keep my sessions really simple, I am very happy to incorporate any item of sentimental value to your session so feel free to come with one.

8. I like to keep the temperature in my studio at around 80°F so that baby stays nice and comfortable. Hence, I always ask families to wear light, airy clothes for their photos with baby.

9. Make sure you arrive with a healthy dose of patience! Newborn sessions can take anywhere from 2-4 hours because we always need to make out time for feeding and cuddles for baby. I don’t rush my sessions and I always work based on what baby is ready to do at the time.

10. Finally, relax and look forward to your newborn photo session! That’s just about it! Follow these easy steps and you’ll have a successful newborn session without tearing your hair out in frustration.

If you are interested in booking or want to learn more about how to prepare for your maternity photoshoot with Chioma Afigbo Photography please click here.