Why you don't want a newborn studio photo session

Becoming a mom is a life-changing experience. From finding out that you are pregnant to the first time you look into the eyes of your little miracle. Absolutely everything changes and you have to fumble through the world in a whole new way as a parent. For some new parents, studio newborn photography is not the way to go.

Leaving the house with your new baby is HARD.

I remember so much about the first weeks after having my baby. I gave birth at home and the first time I got in the car to leave the house I was an absolute wreck of anxiety driving the most precious thing in my world through the streets of Spokane.

Getting dressed for the day in your first month of postpartum is hard. Getting your baby dressed up without a blow out or spit up is hard. Packing everything you need to leave the house (let’s be honest- it’s the whole nursery) is hard.

When you are in the early days and learning how to be a mom to your newest little addition, establishing breastfeeding bonds and still feeling like you’ve been hit by a truck from labor, trying to get anything done outside of the house feels near impossible when trying to meet the needs of healing yourself and caring for your newborn.

Having a photographer come to your home for newborn photos is invaluable.

Studios are not always baby-first in approach.

When I go to someone’s home to photograph a new baby I make sure that absolutely everything is baby-led.

You and your new baby dictate everything about how the photo session goes. If baby is hungry, he gets fed (bottle or breast I’m friendly both ways, studios don’t often have a private nursing area). If baby needs to be changed, she gets a fresh diaper. If baby is upset, mom and dad get to hold and comfort her. I allow parents to take care of their baby in the comfort of their home and I take pictures along the way.

Many studios do not have what is needed to accommodate the care of the baby during a photo session. Some studios even make mom leave the room while they take pictures of baby to limit fussing, which in my mind is just inhumane and potentially damaging to a breastfeeding relationship. Studios often have preferences on baby behavior, encouraging things like overfeeding or creating an overly warm environment to encourage sleepiness.

With an in-home session your baby’s environment stays the same- same temperature, same scenery, same people, same nursing chair, same everything and mom feels empowered to be in charge to make sure her baby is being cared for. Babies love and do best with what is familiar to them, especially in the early days and nobody knows what baby needs as much as mom and dad.

Your other family members will be included in the photos at home.

Often when you book studio newborn photos, the pictures are of baby only, no siblings, no parents.

I acknowledge that having a baby is a whole family affair, everyone is involved in pregnancy, often birth, welcome home, postpartum, everything and photos should not be any different.

Including older siblings in newborn photos is a great way to help them take ownership of their new brother or sister which will help lessen the early days of jealousy and adjustment to a new baby in the house.

Mom and Dad worked so hard to bring baby earthside and they deserve to be in their newborn photos with their new baby. Newborn photos are a great way to document the change and the new family dynamic and it’s important for the whole family to be in the pictures. Think of your photos like a little ceremony for the family, marking the day you all move forward in your new life together. These photos are an opportunity to freeze the quickly fleeting season of having a newborn in the home.

Do you want your baby took look airbrushed and unnaturally posed?

This is another important thing to consider: Studio newborn photography is heavily edited. Babies are posed in baskets with furry blankets or on beanbag chairs in unnatural positions underneath bright flashing lights, then airbrushed to the point where you can’t see their natural skin.

There is nothing wrong with liking this type of style, but do consider the reason you are having these photos done. For most parents, it’s wanting to document all the sweet little details of their newborn baby- the flaky skin, the umbilical stump, the little wrinkles and tiny fingernails, the creases in their feet, the fine baby hair. Many of these details will not be preserved with studio photography, they will be edited out.

When you book a lifestyle photographer like me, the memories of those details will be preserved in your photos for you to look back at and remember where your baby came from and what a miracle the experience of having a baby is.

Your baby is beautiful just the way he or she is. You don’t want studio newborn photos, you want real photos of your real baby in your arms, in your home, taken during a low stress experience.

Now, I’m not trying to bash studio newborn photographers, they are artists too, but that type of photography was very popular for a long time and I’m here to break the rules and offer a completely different experience that caters to moms who may not be comfortable with the traditional ways of newborn photography.

If you’d like to learn more about lifestyle newborn sessions, click here.

If you’re ready to book better newborn photos for your family, click the book now button below.

And if you’d like to learn more about in-home photo sessions, you can read this article here: In-home Newborn Session Prep