Behind the scenes of a newborn session day
Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep!!! That's the noise I get woken up to before squinting my eyes around the room looking for some daylight. Mornings for me are busy! Parents will know the rush of a morning when it's not just you to get ready but all of you. Even getting the girls (mainly one of them lol) out of bed is a whole morning task in itself.
Once they're up and getting ready, it's time for me to jump in the shower, wash my hair, dry it and get dressed.
Next, it's onto breakfast. I never used to be a breakfast person. I could happily go without and just eat at lunch time. But I'm not sure if it's just as I'm getting older or what but I really enjoy some breakfast with the girls now. It definitely helps on mornings that I have a newborn session as I never really know how long each one is going to take. Some sessions can be 2-3 hours, others can be 4.
Setting up
I am lucky enough that I can set up the evening before for my newborn sessions as my studio is in my home. I don't know how I would manage getting the girls ready and to school AND setting up in a studio that wasn't in my home as it would mean me having to start sessions much later. My sessions always start at 09:30 for newborns. This is because, in my experience, the time when babies are most settled. Not always, but mostly.
I will have a completed questionnaire from parents and can set up according to the colour scheme they have chosen. I try not to use the same fabrics, props, accessories and toys for EVERY session as I never want my work to become repetitive. I like to mix it up a little so parents have bespoke images as well as classic shots.
What I wear
I like to be comfortable when I am working as I spend a lot of time on my knees positioning babies. For this reason I mainly wear leggings or in the Summer I put my shorts on. My work teeshirts are black with my logo printed on and are always comfortable but smart in my opinion. I like to be professional in my job and so wearing my 'uniform' helps me to look the part. I do have some other teeshirts with photography slogans on but I mainly wear my logo wear. Which by the way, is printed by a fabulous Tamworth lady called GE Gifts (click the name) if you are in need yourself.
I also wear a face mask for every newborn session. Keeping babies safe is very important to me and as I am in such close proximity to their tiny faces, I like to know that I am doing my part to avoid them catching anything. Especially when I have two school age children who may bring illnesses home to me.
Handling sessions with patience and grace
Sometimes, sessions don't quite go how we hope. When I say I have come across almost every scenario you can think of, I actually mean I have. Some parents get very worried that their newborn is unsettled, restless, and taking a long time to settle into poses. This is never a problem. It happens and baby is always the boss in my sessions. If they need a break, we stop. If they need a feed, we stop. If they just need a big cuddle, we stop. We only start again when baby is happy. I will never force babies into positions that they aren't comfortable in and my clients understand that not every pose may be possible depending on their bubbas.
If for any reason baby is not settling and I can tell that baby will become stressed if we continue, we end the session. This hasn't happened too many times, but it has. And that's ok. I will never charge you extra to come another day to get a few more images. And sometimes, that's all that's needed to complete the session. I will always handle situations like this with the utmost patience and grace and your baby will always feel safe.
Same goes for toddlers and young siblings who may come for photos with their new baby brother or sister. Nothing is ever forced. We certainly don't want upset little ones as well as children feeling anxious. We make the session as calm as possible and we go at younger children's speed. If it still isn't working, we either give it a go on a different day or we can try images of children and newborns separately and then photoshop them together. It's never a big issue and it's something we can always work around.
The Session itself
I always begin my sessions with the beanbag posing. This is the part of the session that takes the longest. I have to move babies quite a lot during this part and so if they're not in a fully deep sleep (it's pretty rare that they are) then moving them disturbs them and it can take some time to settle them into the next pose. As stated in my newborn prep guide, I would never insist on a dummy being given, however, from personal experience, a dummy has sometimes saved a session through baby just having that little bit of comfort between poses (I don't photograph them with it.)
Every baby is different. Some babies are still extremely curly but some babies are just not that flexible. They perhaps have very straight legs that they don't like curled up and so we go with what baby is comfortable with. Some babies are fine when I move their fingers into the right place for the image but others are very light sleepers and so moving their fingers can be the difference between getting the image or losing it because they're awake again. So I play it by ear. I constantly analyse baby and predict what will be best for them. And if your baby cries for more than a few seconds (they do that sometimes and then stop) I will always get them up in my arms for a cuddle (I am so lucky!)
Prop posing
After the beanbag poses are over, I move onto the prop shots. These can be anything from a bowl or basket to a tiny, newborn bed (so cute!) This part tends to be a lot quicker as I only have to lift baby from one prop to the next without much disturbing. I tie in the colour scheme that was requested on the questionnaire and try to be as creative as possible to vary the images. After all these images are captured, the final part is the sibling and family shots.
Family Images
Most families want to include a few parent, sibling, family images into their newborn session. All of my packages, except the mini, include this. There is never any pressure to have these images taken as I know some parents are extremely sleep deprived and may not feel their best. And that's ok. However, should you want some taken that are not quite 'in your face' then we can always take the silhouette type images which are less intrusive.
Having sibling images is so special. Getting all of your babies together for their very first photos as new siblings can be a lovely thing to witness - it also has the possibility of being a little stressful. Please know that getting the perfect sibling image can be a little tricky, sometimes. Sometimes younger children become very overwhelmed, what with adjusting to a new little person and being somewhere they've never been before. But I have lots of experience of working with little ones and will always ensure we try to capture these images in a safe, calm way.
The big clean
Once we have finished all of the images, it's time for the teeny tinies and their families to leave. Next task for me then is the clean up. All of the fabrics and outfits that I have used during the session are put straight into the wash and any props that can't be washed are either sprayed or steamed clean. Everything is put back in its place, the door handles are wiped, the sofas are cleaned down, the floor is vac'd and mopped and the toilet is given a clean. Then it's time for me to grab some lunch and have a sit down for half an hour. Give my old knees a break for a bit lol.
Time for pick up
Before I know it, it's school pick up time. I jump into the car and head to school to collect my girls. We chat about their day and I often tell them about the baby I have had in that day and tell them their name. They love hearing about my work - they often pretend to be photographers themselves with their dolls, which makes me so proud. We get home, go to any after school clubs they have, make dinner and then they get sorted for bed time.
editing
Editing takes me a LONNNNNNNGGGGG time. Newborn sessions probably take me the longest. It's sometimes easy for people to think that my job as a photographer is just 'click the button' and hey, the photos are ready! That is just not the case. A lot of time and skill goes into the editing process and can take many, many hours. A newborn session typically takes me around 2-3 full days work. This is to fix backgrounds where you can see the edge of backdrops for example, lighten shadows, help alter baby's skin if it's quite red or yellow from jaundice and so much more. I never alter images to the point they look unrealistic but tweaks need to be made to every single image.
I do my editing on days when I have no sessions booked in or on an evening or weekend when I am free. I also like to have some time for my family and so working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week is just not an option. I generally get everyone's images ready 1-2 weeks after their session. Busy times of year it may be nearly 3 but I always let people know.
admin and other things
Anyone who runs their own business will also know all the other bits and pieces that you have to do to keep it running, day to day. I have to find time to answer enquiries, across lots of platforms (social media, email, phone calls) and reply as soon as I can. This leads me to then sending invoices, adding dates to my diaries, sending forms/questionnaires, sending galleries of images, answering queries. I then have to order prints, wall art and products, other bits of stationery I need for my business like stickers, marketing materials etc.
This is no way me complaining, this is just me explaining about a typical day in my life as a newborn photographer. I love being busy and I love my job, so much. It allows me the freedom to be creative, work with children, and also to work around my children.
Time for bed
My day ends around 10pm because, quite frankly, I'm shattered! The only exception to this is if I stay up late editing, which I do when I need to get on top of my workload. Being able to sit and binge a Netflix series whilst I edit is what I call lucky. I get to sit in the comfort of my home, looking at your beautiful images, smiling to myself that you're going to have the most precious memories to treasure, that I helped create. It is honestly a privilege and an honour that so many of you ask me to carry out this service, of you. I really hope that everyone I meet feels welcome, appreciated and happy. I have loved other jobs I have had in the past, but I really think this one tops it all.
Being a self-made girl boss, in a job I am passionate about AND getting to cuddle babies... massive win!!!
