Markos Photography

Newborn session preparation

Congratulations on the newest addition to your family! You’ve probably spent a lot of time preparing your home and your whole life for this little bundle of joy. Now it’s time to get ready for your newborn’s photoshoot – how exciting! Here’s all the information you will need to prepare for those first precious photos, so you can have a smooth and wonderful experience!

1. How to prepare the baby?
Let’s start with the most important step you will take before your photoshoot. Babies are not very keen on sleeping on command, but there are measures we can take to ensure that they will be peacefully asleep during the shoot. You can give your baby a bath and try to keep them awake with some interactions for at least 2 hours (or even more, if it’s possible) before the photo session.
An important thing is to also make sure they are well fed just before you leave for our meeting.
I know that some babies are very good sleepers and it’s usually easy to get them down for a nap. However, it’s still good to prepare properly, because I’ve seen a lot of moms claiming that their babies can sleep through anything, which turned out to not be particularly true. The photoshoot is full of new sounds, new smells and experiences. All those things can keep the baby alert and that’s why it is incredibly important to follow this step through!

2. What should the baby wear?
Upon your arrival, you can obviously feed and burp the baby again, if it’s at all necessary. After that, you can go ahead and undress them, so they only wear a diaper before we start. Because of that, I would advise you to put them that day in something that’s easy to take off and doesn’t leave any marks nor indentation on the skin. A onesie or some pyjamas will work best.
As you are probably well aware of, babies do not appreciate the sensation of being naked. They’d rather be fully snuggled, warm and cozy. We will obviously have a handy heater in place, so we can keep them warm. However, that doesn’t change the fact, they will be naked, which can startle and wake the baby up. While some babies will easily go back to sleep once they’re wrapped in a blanket and soothed for a bit, there are others that may refuse to do so. Those are usually the ones, whose parents didn’t follow the step 1 😉
I can tell you from my experience that posing is much more difficult for the babies who were asleep prior to the photoshoot. As soon as that cozy blanket comes off, they easily wake up, since the deep sleep is long gone. Putting them back to sleep can take even up to an hour or so, which counts against your photoshoot’s time, unfortunately. Thus, following those two steps is the best thing you can do to have a successful photoshoot!
We need your baby to be tired and ready to snooze off into a deep sleep right before we begin taking some wonderful photos for you to cherish forever. The longer they are asleep, the more scenes and picture-perfect moments we can create.
I can imagine that it may not be easy to follow those instructions, but I can promise you that it will be worth the effort!

3. How long will the photoshoot take?
Newborn’s photoshoot usually takes up to 2 or 3 hours in total. This includes the time to feed the baby before or during the shoot, as well as getting them to sleep. It’s typical for the little ones to eat more during a shoot. Hence, even if you follow a certain feeding schedule, please, be prepared for some flexibility with the on-demand feeding needs during the photo session.

4. What about the family and older siblings?
If your baby will be joined by older siblings below the age of 4, I am very happy to meet them. However, once their photos are taken, please arrange for a family member to pick them up and take them home. It might be challenging to photograph a newborn with a restless older sibling running around. That’s why family and sibling photos are going to be taken first and then we will focus completely on the baby.
If taking the older kids home is not an option for some reason, please make sure to provide something to keep them occupied and quiet during the remaining time of the session. We need to avoid unnecessary noise, since keeping the baby sound asleep is a key to a successful newborn photoshoot. I will also provide a white noise app to soothe the baby, since the strong and rhythmic sounds are a music to their ears.

5. What to wear?
We’ve discussed the baby clothing, but yours also plays an important role in the picture! My advise would to be choose neutral colours or fabrics with a solid colour. Maternity tops or blouses will be perfect for moms. As for the dads, anything from fitted T-shirt to a simple button-down with the sleeves rolled up will do! Keep it simple, keep it classic.
Another thing I highly recommend for moms, it to put on a little bit of make-up. It can be something as simple as a few strokes of mascara, blush and maybe an eyeshadow to bring up that new mommy glow.
Make sure to style your hair as well, since I may not be able to fix the frizzy and untamed hairdo in the Photoshop. Taking a little extra time to get ready will make a huge difference, when it comes to an overall look of you pictures.

6. Payment.
As for the payment, it can be made on the day of the photoshoot. In cash only, please.

Hope you are as excited as I am! If you have any more questions before then, do not hesitate to reach out. I want you and your baby to have the best experience and the most beautiful photos!

See you soon!
Aneta

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