A couple of weekends ago I welcomed a newborn baby boy C. and his mom J. at my studio. Baby C. turned two weeks old on the day of the session – a perfect age for a newborn session! J. and I picked a couple of simple and classic setups as well as a couple of creative ideas to shoot. J also wanted to do a couple of mommy-and-me portraits as well.
I have so many favorites from this session! C. was really great posing on his tummy and the setups we chose look really great both in color and in black and white! Hope J. likes the images, I know I do!
First off, some of my favorite newborn and mommy portraits in black and white:
A “Studio” versus an “At Home” Newborn Session: Things to Consider
A small digression.
When clients ask me about scheduling a “studio” versus an “at home” newborn session, here are the factors I suggest to consider: if you are looking for a photo session mostly focusing on portraits of the baby and if you like using props and staged setups, then studio is a good choice for the session. My home studio is set up for newborn sessions to assure the easiest and the most seamless transitions between different props and backgrounds. If you are looking for a more balanced photo session including both newborn portraits and family shots (parents, mommy-and-baby, daddy-and-baby, sibling shots) then I recommend an “at home session” where there is more opportunity for both posed and photojournalistic/candid portraiture. If siblings and grandparents are involved I usually highly recommend an “at home” session.
Here are a couple of examples of setups that are available in the studio and that may be a bit more challenging to recreate “at home”. Also, I couldn’t decide if I liked the black and white or the color versions better… so I am posting both! First example is a “sports” theme – J. is a runner and she was looking to incorporate elements of running into the session. I am so happy with what we came up with (notice the beautiful floor drop that imitates pavement!) :
And I am totally in love with this “swing” shot – it looks so peaceful and wonderful and organic! I also really like how the black and white and the color versions have very different feels to them.
And some of my favorites in color:
Thanks for looking through this post to the end! I know it is important for potential newborn clients to get a peek into photographer’s recent work and into the type of shots they may get from a photo session. If you like what you saw, please check out the newborn slideshows on my main photography page, and drop me a line – I’ll work with you to create the images you want!