Laura Pope Photography - Newborn Session - Behind the Scenes

Several people have asked me what typically goes in to a newborn session and since newborn sessions are my absolute favorite right now, I figured that I'd elaborate in a blog entry! 

Newborn photography is so incredibly sweet and tender. When the session is done within the first 10 days of life, the baby is usually super sleepy and cozy which makes for some amazing photos! My newborn studio is portable, and I can take it anywhere. I love going to my clients house because they have everything they need there for baby. It's usually less stressful for mom and baby when I come directly to you. Here is a pullback of my "studio" at my latest newborn session. Forgive the picture quality. It's a cellphone picture, which reminds me that I serioulsy need to take some pullback pictures with my real camera next time. ;)

Basically, I bring loads of soft blankets, pillows, the backdrop, a few props, and my photo gear. Then, I'll set up by a window (preferably a large sliding glass door, like the one pictured here) and we'll start the session! (If you don't have light like this in your home, then you can come to my home!)

I allow as much time as needed to get situated so there is no rush to start right away, or to finish up quickly. If the baby needs to be rocked, cuddled, fed, held, swaddled, etc... we'll do it! We will follow the baby's cues and just go with the flow. There's plenty of time, and nothing needs to be rushed.

In this photo, mom was soothing baby Adriana back to sleep. When they are that tiny, they are pretty easy to get back to sleep.

Sometimes, they prefer to be snuggled. I usually take advantage of this time by snapping a few pictures of mom holding the baby.

If they aren't sleepy, then we'll just get some shots of them awake! It's amazing to see them awake and looking around when they are so little.

After we are done with the session, then the editing starts! There is a lot of editing that goes into newborn photography. Brand new babies have little skin flakes all over their hands and feet, and sometimes acne on their face. This is the reason why it takes almost double the amount of time to edit newborns. Each photo has to be individually edited. Here is a before and after so you can see what type of editing goes into each and every photo.

The photo on the left is straight out of the camera. You can see that she has a few blemishes on her skin and some flakes on her hands. All of that is removed in post processing along with some other enhancements!

Anyway, there you have it! Newborn photography, behind the scenes!