Getting ready for a baby is a magical time in the lives of parents. From choosing nursery furniture to buying clothes and supplies, preparations take time. After waiting for the little one for nine months, many parents want to capture their newborn in beautiful photographs. To make that happen, parents need to look for a photographer several months before their due date. Keep reading for tips on how to choose a newborn photographer.
Common Newborn Photography Styles
During posed photographs, the photographer will arrange the newborn in different sleepy poses. They will choose backdrops and outfits and may include small props such as a bed, bowl, or pillow. If this is the type of newborn photography the new parents are looking for, Megan Kime Photography is a great option.
Lifestyle photography, as opposed to posed photography, seeks to convey a story and a lifestyle. In this case, a photographer comes to the home and photographs the baby in their natural surroundings. These newborn photography packages will capture how mom and dad interact with the baby. They will also photograph the baby in more natural positions and settings than in a posed session.
Locations and Settings
New parents seeking photography for newborns near me may want to consider where they want their baby photographed. Posed sessions are often at the photographer’s studio and require the parents to be organized, pack essential items, and get to the studio at a scheduled time. Once there, the parents will give the baby to the photographer for an hour or more of photographing.
Parents opting for lifestyle photos will welcome the photographer into their home. The photographer can photograph the nursery, the crib, and sentimental baby items. Lifestyle photos are great for families that want their whole family included in a picture, even pets. Many people like to photograph the family piled in the bedroom on the parent’s bed. Lifestyle photography allows for more relaxed sessions that work around the family lifestyle, and they only take one to two hours.
Ask About Experience
Parents should ask potential photographers about their training and experience with newborns. Newborns are tiny and precious and need to be handled with care. Parents need to trust a photographer to take good care of their fragile newborn. Ideally, a photographer will have learned using many methods, including online courses, national conferences, workshops for newborn photographers, and mentoring from experienced photographers.
Best Age for Newborn Photographs
Parents should ask potential photographers at what age they prefer to photograph their newborns. Sometimes, this varies depending on what type of photos they will be taking. For posed photography, photographers usually prefer the first two weeks of life since the baby is often sleepy and curls up in the fetal position easily. Lifestyle photography will have a larger window of time, depending on what type of images the parents want to capture.
Ask About Availability
Photographers often limit the number of babies they photograph each week or month. Parents should look for a photographer several months before the baby’s due date so they can get on the schedule early.
Ask About Editing and Retouching
Beautiful photographs begin with great shots, but they also include color correction, editing, and retouching. Editing photographs corrects the exposure, color, and cropping, and adds other signature looks associated with the photographer. Retouching is a more time-consuming job. It includes correcting uneven skin tone, softening bags under the eyes, whitening teeth, and fixing baby acne or flaky skin. Retouching photographs can make a real difference in newborn photography. Not all photographers offer these services, so parents should ask ahead of time if they will be able to make edits and retouches if necessary.
When to Expect the Physical Photographs
Parents who want to use these newborn photographs for gifts or birth announcements will need to ask potential photographers how long it will take to receive the prints. This timeframe can usually be anywhere from one to six weeks, depending on the amount of editing and retouching needed.
Comparing Costs
Photographers have different ways of charging for their services. Some provide packages that include the sitting fee and a certain number of prints. Other photographers charge an hourly rate. Either way, the rate is usually commensurate with the photographer’s experience. Don’t lose out on capturing this magical time in life. Newborn photographs will be cherished for years to come.
Megan Kime Photography is located in the Raleigh/Triangle area. Megan offers wedding, family, baby, and maternity photography services. She offers a natural style, blending photojournalism with traditional photography to capture the personality of each subject.