What to Expect at Your Newborn Photo Session
If you’re reading this, your newborn session is just around the corner and chances are you’re running on little sleep, lots of love, and a bit of uncertainty about how tomorrow will go.
Take a deep breath. You don’t need to prepare a perfect home, a perfectly sleepy baby, or a perfectly calm version of yourself. My job is to meet you exactly where you are.
Here’s what you can expect from your newborn session.
This Is Not a Posed Studio Session
My approach to newborn photography is documentary in nature. That means I’m not coming in with props, wraps, or a shot list that requires your baby to sleep on cue.
Instead, I photograph what unfolds naturally:
Feeding, soothing, and holding your baby
Quiet moments, messy moments, and everything in between
The way your home looks right now, because this is part of your story
There is no “wrong” way for the session to go.
Your Baby Leads the Pace
Newborns run the show… and that’s expected.
We can take breaks as needed for feeding, diaper changes, snuggling and settling, but I also love documenting those moments too.
If your baby is wide awake the entire time, that’s completely okay. If they sleep, great. If they cry, we pause, but I also might get some photos along the way because those little baby faces don’t last. Nothing is rushed.
Some of the most meaningful images come from these in-between moments.
What You Don’t Need to Do
You do not need to:
Deep clean your house
Stress about clutter
Keep your baby awake
Apologize for how things look
I work with natural light and real spaces. If needed I’ll gently guide us toward the best light, and I’m always happy to move a small item if necessary, but your home does not need to look like a magazine.
Lived-in is good. Lived-in is honest.
What to Wear (Simple Is Best)
Neutral, comfortable clothing photographs beautifully and keeps the focus on connection.
A few general guidelines:
Avoid large logos or bold patterns
Bare feet are always welcome
For babies, bare skin to see cute baby rolls, simple onesies, sleepers, or swaddles work perfectly. No need for special outfits unless they’re meaningful to you.
How Long the Session Lasts
Most newborn sessions last around 2 hours, but I always allow flexibility. We move at a pace that feels calm and unhurried.
There’s nowhere you need to be and nothing you need to perform.
What I’m Looking For
I’m watching for:
The way you naturally hold your baby
The quiet exchanges between parents
Tiny details that change faster than you realize
You don’t need to look at the camera. You don’t need to know what to do. Just be with your baby.
Tomorrow Is About Presence, Not Perfection
This season is fleeting and intense and tender all at once. My goal is not to create perfect images, it’s to preserve how this moment felt.
So tonight, focus on resting if you can. Tomorrow, focus on your baby. I’ll take care of the rest.
I’m looking forward to documenting this chapter for you.
Seattle Birth Centers and Midwife Groups
Are you considering a giving birth at free-standing birth center or even having a home birth in the Seattle area? Not sure where to start looking or not sure where everyone is located? Here’s a quick list of the freestanding birth centers in our area that are NOT associated with a hospital. Each birth center also has a “home team” of midwives that attend births at their birth center or your home. There are also independent midwives in our area that have privileges to deliver at some of the birth centers, however mainly focus on home births. Below you’ll find lists for both.
I hope this helps you find the perfect team for your birth!
Seattle Birth Centers & their Locations
Puget Sound Birth Center - Kirkland, WA
Sprout Birth Center - Mountlake Terrance, WA
Eastside Birth Center - Bellevue, WA (Closed)
Rainier Valley Birth & Health Center - Renton, WA
Center for Birth - Seattle, WA
*Midwives at each birth center also attend home births.
More Midwives, Where they are located & Where they deliver
Northshore Midwives - Woodinville, WA (Home or Puget Sound Birth Center)
Lake Washington Midwives & Eastside Midwives - Kirkland, WA (Home or Puget Sound Birth Center) (Midwives that work directly out of PSBC)
Snohomish Midwives - Snohomish, WA (Home or Puget Sound Birth Center)
Exhale Birth Services - Duvall, WA (Home birth only)
In Tandem Midwifery - Burien, WA (Home or Center for Birth)
Village Midwifery Care - Burien, WA (Home or birth center)
Journey Midwifery Services - Seattle, WA (Home or birth center)
Rainy City Midwifery - Seattle, WA (Home or Center for Birth)
Seattle Home Maternity - Seattle, WA (Home or Center for Birth. They also have another birth suite at their office.)
Full Moon Midwifery - Seattle, WA (Home or birth center)
Something Beautiful Midwifery - Auburn, WA (Home or Center for Birth)
See an error or would like to be added? Please email me.
Your birth story matters.
Looking for a birth photographer to document your birth?
How to prepare for a documentary newborn session
A documentary newborn session is different from a traditional newborn photoshoot, as it aims to capture truly candid and natural moments of your newborn's first few weeks of life. Here are some general tips to help you prepare for a documentary newborn session:
Find a photographer: Look for a photographer who specializes in documentary newborn photography, not lifestyle or studio photography. Check out their portfolio to ensure their style aligns with what you are looking for. - Congrats you already found me!
Schedule the session: As with traditional newborn sessions, it's best to schedule your documentary newborn session during your pregnancy to ensure availability. However, with a documentary session, the photographer will work around your baby's schedule, so there is more flexibility. - When you book during your pregnancy I use your week 41 date just as a placeholder on my calendar that almost certainly will be shifted once baby arrives. You can still book a newborn session after baby is born though!
Plan the session: Discuss with your photographer what you want to capture during the session. Make a list of important moments, such as feedings, diaper changes, and snuggles with family members. Decide if you want the session to take place in your home or another location. - I will send you a short questionnaire after booking that will ask you what important parts of newborn life you’re hoping to have documented.
Prepare your home (sorta): If you're having the session in your home, prepare the space by lightly decluttering and ensuring there is enough natural light. Your photographer will likely want to use areas with the most natural light. - I also invite you to just leave the mess! Or task your partner or a helpful family member to prep your space for you! You have a newborn and this is all about real life! Embrace it!
Keep your baby comfortable: Dress your baby in comfortable clothing and keep the room/home warm to ensure they are comfortable throughout the session. - Babies really are on their own schedule. Feeding, sleeping… it’s all going to happen while I’m there. No need to stress about those details ahead of time. Just listen to baby’s cues during your session as you would without me there.
Embrace spontaneity: The essence of a documentary session lies in capturing genuine moments. Relax and be yourself, engaging with your baby and loved ones naturally. Allow your photographer to seize these fleeting yet precious instances. - The joy of documentary means you don’t have to worry about smiling at the camera. Just enjoy your baby and leave the rest to me! If an older kiddo wants to go outside and play while I’m there, lets do it! It’s all about going with the flow and trusting the process.
If your heart is saying this sounds like the perfect newborn session for you, let’s make it happen!
Documentary Family Photo Session Ideas - Seattle, Wa
With the documentary approach, it’s all about documenting your family’s real life, the little things that make up your day or week that may go by unnoticed or normally undocumented. But you still might be wondering, “What does that actually mean? What should we plan for and what will you photograph?” Below are just a few ideas of moments/events/things that could be part of your sessions.
While we never need to have a schedule for our time together, I hope this list helps you consider the possibilities of things that could be documented during your session! There’s really no limits to what I can capture for you. I become your family’s historian for the day and hopefully future as well.
Maternity/Before Baby:
Shopping for baby
Decorating/setting up baby’s nursery
Baby shower
Daily walk
Cooking with family
Hanging out with older kids at home or at the park
Your normal Saturday routine
Early prepping of food for your family postpartum
Check up with your midwife (out of hospital)
Building any new baby furniture (crib, rocker, changing table)
Newborn/Babies:
First bath at home/general bath time
Skin to skin time
Tummy time
Trying first solids
Nursing
Pumping
Meeting/Snuggling with siblings
Meeting/Snuggling with grandparents
Walks around the neighborhood
Story time at the library
Snuggles with mom and dad
Napping with mom and dad
Playing with extended family (aunts/uncles)
Morning/Bedtime routine
First Birthday
Family:
Breakfast
Waking up
Morning routine
Lunch
Dinner time
Bath time
Brushing teeth
Bedtime books
Family game time
Playing together in the yard/outside
Trip to a playground
Trip to a museum
Trip to the farmers market
Trip to the library
Trip to the grocery store
Trip to the aquarium
Practicing musical instruments
Playing sports outside together
Making cookies/treats in the kitchen
Cooking a meal together
Grandparents visiting
Playing with the family pet/walking the dog
First day with new family pet
Yard work/raking leaves/planting trees
Gardening
Blowing bubbles outside
Building legos together
Building a fort together
Salmon watching
Mushroom hunting
Exploring the beaches and natural wonders of the puget sound
Holiday family traditions
Birthday/Family milestone
Making crafts together
Moving into a new home
Backyard camping
Backyard fire and s’mores
Backyard movie time
Ready to book your documentary session?
5 Reasons to Document Baby's First Year!
You may be thinking, do I actually need a reason to document their first year? I mean come on! Look at those tiny toes! Well here are a few reasons you may not have thought about and why the documentary approach might be the right fit for you.
They change so fast. No seriously they do. If this is your first baby, ask anyone who has older children. That first year, one day you wake up and realize they’ve grown and changed seemingly overnight. You can’t go back in time. By the end of their first year they will be a drastically different small human.
You won’t be in the photos you take everyday on your phone. Read that again. Yes, I know you’re taking a million photos of your baby on your phone, what parent doesn’t?? But beyond the occasional selfie, are you in those photos? Will your baby be able to see you and how much you loved them, held them, cuddled them, and perhaps even superhuman multitasked with them, when they are grown and looking back at photos? Documentary photography allows you to get in the frame.
You’ll be busy. We all live busy lives, throw in a newborn and it goes up a huge notch. Planned documentary sessions throughout the year allow me to pop in, document, and let you keep on doing your own thing. There’s no outfits to coordinate, location to drive to, or stress of if baby will be in a good mood that day. You get to release all that for the entire year and just be a present parent.
The Baby Book dilemma. How many of us buy/bought a baby book for baby’s first year and never finished it? [Raising my own hand.] Think of this as a made-for-you baby book. Highlights from your sessions will all be printed in a book for you at the end of the year. Meaning no homework for you! If you are a journaler, upon request, I can even leave room for you to write notes in your book for each session, milestones that have happened, or things you’d like to remember about that time.
Your child will thank you later. Yup. Some day when they are older they will look through the photos taken and get to see YOU and THEM during that first year of their life. If you are like me, those photos of our parents and our family only grow more valuable over time. Not only will you be enjoying the photos as your baby grows into a child, a teen, and then an adult, but they will someday be thanking you for the photos that allow them to see a time they do not remember.
Whether you chose to only document those newborn days or opt for a larger First Year Package that includes multiple sessions throughout the year, you won’t regret having the time documented to relive later down the road.
Ready to document your baby’s first year?
I offer not only a First Year Milestones Bundle but can also customize any Year in the Life package to a First Year in the Life package.
