5 Reasons in-home newborn photography is gaining popularity with new parents.
A nine days new freshie in all his natural perfection, being loved on by his mamma and siblings. What better memory to preserve?
I have hazy memories of bringing home my newborns.
Both times we were sleep deprived, shell-shocked and surviving on a random combination of coffee, cereal, (painkillers!) and frozen dinners.
Truth be told, I was too tired to think about newborn photographs, and being a photographer I figured I’d take them myself (right after my next nap…).
Yet around this time, the mammas I’d met through my pregnancy and parenting classes were stressed and scampering, dragging themselves (and their newborns, AND their toddlers..!) out of the house for their newborn portrait appointments (and then crossing their fingers that once they finally got there, everyone would be in a good mood!).
Back then I was none the wiser, but today I can reassure you: There is a better way.
Guys. Find a photographer who will come to YOU.
Find a photographer who will make authentic and stunning photographs of your little family in the comfort of your own home.
Genius, right?
It actually is.
Here are just 5 of the MANY reasons in-home photography sessions are gaining popularity over standard portrait sessions for newborns.
1. You’ve just had a baby. Take a load off and let someone else leave the house.
Let’s be real for a second.
As a new mum, you’ve either just pushed a baby out of your vagina, or you’ve been cut open and had one pulled through a hole in your abdomen. Since then, you’ve probably been up every one or two hours to feed your adorable new bundle of joy. It’s time for you to put your feet up, mamma - you’ve done enough!
Honestly, staying at home is the most comfortable and convenient option for you right now, so let someone else do the legwork on this one.
It really is all about taking it easy - both for you and your growing little family. So please know you don't need a pristine home for this type of session.
You've just had a baby. Mess, clutter, a basket filled with miscellaneous bits and pieces beside the sofa, and a mountain of clean and / or dirty washing that's taken up residence in your spare room is expected.
It's truly all part of the magnificent milestone of motherhood, so let's embrace it, yeah?
2. You’re going to want photographs of the nursery.
If you’re anything like my more creative and / or Pin-tastic friends (that’s a word, right..?), you’ve spent the last several months designing and perfecting a pretty stunning nursery. A room which, if your baby is anything like mine, may not be used in the way it was intended for a looong time.
Still, those efforts need not go to waste.
A storytelling photographer can make beautiful photographs of your baby napping or feeding in their gorgeous room, so you can preserve the moments you've been long dreaming of, and share them with your friends and family.
3. An in-home photography session is an opportunity to have your other children and fur babies included.
Bringing home baby is a pivotal and life-changing time for the entire family.
Having a session at home means your older children will be in their element, resulting in relaxed and authentic photographs of everyone - four legged friends included.
4. Your photographs will be unconventional, unique and entirely YOU.
What are your plans for your baby’s newborn photographs? Art for your walls, right?
An in-home session will result in personalised art of your baby that’s not only beautiful, that’s not just meaningful, but that is uniquely and refreshingly YOU.
You wont wind up with a photograph of your little one wearing the same flower crown that you've seen in the pictures of however many dozen other babies across town.
Instead, you’ll have a photograph of your tiny bundle slumbering in their very own space - a space that you’ve made with love and care in anticipation for her arrival. A space that will lay the foundations for who she’ll be, of how she'll see the world.
In-home photography sessions mean photographs that will be other than obvious.
Completely cool, right?
5. Storytelling photography at home will enable stunning portraits of your new baby AND catch actual memories.
For me, this is the big one. The game changer.
The things a storytelling photographer will document go well beyond the reach of a posed studio portrait session. Sure, a more traditional session will depict your tiny baby in all his or her perfect glory (probably with their adorable bare bottom in the air, or else sleeping soundly in a bucket or basket or other random container).
But a storytelling photographer will capture bathing.
Nappy changes.
Breastfeeding in the easy chair.
Your babe in the sunny patch of the living room floor, where they spend their every morning curled up on the sheep skin rug.
These things are meaningful.
They have stories attached to them.
They will become the sticky notes to the memories of the days and weeks when you brought baby home, so you’ll never forget how small they were, what it was like to swaddle them up after their bath, or the way you’d strip them to naked during feeds to keep them awake long enough to fill their tiny tummy with milk.
Feeding two newbies at once - what an amazing mamma!
In the end, I didn’t take a whole lot of photographs during those first few weeks home with my babies.
I was too tired, too overwhelmed, too sore.
So that precious time is largely lost to me now.
I have some memories, of course. I remember the many hours on the sofa with a tiny baby on my lap. I remember the teeny nappies, a hundred tubes of various creams, and the inevitable warm fountain of wee when I’d change my son’s nappy, the way we quickly learned to cover his bits with a teepee of terry towelling in anticipation.
And sometimes out of the blue my husband will say ‘hey, remember this thing from those first few days?’ And I’ll think oh, yeah. And I’ll get to go back for a moment, and my heart will feel full for a little while.
I wish I’d had a memory catcher come to us during those first few days at home.
Gosh, I’d be grateful for those photographs now.
To be able to relive that fleeting, hazy time, to be able to share it with my growing babies…
Well. That would be everything.
Read about the value of having your newborn session at home and see another beautiful in-home session here.
Here are some of the captures from a recent in-home newborn storytelling session. This family just welcomed home two little bundles, growing their tribe to six (and a fur baby!).
This isn't your typical newborn session. This is memories, made and captured. To see what the family thought of their session, click here.
This family's maternity story session was kinda wonderful as well. Click here for a peek!.
Are you in Geelong or Melbourne and expecting a new addition of your own?
Get in touch to secure an in-home newborn storytelling session as a way to mark this pivotal and precious time. x
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