Newborn photography is a widely popular staple requirement for any new parent to cherish their baby's first few days for their entire life. Achieving the desired look here will mean photographing their babies in their earliest days than span ideally from 6-10 days old. Anywhere upto six weeks will also work fine. It’s all about capturing the newness of the baby, all the tiny features like the hairs, the fingers, the toes. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime unrepeatable opportunity that you can’t get if the baby gets any older than the stipulated time when they have this unreal and tender look known as the newborn period. It’s a lovely experience that records all those details for new parents that they can’t capture themselves.Â
 
Newborn perfectly set and composed for the moon and sky-themed set.
One of the most important things with newborn photography is the preparation phase. While this means setting up the studio with newborn photography props, it also includes preparing the session well by preparing the parents, the baby and any other person involved during the shoot. Preparing well will make a world of difference to whether you have a good session, a great session or a disastrous session. The first of the most important things to do before the shoot starts is to give the parent or the caller a thorough yet subtle walkthrough with the preparational information just after receiving an inquiry. It is important that they are properly aware and used to this information beforehand. Sometimes newborn studios or photographers post discussing the details, send an email and then go through it all over again on the day of the shoot to ensure that they get prepared right and focused on the creative/technical aspects as required.
A few example mentions would be asking the parents to try and keep the baby awake on the morning of the session as much as they can before they come to the studio. Also, if possible, try and time the baby’s feed when they arrive at the studio. It's a creative goal that photographers aim to have a really tired and hungry baby arrive, get undressed into a nappy, wrapped in a cozy blanket and fed that will give that milky drunk happy baby that you can pose along with the photography backdrop and other newborn photography props.
Another important thing is to ask parents not to use any oils or lotions on the baby’s skin just before the shoot session. Often newborns have flaky skin that parents worry about and moisturize the baby. However, while post-production, it is much easier to touch and edit dry skin than rectify reflections and unappealing effects caused by oily skin.
Extra milk is yet another backup requisite for conducting a successful newborn photography session. The studio can get really warm during the shoot, so having the milk will help the baby hydrate well and stay full and comfortable throughout the entire session. Also, extra blankets from their home are recommended as sometimes, when required, laying the blanket on them helps calm them, especially when it smells of home and smells of mum. This will settle the baby better than they will if it’s a spare studio blanket. Additionally, it is better to have a pacifier handy to help with tons of great shots. For example, the 3,2,1 pullout, take the shot and put it back in the baby's mouth. The expressions you get to capture are priceless. All the items mentioned above can also be creatively used as newborn photography props that can add a lot of production value and emotional touch for the parents.
Finally, it is important to let the parents know about the session duration, which can range from anywhere between 4-5 hours. We know, in reality, it can take much lesser time to do a session. However, if you have a baby that’s hard to settle, both you and the parents can feel the pressure of time, get stressed out and affect the shoot adversely. It is always to have backup margin time to stay relaxed, plan alternatives and shoot the baby peacefully.