The newborn window is still open!

When it comes to newborn photography, the most ideal time to photograph a newborn is between 1-3 weeks old. However, if you miss that window for whatever reason, don’t worry! We can always get beautiful images of your little one. I am up for the challenge!!

A few weeks ago, Rafael came into the studio for his “newborn” session. He was just shy of being 2 months old. He was a little bigger, so we couldn’t do every pose that we might be able to do with a 2 week old, he was less flexible, less curly, much more alert, yet, he still rocked his newborn photo session. 

Being almost 2 month old, he was in between a newborn and 3-month old as far as what we were able to expect from his photo session. And because of this we were able to get a mixture of both sleepy “newborn” photos as well as some awake “3 month old” photos with great eye contact! Something you rarely get with a 2 week old. Rafael gave us a hard time with his arms, wanting to fling them about and as his mama says, he has FOMO (fear of missing out), so he wanted to be awake and see what was happening. Which was fine as long as we tamed those wriggly arms.

Getting Rafael to sleep was a challenge at times. It always is with every newborn. We ask so much of these little humans. Stay asleep, look cute and pose for the camera. We put them in a strange environment and manipulate them while they sleep. It’s no wonder why these newborn sessions can take so long! I always tell parents to expect sessions to take between 4-5 hours for a full newborn shoot that includes the family. I want to make sure we don’t rush the baby and there’s lots of time for feedings, diaper changes and family snuggles. This new little being rules the session and we go on their speed. 

We definitely got a great mixture of both the sleepy newborn photos as well as the awake 3 month type photos. Luckily, Rafael would fall asleep and I would snap a few photos and then when I moved him, he would wake up to see what was going on around him and we'd get the awake shots.

Something I’ve wanted to do for a long time is a newborn as a panda. I was thrilled that Mama agreed to the panda set up. This was so fun for me! I made the outfit that Rafael wore and was thrilled with how it turned out. It was a bit snug on his since he was about 12.5 lbs when we did the shoot. How cute is this little panda!?!

Don’t ever worry if you think you’ve missed your chance for beautiful newborn portraits. Every session is different, every baby is different and at the end of the day, you’ll walk away with some beautiful memories of your gorgeous baby.