Question: When should I book my newborn photography session?
Answer: That depends whether you mean “when” as in “the date of the session” or “when” as in “when in my pregnancy should I look at photographers”. The answer isn’t one-size-fits-all, to either question – but as a rule: You should schedule newborn photo sessions when you know you’ll want newborn photography, and the session should take place before your baby is six weeks old!
Needing Newborn Photography Means it’s Time for a Congratulations!
If you’ve landed here because you’re looking for a newborn photographer, the first thing I want to do, is offer my congratulations!! Mama, you’ve brought a human into the world. Or you’ve waited, and waited, and prayed, and cried, waiting for the gift of a child in your life through other means – and that’s just as emotional and huge, no matter what those other means are. So no matter how your little one is joining your family – congrats. You deserve it!!
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk logistics. The biggest question I get about newborn sessions, is when you should book them, because it’s vaguely complicated – so today, we’re going to walk through that!
Take time to look at the newborn photographers in your area
Even if that means you don’t choose Jessica Strobel Photography!
Before we dive in though, I want to make one thing super clear: you should take time to review the newborn photographers’ portfolios in your area. Unless you plan on scheduling multiple sessions ahead of time, newborn photos are super time-sensitive, and by the time your baby has joined us in the world, it’s going to be difficult to schedule a replacement session if you’re not happy with how your photos turn out.
So take your time with this one – family sessions can be taken and re-taken, even maternity sessions, which are another time-sensitive type of photography, can (with the right timing in mind) be re-booked if needed. But because newborn sessions have to take place in a certain time-frame to document what they’re supposed to document (your baby at their sleepiest and smallest!) the window is small, and that means taking care to get it right the first time. So look around! Check out photographers’ published turn-around times, look at pricing – make sure the photographer you book with is a perfect match. Even if that means I’m not the photographer for your newborn session, it’s important to me that you find someone who can meet your exact needs!!
When should you book newborn photos?
But on to the important question for today: When should you book newborn photos?
The first version of this question we’ll address, is “when” as in “how early is too early to book”.
Which is a great question! A lot of people wonder, since pregnancy is unpredictable, and due dates aren’t always accurate, whether booking newborn photos ahead of time is even possible, since you can’t settle on a specific date right when you reach out to the photographer of your choice.
But we have a solution to that in the newborn photography industry! When you reach out to book professional newborn photography, what we do, is base a session window on your little one’s due date. Then, once they’re born, you reach out, and we seta date in stone. So if that’s a little early, that’s fine! If it’s a little late… that’s fine too! Or if you experience other kinds of changes to the schedule, that can also be addressed.
Which means the best time to reach out to a professional newborn photographer to book your session, is as soon as you know you’re going to want a session. If that’s months in advance, amazing! If that’s a few weeks in advance, also… amazing! As a rule of thumb, earlier is always best, so that you can ensure you actually get into your chosen photographers’ calendar, and have time to prepare. Since the scheduling of newborn sessions is atypical, knowing early that there’s a booking window involved is always a win.
But what about when the session should take place?
So you know you’re going to have a newborn photo session – fabulous! You’ve reached out to your photographer – and they’re likely going to explain that your newborn session should ideally take place in your baby’s first 2-4 weeks of life, and will probably be super resistant to scheduling a true newborn session after they’re 6 weeks old.
The ideal window is definitely that 2-4 week mark – though this is different for every baby, since every baby is different, that’s going to be the average stretch of time when your little one is at their littlest, and when they’re the sleepiest. And that matters HUGELY for the style of photography taken in a newborn photo session, whether that’s a session in the studio, or a lifestyle newborn session scheduled to take place in your home.
Why do they need to be so young?
Since those first few weeks are super vulnerable for little ones, you might be thinking to yourself “I don’t want to take my newborn anywhere but home and the doctor’s office in those first few weeks”. And that would be fair! Luckily, we have work arounds for that, like the session taking place in your home. Easy peasy!
We want them to be sleepy!
But there are solid reasons we schedule newborn photography sessions for while your baby is so young – the first one, is that’s going to be when they’re sleepiest. This stage is when their little bodies and brains are developing fastest, and it means LOTS of sleep. For newborn photography, this works in our favor! We want to capture your baby swaddled, sleeping, peaceful, and serene. And that works best in that stretch of time!
They’re going to change fast!
Also because of the development that happens in this stretch, it’s when your baby will change the most. This is part of why I recommend scheduling both Fresh 48 photography, AND newborn photos – between birth and those first four weeks? Your little one will change SO much. And by their first 3 months, they’ll look completely different. So when we capture newborn photography, we’re capturing that window while they’re sleepy, and squishy, and adorable. Not that they get less adorable over time or anything, it’s just a DIFFERENT adorable, that we can capture too, through milestone and childhood sessions!
You need to be focused on THEM.
And finally, it’s important for your baby to be that age when we take their newborn photos, because that’s the stretch of the newborn timeline where you’re going to be straight up exhausted. You might snap some photos on your phone – but honestly? You should be able to spend your time focusing on baby’s needs, not documenting their every detail. That’s MY job, as a professional newborn photographer! Outsourcing the documentation, means you get to focus where you should be focused. On little one, and on you.
So – is it time for you to schedule your newborn photos?
With all that outlined for you – is it time for you to schedule newborn photography? If so, let’s talk, and get your session on the calendar. Or, let’s get your session WINDOW on the calendar, since this is newborn photography we’re talking about!
I do want to give a little caveat here though, because if your baby is already here? And you’re reading this? You might be having a tiny panic like “OH NO IT’S TOO LATE!!” But take a breath, because it’s NOT. If your baby is here and you’re in the time-crunch, reach out anyway. There’s a chance we can still fit you into the calendar last minute, so let’s chat! It’s important to me that you get to remember your little one’s first weeks, beyond the whirlwind you’ll be experiencing right now. So let’s talk, and see what magic we can make happen, Mama!
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