9 Tips for A Successful Newborn Shoot in Southampton 

Scheduling a newborn shoot in the early days of postpartum can feel incredibly difficult when you’re in the depths of sleepless nights and endless feeds so here are a few tips to make a newborn photography session feel easy and effortless!

How to Have a Successful Newborn Session in Southampton

-Book a Newborn Session At Your Southampton Home 

-Book Your Newborn Photoshoot Early So You Don’t Miss the Newborn Window

-Relax

-Plan Your Wardrobe Ahead With Your Newborn Photographer

-Keep the House Warm

-Allow for Extra Time

-Involve the Whole Family

-Declutter Your Home

-Allow Baby to Feed Freely During Your Session

Book a Newborn Session At Your Southampton Home

The best way to have a successful newborn session that feels effortless, easy and calming? Book your newborn photography session at home! While you might not feel your home is beautiful enough for a session at home, it doesn’t matter at all! Doing your newborn session at home really helps save you any stress. 

It ensures that you don’t have to go anywhere while recovering after giving birth (this is a saviour for caesarian section mums) and don’t have to leave the house when you are stressed and everything feels new with a newborn. It can be such a stressor trying to get out of the house on time to make an appointment when baby is crying for a feed or has just had a wet nappy!

You feel more comfortable in your home and have everything you need. Rather than having to pack multiple changes of clothes, nappies and bring your own outfits to a studio, doing your newborn session at home is a great way to make your life feel slightly less chaotic and give you less to worry about in a time where you are in a sleep deprived haze. 

Another aspect that many clients don’t think about is that having a newborn session in your home is a deeply personal experience and your newborn photoshoot becomes a beautiful time capsule for the newborn bubble. By having your shoot in your home, the images taken help to take you back in time and view just how things were at home when baby first arrived. A reminder of the nursing chair you used to feed in, the dog that never left your side and licked baby’s toes, the decor of the nursery that will eventually be changed as your child grows and becomes a teenager. Doing the shoot at home becomes so personal to you, rather than a studio. 

Book Your Newborn Photoshoot Early So You Don’t Miss the Newborn Window

While it isn’t as important to photograph baby under 2 weeks old with a natural newborn photography session, it is still important to book your newborn session ahead of time so you don’t miss photographing baby when they are at their tiniest. Capturing those tiny details, that will only grow bigger with time is truly a beautiful reminder of a time that you will barely remember as your child grows older. The newborn stage is so quick and fleeting (a matter of weeks) that it is so important to capture baby at their tiniest. Booking while you are still pregnant, ensures that you get the process underway and can get booked in a soon as baby has arrived. This way you don’t have to frantically search for a newborn photographer who is available in the next two weeks when you are postpartum, sleep deprived and possibly in pain. 

Relax During Your Newborn Shoot

Having a newborn session in your home means you can have a relaxing day. You don’t need to pack and you don’t need to worry about being out of the house by a specific time (which is really difficult with a newborn). If you’ve hired the right newborn photographer, they are experienced and know how to soothe your newborn which can help make the session feel relaxing and effortless. The newborn photographer is on your time so you can get ready while they photograph baby, you can eat your breakfast or lunch during the session and have a cup of tea. Just sit back and watch your newborn photographer create some magic!

Plan Your Wardrobe Ahead With Your Newborn Photographer

Planning your outfit for your newborn session ahead of time can help make your newborn session feel relaxing and effortless! You can work with your newborn photographer ahead of time to pick the perfect wardrobe for your family that works for you and the photographer’s editing style. Your newborn photographer might provide a wardrobe specifically for postpartum mums and you can select the options you love. Having your newborn photographer bring your outfits means one less thing to think about on the day!

Keep the House Warm

Did you know that newborns can’t regulate their temperature well due to poor circulation? Their small size means that heat leave their body quickly and they feel the cold much worse than adults do. By prepping the house ahead of time and warming it up, it ensures baby feels comfortable and happy during your newborn photoshoot so that you can get an amazing variety of shots with a happy baby! As baby is often in outfits that aren’t very warm (so you can get skin to skin shots or show off their baby peach fuzz), keeping the house warm ensures they are happy so you can have a successful photoshoot. 

Allow for Extra Time

A newborn photography session should be a relaxing event for you. This means it is important to not book anything else on the day so you don’t have to rush through it and can take the time to get the most beautiful images possible. Your newborn photographer should only book one session per day in case your baby is unsettled on the day and needs extra soothing and feeds. The key to a successful newborn session is having lots of time available to you so you can take your time in the session and so you don’t have to rush so you can feel relaxed and enjoy it. 

Involve the Whole Family in The Session

I love family focused newborn sessions and they are a great way to ensure a newborn photography session runs smoothly. How? Doing lots of family images holding your newborn ensures that baby feels safe and happy. Newborns love being held because it makes them feel safe and secure, just like in the womb. They love hearing your heartbeat and feeling your warmth. Having a family focused newborn session ensures baby feels comfortable, gets us lots of variety of images and creates beautiful memories to treasure. 

Declutter Your Home

While I love shooting in homes of all sizes, one thing that can hinder a newborn session in your Southampton home is clutter. Your home doesn’t have to be large or beautifully decorated but clearing items that with be distracting in the background of your images helps immensely! Your newborn photographer can help you decide what to remove during your session if you are unsure. 

Allow Baby to Feed Freely During Your Photoshoot

This is my number one tip for having a successful newborn photography session, let your newborn feed as often and for as long as they want. I don’t care if they take forever, I always want baby to feel happy and have that extra comfort during their session. Sometimes being moved around from spot to spot or parent to parent can make your baby want a little bit of extra comfort and so feeding can help them calm down. I always encourage feeding baby if they want it to ensure a happy, calm baby for their newborn session. 

Book Your Newborn Photoshoot in Southampton Today!

Booking your newborn photography session early, booking the shoot in your home, decluttering, planning wardrobe ahead of time and feeding baby freely during the session can help to ensure an effortless newborn session and get those perfect images! Contact “Little Crumpets Photography” to book your newborn photography session in Southampton.