Sweet Pea By Liz

LET’S PENCIL YOU IN!
We recommend that you schedule your newborn session prior to your baby’s birth to ensure a spot on our calendar. We tend to book 3-6 months in advance, depending on the time of year . Contact us during your early second trimester and we’ll pencil you in. Then, shoot us a message when the baby arrives.

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It is best to contact us within 2 days of your babies arrival to ensure that you get an ideal time as we only save 2-3 openings a week for newborns and they fill QUICKLY.  If we are contacted when the baby is already over 4 days or older, we can not guarantee that the session will be done within the ideal time frame and you may not get the poses or props that you were envisioning.
 

Newborn sessions are always done in the morning on weekdays, so please be aware of that when booking.  Please try to arrive on time! The clock starts ticking at your scheduled time so late arrivals mean less time for posing.
 

BIRTH DAY!
Newborn sessions should be scheduled within the first 15 days of life. However, the best time is between 4-10 days after their arrival. 
We’ll be moving them around and scrunching them into those sweet sleepy newborn images, so we want to make sure they’re sleepy enough to allow us to handle them. Plus, babies just tend to do a lot better with the session within their first 10 days. Somewhere around day 11 they discover the joy that is stretching! Once that happens…they’re not about to let us get them into those curly poses without a fight. After day 15, it’s almost impossible to get baby into that deep sleep that came so easily in their first few days…so it’s unlikely that we’ll be able to get them into any of the more bendy newborn poses. And, keep in mind that newborn acne (and sometimes colic) is likely to flare up after day 14. While we can easily edit problem areas, we prefer to do as little retouching as possible to baby’s skin.

 

• WHERE?

         Newborn sessions take place at our studio. 11503 Andress Rd. Berlin Heights, OH. At this time, we do not offer in home session.

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• WE CRANK THE HEAT!

 We crank the heat before your session to ensure that it’s warm enough. Newborns are used to being all bundled up, warm and cozy…and then we come in and yank off all their clothes for those adorable naked baby shots. They tend not to like that too much! Pushing up the thermostat is guaranteed to make the session flow more smoothly and help them sleep better. We may be sweating, but baby will be nice and warm…and that’s really all that matters. We crank the heat before your session to ensure that it’s warm enough in time for the clothes yanking.

 

• LOOSEN UP!

Please loosen your baby’s diaper and clothing at least 30 minutes before the session. This gives those little imprint marks time to disappear for any naked photos

 

• SLEEPY?

Babies do very well in the studio for posing when they are in a very deep sleep. To encourage this I highly recommend, stimulating the baby at least two hours before your scheduled arrival, a warm bath always does the trick. This also means keeping them awake during the car ride here. If you are local, please feed the baby right before you arrive.

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As mentioned I’ve seen it all, unfortunately their have been a few moms that will say,” my baby sleeps through anything”. Well come to find out in a very unfortunate way, no they actually don’t.

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If you live within 20 min of the studio, feed the baby right before you leave. If you live further you can feed your baby as soon as your arrive at the studio, once burped, we will then start preparing him/her for their session. From experience, babies that have been asleep prior to arrival are unfortunately the babies that are more difficult to pose because as soon as the blanket comes off, they get startled again and it’s back to trying to put them to sleep. That alone can take up to an hour.

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Keeping in mind these two instructions will most certainly give you a well rested baby. In return we’ll be able to maximize the time you have in the studio. We need your bundle of joy to be very exhausted, tired and a bit hungry. I know it will be hard, atop of your own sleep deprivation but I promise you, it will be well worth the effort!! ♥

 

• HUNGRY?

A well fed baby is a happy baby! Please feed and burp baby right before our session to ensure a happy, sleepy (“milk drunk”) baby. We’ll also be more than happy to take as many breaks as needed to help him/her re-fuel. It’s tough work being a model!

 

• VOLUME CONTROL!

Please do whatever you can to keep the noise level to a minimum during our session. If you have other children that might create noise, try to find a sitter or family member to take them away for a few hours.
* If you have children and would like them to be included in some photos, we recommend bringing them in at the beginning or end of a session and then having someone take them. Only those being photographed should be present to help maintain a calm environment.

 

• PATIENCE IS KEY!

Newborn sessions can last anywhere from 2-4 hours. It all depends on baby’s mood and willingness to sleep. Unfortunately…this isn’t something we can predict! We ask that everyone remain calm, should he/she not want to sleep, since your baby will pick up on any frustration in the room. And if  sleep doesn’t happen, that’s okay! Wide-eyed newborn photos are beautiful too.

 

• RELAX!

Let me say it again… Relaxxx!
We’re pretty comfortable holding and posing newborns. We have three kids of our own. Your baby is in safe hands, we promise!
So yes! Feel free to rest and leave the room for a bit if you’d like. 

 

• IN CASE YOU MISSED THAT: RELAX!

Parents tend to stress out because this is a new experience…and they aren’t used to the waiting game that is newborn photography.
They see their baby being fussy or having a difficult time getting settled and panic, “This is a disaster! They aren’t going to get ANY good photos!” It isn’t, and we will!

We take the baby’s lead; getting them to sleep before posing takes time and they may need to be fed or cuddled a few times first. In fact, we’d say that a good 50% of your session will involve feeding, diaper changes, and cuddling to get baby comfortable. If that doesn’t work, we’ll take a break or we’ll work with what baby is giving us. Sometimes the best photos happen when baby isn’t doing what we want.

Just remember: Babies can sense stress and anxiety (especially from their mommy’s!) It’s super important that EVERYONE remain calm and relaxed during this session. Keeping the environment as mellow as possible is pretty much the only way we’re going to get the shots we’re looking for.

 

• POOP HAPPENS!

Your baby is going to be in the buff for part of this shoot. Please don’t panic if your baby decides to use our blankets (or us) as his/her own personal potty. This is natural and we expect it! Please don’t feel embarrassed or worry when this happens, because they all do it. It would definitely be helpful if you bring extra wipes

 

• PROPS!

We have a collection of bowls, baskets, blankets, knit hats, romper and headbands . You are also, of course, welcome to use any of your own props. Looks for items with texture and color to help make your images unique. If you have any family heirlooms, toys, hats, props, etc. that you would like me to use in your session, please send a photo before your session. We may not be able to use ALL of the items, but we’ll look through them with you to determine what will work best.

We also STRONGLY recommend that you discuss any ideas, props or poses you have in mind at least a week prior to your session.
We start planning out your session weeks in advance, so dropping a huge idea on us mid-session (that requires an unavailable prop) can cause stress on everyone! So talk to us early on and let us know what you have in mind.

 

• BUT WHAT DO I WEAR?

I know! You just had a baby and aren’t feeling your best. But we think this is the perfect time to pamper yourself! As far as clothing? Keep it simple. Throw in a little color if you’d like, but skip the busy patterns.