Behind the Scenes of an Ellie J Photography Newborn Portrait Session

If you are thinking of booking me as your newborn photographer you may be wondering what to expect during a typical session. I say 'typical' because as you know, all babies are different, and I will sometimes have to change the order in which I work to accommodate whatever my tiny client may need on the day.

After confirming your booking, your due date will have been held in my diary. I ask that someone contact me after baby has been born, ideally within 48 hours in case I need to juggle my diary a little, and then we agree on a date for your session. Once this has been done, I will send you a final confirmation email with a detailed pre-session booklet containing information and advice on how to prepare yourselves and baby for a newborn photoshoot here at Ellie J Photography.

15bw On the day, this is how a typical Ellie J Photography newborn portrait session with me tends to run:

When you first arrive at my studio I will introduce myself and get some general ‘housekeeping’ out of the way (e.g. going over studio safety, where the loo is and so on). During this time I will ask about any issues affecting baby that I haven't already been made aware of, explain briefly how the morning will run and talk a little about how I will be working with baby. I'll then ask for any questions you may have that we haven't already covered.

The studio will be lovely and warm, I work at around 24-25 degrees for your baby's comfort, and I always suggest that you and any older siblings dress accordingly. I will adjust the temperature throughout the session to ensure baby doesn't get too warm or cold.

Newborn family photographyNewborn baby and family photographed in Coventry.

I will ask you to undress baby, leaving on their nappy (I provide skin toned nappy covers), and then wrapping them up for a cuddle. If you have followed my pre-session guidance, baby will already have been fed before you left home or you will use this time to give baby a feed or top up. While you are doing this we will go over colour schemes and setups (if you haven’t notified me of these in advance). I will ask if you have brought anything with you for inclusion in the shoot, for example an item of sentimental value or a teddy/blanket that has been purchased/made for baby. I have photographed newborn babies with some amazing personal props over the years, from giant Steiff teddy bears to guitars! All I ask is that whatever you bring is safe for us to use.

Newborn Photographer CoventryNewborn baby girl photographed by Newborn photographer Ellie J Photography covering Coventry and Warwickshire. Once we are ready I will take baby from you and continue to settle them to sleep if necessary. I usually begin the session with swaddled images, as wrapping baby will help them feel even more secure and comfortable. I have a variety of lovely stretchy wraps which I use for this purpose and will be using a colour that matches your chosen colour scheme. 

Once baby is securely wrapped I'll gently position them into one of my props. This may be a weighted basket or bucket and I will ask one of you to sit by baby to ensure safety and lend a hand of support if necessary for more complex poses.

practice2 For every prop I use I will take plenty of photographs from all angles and capturing all of those beautiful newborn characteristics such as tiny fingers and toes and hopefully a gorgeous smile, so you will have a wide choice of images to choose from. 

Hopefully by the time I have completed my wrapped shots, baby will be in a deeper sleep, so we will move over to my posing table which is where I will pose baby in some lovely sleepy photos such as the one below.  06

I usually finish my sessions with family photos. However, if an older sibling is coming along, I will take family and sibling poses right at the start of the session. After this, I ask that big brother or sister either be taken out of the studio to avoid disruption during baby's photos, or that you bring along plenty of things to keep the older child occupied while we concentrate on the newborn part of the session. I operate in much the same way when a family dog is to be included in the photos! 

12 02 After your session has ended and you have gone home the first thing I will do is save your images and back them up. Then I will begin work on editing, and you can read a bit about my editing in relation to newborn skin issues here.

As my diary is usually very busy, it can take up to four weeks for a full gallery to be processed. I will then contact you with the passwords required to access a client viewing gallery on my website from which you will select the images you wish to purchase.

If you have any questions about a newborn photography session with me, please don't hesitate to get in touch!