Tips to prepare for your in-home lifestyle and newborn photo session

Family sessions at home capture a mix of unfiltered real moments, done in a stylised way. These sessions are a personal favourite of mine if you have a newborn! I’ll be able to capture your family in an authentic way and you’ll feel more comfortable being in your own space.

PREPARING YOUR SPACE

A home is made to be lived in and no one is expecting every room in your house to be clean or tidy, especially if you have kids. There is absolutely no pressure to prepare your entire house for photos but having one or two spaces ready to use before your photographer arrives is key. Often your bedroom, living area, or a children’s bedroom is a great space to use for a lifestyle session. You may want to put away some toys or hide clutter but you definitely won’t need to clear everything out of the space, you still want it to look like your home and not something out of a flashy magazine.

PREPARING YOUR NEWBORN AND TODDLER

Let your children know a photographer is coming to your home for some fun and they will be taking some pictures. Asking your children to sit quiet and still usually doesn’t work and it can make your photographer seem like a scary person coming into their space. Make it fun and playful, prepare some activities that you can all do together. Let your kids run around and your photographer can interact with them, we love building trust with them and making the process enjoyable for everyone. Relax and try not to stress over their behaviour on the day.

For your newborn, do what you need to do. Stick to your feeding routine and don’t be afraid to feed during your session if you need to. You’ll likely plan to have your photos taken at a time when your baby usually sleeps but come the day of your photos their sleeping habits might be out the window. Your photographer will be able to adapt and allow you to settle your newborn if you need extra time.

WHAT TO WEAR

You’re at home so you want to be comfortable but pick outfits that make you feel confident. Coordinate your outfits with each other and with your space, think of using similar tones and complementary colours. I personally love earthy and light tones, whites and creams are particularly great for a newborn session. Avoid busy patterns and text on shirts. At the end of the day, if you want to be in your PJs and your baby wants to run around in their nappy, that’s completely ok too! The goal is to capture authenticity.

Outdoor lifestyle maternity shoot - Wellington Eastbourne, New Zealand

Pregnancy is a special time for expecting mothers and their family. If you already have children, this is the perfect time to have a maternity shoot combined with family photos. These photos will be a momento of the ‘time before baby arrived’ and as your children grow you can look back at this time of your life together.

If you have a toddler and you’re worried about how they will find the photoshoot, look for a photographer who has experience working with children. You may only have a short period of time to get key photos and your photographer may need some tricks to get children on their side. A lifestyle session is perfect for capturing real moments and interactions between family, this works well if children aren’t interested in posing or are too young for directions.

Finding a photographer who has a style that speaks to you is important! When Claudia and Steph contacted me about their vision for this shoot they were looking for a lifestyle session near the beach where they live. Claudia put together a Pinterest board of inspiration. I knew straight away that we were a great match and I could bring their vision to life.

I recommend following a few different photographers on social media and over time you will start to see who connects with you best!

Claudia is extremely photogenic! I think I said ‘gorgeous’ about 100 times during our session. I love the way their outfits were styled and the use of adding in a denim jacket for Coco because it was extremely windy/cold and the shawl around Claudia’s shoulders.

Being on location can be really hit and miss if the weather isn’t great. It took 5 days of scheduling and rescheduling to get the weather right for us. We originally planned for a nice, sunny evening with a sunset, but decided to go with an overcast evening last minute which actually worked out really well. The cloudy sky adds a dramatic quality. Finding a photographer who can be flexible around weather definitely helps for an outdoor maternity session.

What is a lifestyle photography and why is it a good idea to do newborn photos at home?

Have you noticed that I rave about doing your family and newborn photos at home! This style is called lifestyle photography. It’s an easy-going and more candid approach, different from traditional newborn photos taken in a photographic studio. These sessions capture a mix of unfiltered real moments while positioned and captured in a stylised way.

Why have photos taken at home

The images feel more relaxed and they look authentic being in the comfort of your own space. You’ll be able to look back at your photos in the years to come and your children will be able to see the home they grew up in. As a huge bonus to new parents, it also means I travel to you rather than traveling to a location or studio.

Preparing your home for photos

The goal is to capture authentic moments of your family in an everyday life setting. A home is made to be lived in and no one is expecting every room in your house to be clean or tidy, especially if you have younger kiddies! There is absolutely no pressure to prepare your entire house for photos but having one or two spaces ready to use is helpful, even if that means moving any clutter to the other side of the room. You get to pick your favourite spots in your home, it could be the nursery chair, so you get to keep some of those memories from when baby was little.

Unposed and natural photography

You’ll be wrapped up in looking at baby and each other, you’ll feel more comfortable with me being there. I don’t have any big lights or equipment so it feels like less pressure to pose for the camera. This style of photography is more about interacting with each other than smiling at the camera for every photo.

What to wear for newborn photos

You’re at home so you want to be comfortable and pick outfits that make you feel good. You can wrap your baby in a swaddle or have in them a one-piece so their feet and hands are free, or do both. My style isn’t to pose newborns in any unnatural sleeping positions.

The day of your newborn shoot

It’s ok if your newborn isn’t settled when I arrive. These sessions are usually 1 hour long which is always plenty of time to feed, nappy change etc in between shots. The best thing about these sessions is we can book them all year round with no restraints on outdoor weather forecasts!