The last weeks leading up to your baby’s arrival can be overwhelming. There’s an endless list of items to pick up, order, and prepare. Let alone all the research for the safest/most reliable/beautiful/functional enter-the-baby-gear-here that you dive into. It’s definitely a busy season of anticipation - finishing off work, setting up the nursery and getting in those last dates with your partner. You want to be prepared. You want things to go as smoothly as possible because you want to enjoy this new season of welcoming the tiny human you’ve been growing for the past 9 months.
In those first days and weeks after delivery, time stops, snuggles abound, the challenges and joys of newborn life are in full force and you have this sacred window of getting to know each other for the first time. You want to remember the tiny toes, silky smooth skin and swirls of hair forever. You want to bottle up the memories of “that time our family grew” and never forget how it felt when life together was so new.
Okay, perfect! Then comes booking the newborn photo session. Easy-peasy, right? Well. Often not as easy as you think.
In an ideal world, newborn life is a golden bubble of bliss. In reality, while it is incredibly special and full of joy, it’s busy, and often brings a steep curve of time consuming learning challenges as well. Waiting until your baby is nearly here, or already here, puts you at risk of feeling overwhelmed and stressed for your newborn session. But this is literally the LAST thing you want to feel heading into it! You deserve to be relaxed, confident and excited about the session. It’s a big deal - you grew a human and want to have beautiful portraits to celebrate and remember this time by! (Especially when the first days and weeks of newborn life are so hazy from lack of sleep!)
My best advice: Be intentional about planning. And by intentional, I mean, plan a-head!
Connecting with me several months in advance to book your newborn session is not. too. early. Once we chat in depth about the vision you have, we will make a plan for the most successful, amazing newborn session: from what you envision doing with the art we’ll create to how the session will flow, from spaces in your home to how the light hits them throughout the day, from the game plan for any siblings/furry friends to what everyone will wear, from hair and make-up to all the little details you want remembered. We’ll plan it all.
At Heima Photography, we’ll want to walk through all of these details and more, in depth, prior to those last minute appointments, and for sure prior to the newborn life schedule! Planning ahead will guarantee that you aren’t stressfully scrambling to prepare for your newborn session. (ie. Leaving planning your outfits too late and realizing the dress you really want to wear takes longer to ship than you have time.) You can be confident those newborn memories will be beautifully documented while being able to do what is most important: be present with the ones you love most.
You don’t want this moment interrupted by the stress of leaving planning to the last minute - because stress shows in your photos! You want to feel excitement and ease about your newborn session. Being well prepared enables you to be comfortable because you’ve taken the time to vision and plan for exactly what you want. It enables you to be confident because you know exactly what to expect. And it enables you to be excited because the work has already been done, and you can just enjoy while I take care of the rest - and know, most importantly, that your portraits will literally be glowing.
Jace and Brieanne’s newborn photography session here is the perfect example of what I’m talking about. We walked through all the visioning and preparation details together - three months ahead of time - and the portraits they have to cherish are gorgeous. You can’t help but see how much their new parent joy, awe and excitement bursts out of the photos. These are the kind of memories you want bottled up. This is the documentation you'll have to remember of those first days and weeks when memory is foggy. These are the kind of portraits you will have to pass on for years to come.
I cannot emphasize enough the difference it makes in the end results when you plan and prepare well. You don't have to know where to start in planning. All you need to do is take the first step in reaching out. (And remember, for the best experience: ahead of time!) I'll guide you through everything you need to know and prepare to have an incredible newborn photography experience, guaranteed!
Cheers!
Breanne Heidrich
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