There are a variety of types of newborn photography, and it can be confusing to try to sort it out. As you are looking at different websites or talking to different people, you are told about Fresh 48s or that photos need to be done in the first 10 days or that actually you can do it whenever you want. Which is correct? The answer is it depends on what type of photographs you want. Understanding the different options will help you narrow down which photographer is right for you.
Birth Photography
These sessions are done while you are in labor. The purpose is to document the very moments of your new baby's life and the process by which it happened. The photographer would stay with you during your entire labor until just after the baby is born. These are usually done for home births but some photographers can come to your hospital room.
Fresh 48s
For these photos, the photographer comes to the hospital shortly after your baby is born and captures the very beginning of the newborn stage. It is a lighter version of birth photography :-). It is showing the emotion of the family as they are getting to know their new little person for the first time. Like the title says, these sessions happen within the first 48 hours of birth. These can be a stand alone session or added as a mini session to a baby photography package.
Posed/Styled Newborn
These sessions typically happen within the first 10 days, in a studio or in your home. The newborn baby is photographed sleeping in different staged poses. Sometimes on a rug or in a basket and with cute matching accessories.
The first couple weeks of life are when the baby sleeps the most, which why these sessions have a specific time window. The poses the baby is moved into require a baby to be in a deep sleep for a long stretch of time, which gets harder and harder as the baby grows. And because baby has to be sleeping, these sessions typically last about 4 hours.
Some photographers will just photograph the baby while others will include a few posed family shots.
Lifestyle/Documentary Newborn
These sessions are done in your home within the first month, and a session may last between 1-2 hours. The focus of these sessions is to capture the real moments of baby as he or she naturally is.
There is a spectrum within this type of photography. On one side, the photographer will gently guide the sleeping baby into organic poses while on the other end of the spectrum is a completely hands off approach, documenting only what baby does on his or her own.
The family is included in this type of photography. Life with a newborn being the theme. These images take on a broader lens, so to speak, not just about the adorable new baby, but the newborn being welcomed into a family. Because of this context, the photographs are filled with emotion and therefore can carry a lot more weight with the passage of time.
I fall into the last type of photography discussed. Photography for me is about emotion and storytelling. Having a new baby is a short, magical time filled with intense emotions. This transition to a larger family is a beautiful time that I love to capture. If this is the style of photographs you are drawn to, I would love to chat more with you! Email me at hello@andriagphotography.com. I look forward to hearing from you!