is it too late to get newborn photos?

They aren't little for long....

Most newborn photographers will tell you to schedule your newborn session while you are pregnant. I agree with them wholeheartedly. For me, the best time for a newborn session is anywhere from 5 days old to 3 weeks. That is, ideally closer to 5 days but I can be pretty sucessful with babies up to 3 weeks old. Newborns are sleepier, more posable and also at their tiniest. It is a recipe for adorable precious photos to remember your child at the beginning. Newborns grow at an amazingly rapid rate and those cute little hats and outfits only fit for so long.

Enter my most recent newborn session. I get an inquiry asking about a newborn session for a little girl and Momma is excited for props and more. When I inquired more I learned this little girl was already 8 weeks old. My heart sank a little, the window of time had passed. Mom asked if we could do a session right away. I explained I would try wraps but a lot of the poses you traditionally see may not work. I laid out my expecations up front. I was also nervous!!! How could I get this mom the photos she was dreaming of when I had never worked with an older "newborn". We scheduled and I prepared myself but the night before the session Mom asked to reschedule baby was not feeling well. My next available time was two weeks later and she was okay with that. I figured at this point what I could accomplish in the session wouldn't change much so we moved forward. The day of the session I now had a 10 week old little girl come to the studio. Again, not going to lie, I was nervous. But when she arrived she was the sweetest thing and I knew I had to do my best. She was wide awake and making the cutest sounds. I was able to wrap her and while it did not put her to sleep she seemed to love it and I was able to get one of my most favorite images ever. I was able to use my largest bowl and still got that prop look Mom was going for in her vision.

So, the moral of this story is...maybe its not too late for a newborn session if you didn't make the call before baby arrives. I kind of think of this session as the post-newborn phase. Babies have their social smiles at this point so that can be a huge bonus. The first milestone session I do is when they are 3-4 months. In that session we highlight babies tummy-time and holding up their heads. This little girl was not quite there but she will be sooo soon!

Som photographers may tell you that oh this is still a newborn, while others will say no way I won't go past two weeks! Would I still recommend newborn sessions sooner? Yes of course because there is something precious about those first two weeks. But will you miss out if you waited? Maybe not...because this momma now has the most precious pictures to look back on and I don't think it will matter as the years go on.