Your guide to a Lifestyle Newborn Session with Gemma Gray Photography

Oh wonderful, you’re expecting a new bundle and after a good nose around you’ve decided you quite fancy a lifestyle session to capture all the little details before they are a little less little.

So what happens next?

How do I prepare for it?

What do we wear?

Do I need to deep clean the house?

Honestly…this is such a relaxed session so please don’t stress. You’ve got enough on your plate at the moment. Let’s make this bit super simple.

When you get in touch to book I’ll ask you to arrange a wee chat at a time that works for you.

Your Family

The first thing I’ll ask about is your baby! How far on are you? How are you keeping? Ugh yeah, the heartburn is the pits isn’t it!

I’ll ask about your significant other and if you have older kiddies that we will be including in the session and their ages (the kids, not your husband!). It helps to be able to know a little more about your family and what combinations we’ll need to include in the session.

Your Home

On our initial call I’ll also ask you about big windows/patio doors you have in your home (it’s a light thing). And I might ask you if you know what time of day the light streams into different parts of your house. It gives me an idea of when would be best to schedule your session. It’s o.k. if you don’t know, you can watch it over the course of a few days and get back to me.

For an in-home session we go wherever gets the best light. We want your images to be as flattering as possible and we do that with good light. That might not always be found in the living-room and more often than not it can be in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

Does that mean you have to blitz the house? No no no no no! Don’t worry about it. If there’s something that is going to be distracting in your images, I’ll move it. I could well be shifting the odd bit of furniture around and if you have some bits and bobs you don’t want me to see before I arrive then fling them in a cupboard.

I’ve done the whole newborn thing a few times over. I get that having your house perfect is pretty far down the list and it’s certainly way lower than feeding/changing/eating and sleeping. Believe me I don’t judge. My small boy infested house is always, always worse! Shameful but pretty much true!

What to wear

I’ll always ask if you need a hand with clothing. Please don’t take offence if you are a proper fashion goddess. Most of my clients like to at least run their choices by me to make sure they will work well in the photographs.

Clothing wise if you can co-ordinate outfits then that’s marvellous! Co-ordinated clothing really does make the images go from ‘aww’ to ‘wow!’

I usually encourage couples to keep their clothing pretty neutral for in-home sessions. Block colours and classic combinations will help your images last the test of time and avoiding anything with logos or writing is always a must.

This sounds a bit odd but I’ll probably ask you to take off your socks. Socks look weird in images. They just do. Trust me.

And make sure whatever you are wearing is comfy. Be kind to yourself, you just had a baby. Don’t be attempting to get into anything that is going to make you feel too hot, restricted or uncomfortable.

For baby, pop them into an outfit you’d like them photographed in. It helps if this outfit is relatively easy to remove and dress them in it without a vest underneath. Taking a vest off over their heads always disturbs them, if you don’t already know this you soon will!

And the last thing we’ll chat about is some key things I need you to do for me before I arrive.

1.       Put the heating on. New babies snooze better if they are cosy, cosy, cosy and we will be stripping them off and getting them changed into various outfits and wraps. If the house is warm this helps them to sleep through it all. Don’t worry about them getting too hot, up until a wee while ago they were a toastie 37° inside you. Tropical is nice for them!

2.       If you can, and only if you can, feed them before I arrive. It just means that when I come in they are ready to snooze and good to go. It’s not the end of the world if this doesn’t happen. I can take nursery photos, have a look around and get organised or work with the older siblings while you see to your little one. I’m fairly comfortable blethering to kids of all ages (teacher to trade…it comes with the territory!)

“Gemma takes stunning pictures and was fantastic with the older kids, keeping them engaged while the shoot was happening.”

— Darren

3.       Have any shawls or blankets ready that you would like to include in the session.

I’ll keep you right with the flow of the session but if I’m working with your baby on their own then for the love of God get your feet up! Get a cuppy. Close your eyes for a bit. Get something decent to eat. Check your phone. Enjoy the wee break from being on baby duty and chill out for a while.

What happens after the session?

After the session I’ll share a little preview on social media of one or two of you images (with your permission).

The rest will follow in 10 - 14 days and they will be delivered via a watermarked online gallery. You’ll have a few days to look over them and pick which you would like to buy (if any - if you don’t like them you don’t buy them) and which package you would like.

Pricing is pretty simple too…

Prints of any size up to 12 x 8 are £25 - there is a minimum order of 10.

Digital files are £35 - there is a minimum order of 10.

or for added value there is the option to upgrade to

10 Prints, of any size up to 12 x 8, and all of the digital files from your session for £595.

There are a few little added bits scattered throughout these packages..have a nose HERE for more details.

I try to keep things straightforward and I hope the most difficult part of your session is trying to choose which images to buy!

And that’s it. How to navigate an in-home newborn session. See…no stress what-so-ever!

So, are you ready to give me a ring? I’m dying to hear all about this baby of yours and find out a little more about you too.

I know in this day and age it’s a bit alien actually picking up the phone, believe me I get nervous before every call, but you’d be surprised how much easier it is meeting on the day if we’ve already gotten to know each other on the phone first.

And that’s us all set. So if you’d like to have a blether then click the link below and fill out the wee message bit, or give me a shout via facebook. I’m usually not far from my phone and I like to get back to clients as fast as I can…I’m a total people pleaser!

Hope to chat soon!

G x

I’m in…take me to the place where I can book my blether!

How to choose a Newborn Photographer in Angus & Dundee

Aw you’re expecting a new arrival!

Congratulations! How exciting!

Preparing for a new baby is such a lovely time (if you are managing to sleep and have avoided the constant nausea/swollen ankle/horrific heartburn side effects).

But seriously, I’m sure you’ll have pored over Pintrest nursery ideas and you’ll have planned every detail of the outfit you’ll bring baby home in.

You’ll have invested sooo much time trying to navigate the pram/buggy/car seat minefield and you’ll have been reading…ah the reading!

The good news is that to save you a bit of legwork I’ve written a wee guide on the whole newborn photography thing.

You know, that thing that gets mentioned at your ante-natal classes and you secretly roll your eyes and think, oh God, I hadn’t even thought of that yet!

Cause here’s the thing…most newborn photographers need to know your due date a good few months in advance. Therefore, you need to book quite a while before baby arrives! I know, it’s a bit mental really, isn’t it?!

But how on earth do you go about choosing a newborn photographer?

Choosing a Newborn Photographer in Angus and Dundee

Well the first thing you really need to think about is what style of photography do you like. When it comes to newborns there are two main camps.

The first, and probably most common is posed.

Credit: Newborns by Nicola

The other is lifestyle.

Let’s start with the former.

Posed Newborn Photography

This is where a photographer will skilfully persuade your baby to cuddle down into a range of sleepy poses. They will photograph your baby on a selection of backdrops with a few different hats and outfits. They may place baby on a teeny bed, or in a bowl, that kind of thing. You know what I mean.

Credit: Newborns by Nicola

If this is what you love then that’s great!

And if you are looking for it in Angus or Dundee then I would always recommend Nicola Denny of Newborns by Nicola. She photographed both of my babies and she is beyond fabulous!

There are many others in the local area who provide this type of photography, just make sure that when you look into photographers who do posed sessions you choose someone who has plenty of experience and training. After all, what they are photographing is pretty special!

And now to…

Lifestyle Newborn Photography

As the name suggests lifestyle photography is more about your lifestyle.

This involves a photographer coming to your home and photographing your baby in your own surroundings.

Your images will capture how you are with your baby as well as capturing your baby on their own in a semi-posed but relaxed way.

Still undecided?

Well have a wee think about how you would like your session to go.

Going for a posed session will mean having to get yourselves organised to get to a studio for an agreed time. On arrival you will hand baby over and pop yourself down for a wee seat while baby is photographed. Depending on how your new bundle of loveliness sleeps, a session will last anything from 45 minutes to a few hours.

If you opt for a lifestyle session then your photographer will arrive at your home at an agreed time and work around you, your baby and your other kiddies too. They can take photographs of the nursery and take images of your baby in their own cot.

They can capture your whole family and the connection you all have to one another, even the dog can be included, after all…they’re part of the family too!

This style doesn’t mean that you won’t get any posed photographs but poses will be a little more relaxed than they would be in a studio session.

You will need to set aside a good couple of hours for this kind of session. Babies tend to do their thing and your photographer will just work around it.

So, have you decided which kind of session you’d like to go for? Look at the images - which style are you most drawn to? What could you imagine hanging on your wall or looking back at over the years to come?

Ok. Well you’ve settled on a style. What now?

How to organise a newborn photography session

How and when to book.

Whichever style you plump for it is handy to let your photographer know your due date so they can set aside time for your session. Even though they don’t know the exact date baby will choose to arrive they will have it in their books to leave availability around then for it.

Most baby photographers like to get your brand new little bundle of squidge photographed in the first two to three weeks because this is when babies are still super sleepy. They will photograph them older than this, if they have availability, but you won’t always be able to get all of the poses that you would manage within the first few weeks.

If you opt for a lifestyle session the time frame isn’t quite as tight. You may not get those super sleepy poses but you can still get some beautiful natural moments…and the good thing about a slightly older baby is that you can capture the odd real smile and genuine expression…as opposed to you know…wind!

And there it is. A starter for ten on the whole newborn photography thing.

I hope I’ve at least helped you decide which style you fancy. If it’s lifestyle you’re after then feel free to get in touch with me for more information or CLICK HERE to learn a bit more about how an in-home newborn session works.

And if you’re leaning towards posed then I’ve popped a link to Newborns by Nicola below.

The next post will give you an idea of how you can best prepare for a session, so keep an eye out for it in the coming weeks.

Wishing you all the best for the exciting journey that you are about to embark on. I hope your labour goes smoothly and quickly and may you be blessed with a healthy, happy, sleepy baby!

Enjoy every second of it!

G x

Newborns by Nicola