Props or no props for your newborn session
It’s no secret that newborns have something very special about them. With or without props.
My style recently is a bit “posed” and a bit “lifestyle” or “baby-led“.
When I first started photographing newborns I jam packed my car with a beanbag, chairs, backdrops, baskets, buckets, and props until I could barely close the doors or see out from the windows.
I felt pressure to capture the perfect, posed newborn picture and felt that this is the right way to do it. Although these set-ups worked, and work well for a lot of photographers, I felt like I was missing something, that is not me, that is not what I meant to do.
So I decided to sell most of my props and I freed myself from the expectations of posed and perfect. By this, I gave myself permission to document real moments, real feelings, real connections.
I started realising less is more and what it is that truly amazes me about these tiny humans.
There is so much beauty in simplicity and who babies already are.
What I look for now:
a simple, adorable yawn,
the tiny stretches of their fragile limbs,
how snug and cozy they look when all swaddled up,
or the connection between a parent, sibling and newborn,
also feeding, holding, cuddling, soothing, burping, rocking and adoring,
Props I tend to use nowdays:
things that have sentimental value and bring the past into the present moment. Some families had Moses baskets that have been in the families for generations. Other families had quilts that were handmade by a loved relative. These became essential to my sessions and added more meaning and depth to a family’s story.
tiny hairbands, handmade knitted/crochet hats in neutral, white, cream or grey
tiny teddies
occasionally I use a basket, or a little bed
my giant beanbag
Every client has a different ideas and a different story, so the images are different for every family but what all my newborn sessions have in common is this huge new love that comes with welcoming a baby.