You may have noticed that the photographers in your area don’t all look the same, that is a good thing (YEAH!!) everyone has their own style and way of doing things, some like working in a studio with studio lights and lots of props, some prefer to travel to your home, use lots of natural light and very few props… no one way is wrong.

Find a photographer who fits with what you like, when you are looking at their webpage or facebook page, you might like a photographers images, but they may not be what you are looking for style-wise for YOU and YOUR FAMILY…. That is OK! You need to find someone who shoots what you like, you both need to mesh well together.

If you like a lot of props in your images you probably should not choose the photographer whose images don’t use props, if you love outdoor images in crazy places then finding a photographer who only shoots in a studio with studio lighting is not your best idea…

Just like with so many professions, photographers have a style and specialty that they have spent time honing to get those images that you love…. It’s not fair to expect them to shoot someone else’s style just for you.   That’s not to say, if you find a studio photographer you can’t ask them if they ever shoot outdoors (if that’s what you are looking for)  they might be wanting to try it…. You can ask if they are willing to try something that you don’t see or don’t see much of in their portfolio, the worst they can really do is say no… (I say no all the time to things that I either don’t like doing, or know I can’t pull of to my standard, but I do say yes to many things too)

Some photographers don’t like when the client wants something specific…The photographer wants to be in complete control of everything!  boo hoo!
If you Keep your wants and requests within their style you really should not have much of a problem.  Communicate with your photographer, don’t bug the heck out of them (try to keep your text messages within “business hours” remember they have a family too! If it is after business hours try sending them an E-mail, if you have a list of questions work on that list and send it, and then give them time to receive it, read it, and reply to it…. We don’t sit in front of our computers waiting for your e-mails so it might be a right away response, or it might be the next day (Be patient) we will respond 🙂  But I will spend time on another post talking about how to build a good relationship with your photographer.

About my style.  I took on the term “New Life Photography” which means that I shoot Maternity, Birth, Newborn, Breastfeeding, and Postpartum photos.  I specialize in the Newborns, I have spent the most time leaning, studying, and practicing Newborns (they are not easy and can take a lifetime to really perfect ha ha!) I love to shoot in my studio, usually with a simple backdrop and a light.  For my little girls I have a little pearl bracelet that I put on each of them, it is my little signature prop that I use on all of my girls (I am still trying to figure out what to use for the boys if anything)  I usually photograph my newborns in their birthday suits, Fresh, clean, and simple.

If I feel that the baby will work with it, I will sometimes pull out my props and try doing a few images with baby in or on one of my props, but honestly most of the time I just do simple and something that you will want to hang on your walls and will go with any room in your house’s style.

If you ask me to try something that I have not done before I might try it depending on what might be involved with it.  I will not risk the safety of your baby to get an image that you saw on pinterest or another photographers site.  Just because someone else did it does not mean that it was safe, smart, or something that I would be willing to try.

Not all babies can do all the different poses that you see (and yes each of those poses actually have names!!)  So if you come to me or any other photographer with specific poses in mind remember that every baby is different, some babies just won’t be happy trying some of these poses and I won’t force the baby, if I can tell that they are not having it we move on to something that the baby likes.

A normal session should take 2-3 hours because you have to account for pee and poo breaks and cleanup, baby will probably want to eat, and you just move slower with a newborn than any other age, and don’t be surprised if the studio is really warm (I usually keep it around 78˚ during a shoot)  so that the baby does not get cold while sans clothing during the shoot.

These are important memories for you and your family to cherish, take your time choosing a photographer that is right for you, especially with a newborn, make sure they have had safety training because the worst thing in the world would be for you to choose the cheapest photographer and they don’t know about safety and your brand new little baby(s) end up getting hurt! Take your time and research, talk to photographers find out how they do things, don’t be afraid to say no if you don’t have a good feeling.