Families always ask what they need to bring to their newborn photoshoots.  There is no right or wrong answer to this question.  It's really just up to personal taste, but if you want a little inspiration, here are a few great ideas!

special stuffed animals and/or blankets

Maybe your baby was gifted a special blanket.  Or maybe you have the stuffed animal you bought the day you found out you were pregnant.  What every it is, if it is special and has sentimental value, or even if  you just like, you should totally bring it along!

I mean, how cute is this little guy all curled up with his stuffies! 

a calendar

I've had several clients bring calendars over the years and I always think it's a great idea!  These shots make for fun birth announcements and look adorable displayed in a nursery!

letter blocks

It's always fun to use letter blocks to spell out your baby's name!  Again, these makes for a super fun announcement or nurserary art!

I'm obsessed with these Japanese  character blocks that my client brought in!  So cute!!

you... the best prop around

No matter what you bring or what you don't bring, you should alway be prepared to be in the photos with your baby.  

I know you're tired.  

I know you just had a baby.  

But trust me... in five, ten, twenty years, these will be your most cherished images.  

I promise!  

And, they will mean the world to your children some day. 

I hope this was helpful!  But if you have more questions about your session, check this page on things what to expect at your photoshoot.

Have a great day!

One thing that happens every summer is that I get WAY behind on my blogging!  With my kids at home and summer activities (not to mention the beautiful weather) sitting down to my computer and writing is hard!

Now the kids are in school, the weather is yucky and I have TONS of photos to share!  My goal is to blog at least once a week!  Wish me luck!

This little one couldn't have been more fun to work with!  Sleeping like an dream for the first have of the session, then bright eyed and happy for the second half.  And so much personality for such a wee-one!

I love working with newborns.  It always amazes me how different they all are.  Each one coming into this world with their own way of doing things... their own little personality that you can see from the get go, even when they're asleep! 

This little lady was no exception.  She wiggled and stretched her way through our session, warm and cozy in my Seattle studio.  Such a trooper!  And SUCH a cutie!  

Oh, and check out the STUNNING quilt made for her by her grandma.  Incredible!

Watching families grow is one of my favorite things about being a newborn photographer.  It brings me so much joy.

The Udodiks are one of my favorite Seattle families.  We met the first time about four years ago when they came in with their first baby.  Then I saw them again about two years later when they had their second daughter.  And then again, just a few weeks ago with their third daughter.

This family is so sweet and so much fun to work with.  It is clear that they are completely in love with their little family and it is a pleasure to witness and capture.

As a newborn and family photographer, one of my very favorite things to do is capture an older sibling with their new brother or sister.  

These are the photos every mother and father want.  These are the photos that will be printed, hung on the wall and sent to Grandma.  I know it.  And it is my goal to get as many good shots of this special bond as I possibly can. But, it's not always easy.  

The truth is some toddlers are not super excited about the new baby in their lives.  Behind the scenes of the precious older sibling with newborn baby photo is often fraught with emotion.  It's one to the reasons why I keep a stash of lollipops and bubbles on hand at the studio. Ha!

This session however, was a total dream!  The older brother could not get enough of his new baby.  He was beaming and proud and so clearly over-the-moon that it brought a tear to my eye while I was shooting, and then again when my film came back.  I'm pretty sure he'll be the best older brother there ever was!  

And as for the lucky baby brother.... well I'll just let the photos speak for themselves!

These two stole my heart.  

Clients often comment on the fact that my work does not look like other newborn photography they’ve seen.  Part of that is due to my minimalistic style.  I don’t pose babies or use props, which I know is uncommon in my field.  But part of my look is also due to the way I capture my images.  

Everything seen on my website was shot on film.  And the subtle look of film is, what I believe, people are seeing when they comment on the distinct look of my work. 

I choose film because my goal is to create timeless images for my clients.  I want their baby’s photos to have the same sense of nostalgia that baby photos of their grandparents have.  Film helps me create that.  

I also choose film because I know I can trust it. 

I don’t know what the future holds.  I don’t know if we will be able to open and view a CD or a thumb drive or even what will happen to “cloud storage” in ten, twenty or 100 years from now..  What I do know is that the floppy disks I used in college are obsolete, but the film negatives I have from my own childhood and even from my parent’s childhood are still printable.  I know that when I shoot a roll of film the lab will scan it and send it to me as a jpeg file that I can then save on my computer and share with my clients.  But, if (God forbid) something were to cause my computer or my hard drives to crash, there would still be the negative, and those images would not be lost.  

I choose film because shooting film makes me a better photographer.  It slows me down.  It makes me think.  It allows me to look up from my camera and connect with the people I’m working with.  

Most importantly though, I choose film because it brings me joy.  I share that joy with my clients and it comes through in my images. It also inspires me, which means I love my job and even after 16 years of doing it, I never feel burt out.  In fact, I look forward to each and every session I shoot and am looking forward to many more years to come.

I believe babies are perfect.  

They really are.  Their skin.  The way they smell.  Those little sleep smiles.  All perfect.

I also love that they come out of the womb with their own little personality.  No two are alike.  

When you take a sleeping baby and lay him or her down on a bed, they all do something different.  Some curl up, some stretch out their legs (or just one leg), others will put their tiny hand up in front of their face, or give a little fist bump pose. 

Whatever they do, it's inevitable that at some point in the session their mom will laugh and say something like "we have an ultrasound photo with him in the exact same pose!"  Or "Ha!  She came out with her arms up by her ears like that."  They recognize a gesture in their baby that is unique and special to their baby, no one else.  It always gives me goosebumps.

I believe that as a portrait photographer, my job is to capture the essence of the person I'm working with.  

That job is the same whether the person I'm working with is 45 years old, 5 years old, or 5 days old.

I want to create a piece of history that people can look back on and say "Oh my... look at you as a newborn baby... you know, you still make that expression"  

I want each portrait I take to be as unique as the infants I photograph.

And so I don't pose babies.  

I soothe them.  I put them in a swaddle if they seem to need it.  But I let them lead the show.  I want to see who they are.  And I want to capture that for all time.

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As soon as I saw you,
I knew a grand adventure was about to happen.
- Winnie The Pooh

I love this quote, because this is exactly how I felt the first time I looked at my own babies.  

It reminds me of that feeling of being completely in love with someone before you even know who they are, mixed with excitement, and a little fear. I think all new parents feel it.

Having a baby is the single most life changing event we can have.  It is an adventure, to say the least.  And an amazing one at that.

I love freezing that moment in time for the families I work with.  It's why I do what I do.

I love all babies.  I do.  

But as the mother of twins myself, I have to be honest, when twins come into my studio, my heart skips a beat.

These two brothers were just too much!  They snoozed through most of their photoshoot, and then work up near the end, allowing me to get some great photos of their pretty eyes looking right into the lens.

Adorable!

Little Ms. Kate (and her family) came to me as a referral.

Referrals are what make small businesses like mine thrive.  And I'm always grateful when someone thinks so highly of my work that they refer me to a friend.  It means to world!

Little Kate here was a dream to work with! 

She came to the shoot awake and bright eyed, allowing me to get great photos of her sweet face and big blue eyes.  Then, about half way through the shoot, she decided to take a nap, which is perfect for snuggly photos with mom and dad.

The photos we got from this photoshoot are just adorable.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.