Best of 2017 Lifestyle Newborns | Saratoga Springs NY and Boston MA Newborn Photographer

If you’ve ever talked with me about our newborn sessions, you know that our lifestyle newborn sessions steal my heart every. single. time. 

I am always so honored when parents invite me into their home to capture their little one’s first days at home with their family.  Magic unfolds as they cuddle up with their brand new baby in a space that is filled with their family’s personality, a space that tells the beginning of this next chapter in their family’s story.

We typically shoot these sessions in the nursery, master bedroom, and living room.  But I’ve been known to be a chaser of light, and if I see an amazing pocket of light in your hallway, dining room, or even a corner of your bathroom, you can bet we’ll go there for some great shots!

My favorite product to showcase these sessions at home is definitely our fine art album.  These gorgeous linen-covered books are keepsakes that you will enjoy looking through with your children for the next 30 years, passing down to your kids one day when they have babies of their own.  These books take all of your images and weave them together to tell a story, YOUR STORY.  And there’s nothing better than the story of your family at home, in the place where every story begins.  

Every year I love going back through our sessions and sharing a few favorites on the blog.  Enjoy a peek at a few of our most memorable newborn photos at home from 2017, and be sure to check out our other “BEST OF 2017” blog posts!

Best of 2017 Cake Smash Sessions
Best of 2017 Family Sessions
Best of 2017 Studio Newborn Sessions
Best of 2017 Maternity Sessions
Best of 2017 Fresh 48 Sessions
Best of 2017 Brothers & Sisters: Candid and Fun Sibling Portraits
Best of 2017 Beach Sessions on Cape Cod
 

A Lifestyle Newborn Session in Downtown Boston | Boston Newborn Photographer

Of course there is nothing I love more than being invited into the homes of new parents to celebrate their baby's arrival with them.  As a Boston newborn photographer, these lifestyle sessions always steal my heart and I love watching a family that just grew +1 as they welcome their baby into their lives.

I was lucky enough to join Baby John's family at the hospital for a Fresh 48 session soon after his arrival, and just a few weeks after that I was invited to their beautiful light-filled home in Boston overlooking the Boston Common for a lifestyle newborn portrait session with mom, dad, and grandma.

John, of course, wanted to see what all the fuss was about and he was alert & curious the entire time!

I always encourage grandparents to join us for our lifestyle sessions, and we were so fortunate that John's grandma was able to visit from NY in time for his newborn session!  Three generation portraits are so magical, and a great keepsake to look back on to showcase your family's legacy.

Every lifestyle session we try to create your family portraits in three main areas of your home -- the living room, the nursery, and the master bedroom.  Of course, depending on the lighting and the space, we may not be able to do all of those spaces and we'll instead choose another area of your home with great light and that shows character in the decor. 

Nursery portraits are always some of my favorite lifestyle shots because we get to focus on all of the little details that you so lovingly selected during your pregnancy -- the crib, the mobile, the artwork, the rocking chair that you're going to spend hundreds of hours in with your baby.  This particular nursery had no windows, but you wouldn't know it with how light & airy we were able to make it for the baby's first photoshoot!

My job is a photographer is to seek out amazing pockets of light in your home.  I immediately fell in love with the light and architectural details in this hallway, so of course it was the perfect spot for a few family portraits.  Don't you just love how the archway frames them so beautifully?

Our lifestyle newborn sessions have become incredibly popular, and the calendar is filling up for the winter months!  We're now booking through March 2018, and I would love to celebrate your baby's arrival with you as your bring your baby home.  Let's chat about documenting your family's legacy today!
 

How to Know if a Lifestyle Newborn Session is the Right Fit for You - Saratoga Springs Newborn Photographer

Are you thinking you'd love to celebrate your newborn baby's arrival with some family portraits at home?  Then a lifestyle session might be the right fit for you!  If you've been wondering which style of newborn session is best for your family, read on to learn more about our lifestyle sessions to see if this one feels like it was designed with you in mind!

I offer three types of newborn sessions -- studio sessions, lifestyle sessions in your home, and Fresh 48 sessions at the hospital.  Each one tells a different story, and gives you a different style of images.  Some families choose to do just one session, others do a combination of two (typically Fresh 48 and then either lifestyle or studio), and still others do all three!

Fresh 48 sessions are natural, raw, and filled with emotion.  They are a peek into your first hours meeting your newborn baby, and they are filled with some of the most magical moments I ever have the pleasure of photographing.  Sure, the hospital decorating choices might leave a little to be desired, and you're going to be exhausted because you just delivered a baby the day before, but these are moments you will never get back and you will always cherish.  Check out our blog post about why you might want to consider hiring a Fresh 48 photographer.

Studio sessions are a bit more posed, and we'll capture family portraits on a clean background, positioning the baby so that we can perfectly see everyone's face.  We do a few setups on the beanbag with blankets and wraps, and also use simple bowls, baskets, and crates to tuck your baby into for some classic shots.  If you're looking for "froggy pose" or "taco pose", this type of session is probably the best fit for you!  Check out our blog post about studio sessions to see if this might be the right fit for you!

But today is all about LIFESTYLE newborn sessions in your home!

1.  You have lots of natural light in your home.

Photographs are made with light -- you need light to create an image, and it's incredibly hard to do that in a home with tiny windows and dark rooms.  I always bring my flash to supplement the light if necessary, but if your home has a room or two that receives good natural light, we'll shoot there!  We typically look at the master bedroom, nursery, and living room, though I've been known to shoot in the hallway, on the porch, and in the kitchen if there's a great bit of light coming through!

2.  You prefer a more relaxed, natural, unposed style of family images.

Lifestyle sessions are a relaxed and intimate peek into your lives with a new baby at home.  I won't pose you, but I will guide you -- sit together on the bed, move in close, look down at your baby girl.  I will ask you questions to loosen you up, and I will encourage you to relax and feel comfortable in front of the camera.  I won't tell you how to hold the baby in your arms -- you'll do that however is naturally comfortable for you!  I may tell you to lean in close, bring the baby closer to your face, or to look over at your husband for a quick second -- but that's it in terms of "posing"!

3.  You're not looking for "froggy pose" or a baby in a bucket.

At home, a swaddle is our best friend and most of the images of your baby will be wrapped up snugly so that they sleep.  We may capture a few portraits of the baby in just a diaper on the master bed, or in a classic white onesie in the family portraits.  But we won't be positioning them into any particular poses, and we'll really treat it as very natural and unposed.

4.  You may not be in your forever home yet, but it’s important to you that your baby see where they came home from the hospital.

Many young families are in apartments or condos, and they're not in the home yet that their child will grow up in and remember for the rest of their life.  Still, how amazing to be able to one day show your child beautifully captured images of the first home that they came home to?  Let them see the apartment that you were in as newlyweds and as new parents, let them see what your life looked like when you went from 2 to 3.  

5.  You love portraits filled with emotion.

Photographs are a moment frozen in time, a moment that you will never get back but that you can always relive by looking through your favorite images.  That look that a new dad has when holding his newborn son?  It truly is priceless.  

6.  You want your pets to be involved in the portrait session.

Your fur-baby was your first baby, and so many families would love to capture their ENTIRE family together, including their pets.  Lifestyle sessions are the perfect way to include your dogs or cats in your session, and I am always up for the challenge of dog-wrangling to capture a shot of your baby with your favorite animal.

7.  You’re just as comfortable cuddling up on the sofa as you are on the master bed.

Your home is a living & breathing space filled with personality.  It tells your family's story, and it tells your story as a couple and the adventures you've enjoyed together.  It makes sense to tell the beginning of the next chapter of your story in your home, and that means we'll do your photographs in the rooms that you spend the most time -- the master bedroom, the living room, and the nursery.  You're going to spend so much time rocking your baby to sleep and getting to know your little one on the master bed, and I love capturing a family cuddling in close on the bed for some unposed shots together.  

8.  You put lots of thought & care into decorating the nursery.  You’d love to remember it exactly as it is, and share it with your baby years from now so that they can see their first bedroom.

You spent weeks looking at bedding, mobiles, and curtains.  You spent days pulling everything together, arranging the trinkets on the shelves, and placing each book lovingly on the bookshelf.  You rocked in the rocker and imagined what it would be like holding your baby in your arms in that very room.  You counted down to your baby's arrival in that room, and you'll bring your baby home and into that room the day they come home from the hospital.  Your nursery is the most special place in your home, and it's truly the best possible spot to enjoy your newborn portraits.

Some families don't have a nursery -- it's a corner of the office, or another crib in their toddler's room.  That's okay!  We'll capture some of the details you lovingly put together, and of course your baby in their crib.  In this blog post, some of the nurseries in the photos were shared office spaces or off the living room in little Boston apartments, but at just the right angle you'll have nothing to distract you from your baby and the space you prepared for them!

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So, does a lifestyle session feel like it could be the right fit for you?  Let's chat and find out!