Lifestyle Newborn Photography at Home | Hills District Photographer Sydney
5 minutes reading time
Enjoy your Newborn Shoot with an in-home Lifestyle Session, catered just for you!
Your baby is on the way!
You have decided that you’d LOVE some professional photos of your new little arrival but you aren’t so keen on posed studio photos,
what other options do you have?
What is a Lifestyle photography session?
Lifestyle photography documents your family at home, in your natural surroundings using natural light, context and props. Although your photographer may set up certain looks, imagery is predominately unposed and reflective of your organic nature, moments and situation. Below are some points on the benefits of Lifestyle newborn photography at home.
Contextual Lifestyle Newborn Photography
By having your newborn session at home, you are bringing your photographer in to document ‘a day in the life of your little family’.
Your little baby will be photographed in their own crib or bassinet, on your bed with you, cuddling up on your couch and within their natural surroundings.
Lighting will be from your windows, with your furniture and belongings around. Nothing is set up or pretend as it tends to look in a posed studio shoot. Everything is honest and shows the relevance of your situation and those first days at home with your little one.
Natural background
In a studio session, the backdrop is often a coloured paper roll, set up imagery like studio blankets, and baskets for bub and stool for you and your partner.
All of which, can be used to create beautiful posed imagery but these background elements are not ‘real’ in terms of what is natural to you and your family. If you want imagery that tells your story and captures your family exactly as you are, where you are and with what you have around you, this is where lifestyle photography is the best to choice.
Organic look with Lifestyle Newborn Photography
Studio newborn sessions, are in a controlled environment with props and ‘staging’ ready to photograph newborns in special poses like the ‘taco pose’, ‘froggy pose’ and ‘potato sack pose’.
These poses would not be attempted outside the studio unless the same amount of safety and control is present. Therefore, the kind of imagery that occurs in a home lifestyle session is more natural and organic in set up.
Babies are posed in their parents arms, crib/bassinet or on the bed. Artifical lighting is not used unless highly necessary, which is what makes this imagery more natural, basic and timeless as it depicts your baby exactly as they are welcomed into your home.
You don’t have to go anywhere!
Quick!
have your shower,
pack your bags,
baby bottles,
change of clothes…
Oh wait….that’s right! Your photographer is coming to you! A lifestyle photography session is in your home so you don’t have to go anywhere!
The only thing us photographers request is that the main rooms for photographing are as tidy as can be, a neutral bedspread or cover is on the bed and you are dressed…..please!
As much as Photoshop is a great tool, there is only so much time we have, so the better your space is looking, the better your photos will also look. This said, tidy rooms can all be prepared days in advance so all you need to do that morning is get dressed……please.
Your house so images will be in your style!
The style and feel of images is something you will discuss with your professional photographer. Your photographer will want to know the colours in your home and the look you would love for your images.
The great thing about your photographer coming to your home is that they will see and experience your style and so will automatically shoot in a way that will produce images and products for your home.
how great is that!
Of course all this can still be discussed but it’s so much easier to chat in the space! Did you know that your professional photographer can also design and produce products to fit exact on the wall that you want to fill?
So if you have a photographer in your home for a lifestyle session, why not ask them to check out the wall you want to fill so that they can design something especially for your space.
Natural emotion during your Lifestyle Newborn Shoot
Having a baby is an incredibly emotional experience and your newborn photography session, which you have anticipated for so long, is also incredibly emotional too.
The difference of location does have alternate effects for some people.
Some may be more emotional having the session in their own space and others feel it more so, being in the newborn photography studio for the first time.
If you are considering where to have your session, consider what will mean more to you emotionally. If you think that it will be more special, empowering and emotive having your session in the studio, this may be a key choice for you.
However, if you feel that the intimacy of your home, your space and your baby in your arms if your family armchair is more special, then this may be the session that is best designed for you. Which one pulls at your heart strings more and why?
Documentary and Historic perspective
Another reason that clients choose Lifestyle Newborn Photography at home is to document their little family exactly where they are in their life situation, because more often that not, this situation morphs and changes over time and these early days are often lost or forgotten, especially when they haven’t been photographically recorded.
For me personally, my husband and I moved into a flat together when we were first married. This is where we raised our first baby until she was 1.5 years old.
After this, we moved to find a larger home to raise our growing family.
5 years later, these early days of having our first child in our tiny flat are almost forgotten, except for the very few photos we took there when she was born.
As the days and years travel on, these memories will fade more and more and all we have left are these ever increasingly special photos.
I’m so grateful we had our newborn photos taken in our space, as small and ‘un photogenic’ as it was. I wouldn’t change it for the world, as those images captured a moment and a feeling that we can never repeat or go back to.
This is the beginning of keeping a historic record for our kids. For you, these memories may also be ones that you would like to keep for your family,
which is why, a Lifestyle photography at home session may sound perfect for you.
So to consider the benefits of a Lifestyle Newborns Session, consider:
The context of the world you little one is coming into
Having a natural background to depict you baby’s surroundings
Having an organic/ unposed look to your images
You don’t have to pack and leave the house
It’s in your home so images will be in YOUR style
Natural emotion- at home or in a studio?
Documenting your little one’s History as it was when they were born
If you were not sure about the benefits of a Lifestyle newborn photography Sydney session, hopefully this post has shed some light, and if anything, it has helped you understand why this is a great natural option for your newborn photos.
If you still have questions about whether this session is the right one for you, don’t hesitate to give me a call, send an email or text me to ask as I have some key questions to ask that can certainly help you know for sure.
In the meantime, Thanks for reading and check out some of our other posts on Choosing the right newborn photographer, or the Seven tips for having an enjoyable and relaxed newborn session that may give some ideas towards your session!
A special thanks to Philip, Kate and Baby Gabriel for allowing me to post these photos. xxx