newborn pictures with parents
Why I think pictures with your newborn are important
When you’re a new parent, sleep-deprived and overwhelmed with parenthood, the last thing many parents want to do is get in front of the camera to have their photo taken. Quite often when I speak to parents at the time of booking a newborn session and ask if they would like family photos with their baby, they say they’ll see how they feel on the day of the photo session which I completely understand and it’s something I never push if parents don’t want it.
However … and I say this as the mum to a now 16 year old … these photos will be so precious to you in years to come. I promise you. I almost feel like I’m from the cave age saying this but when my son was born, I don’t recall having a camera on my phone or, if there was, it was of such poor quality it wasn’t used.
At the time I had a small pocket camera (before I became a professional) which had 6 megapixels and I only considered taking photos of my son on his own, it didn’t cross my mind to have photos with me and him together and no-one suggested it do me either. Therefore, I don’t have any photos of me with my son when he was born and, it sounds dramatic, but as the months and years passed this was a huge regret of mine. Now he is taller than me, I would love to be able to look back on the photos of us together showing the tinyness of him and me as a new mum.
The advantage parents have now, of course, is that the cameras on phones are pretty good quality so, even if you don’t want professional photos with your newborn baby you can (and I wholeheartedly recommend you do) have some photos of you and your baby when you are in the hospital or when you get home. I do love to see the rawness in photos of new mums without makeup holding their baby as much as I love to see mums dressed up and holding their new baby. The way I see it is that the authentic raw photos tell a story and should be included in a family album for personal memories and the dressed-up photos are for display.
Ideas for newborn pictures with parents
I thought it would be helpful to share some ideas of newborn pictures you can have taken with your newborn baby at home.
The following photos were created using a wall in the family home as a backdrop. Sometimes, it may only be a tiny area but more often than not, there is space in people’s homes which I can use.
The photos below are a favourite with parents as they show the tinyness of their baby whilst holding them and are a really lovely way of being involved in the photo session. They also work really work for parents who would like to be in the photos but may not wish to show their faces (often due to lack of sleep).
The following photos were taken with parents holding their baby in with a lifestyle approach sitting on their bed or sofa at home and, as you can see, you can also include your family pet.
I hope the photos above show how precious newborn pictures with parents can be, especially as your children grow older.
If you have any questions or are interested in a newborn photo shoot, you can find more information on my newborn portfolio page.