A peek inside an awake newborn session

At 3.5 weeks old, Patsy was wide-eyed for much of our session in my Saratoga Springs photography studio and we captured so much beautiful eye contact with this sweet girl. Working with awake newborns is much different than working with asleep newborns, but I always remind families that we can capture beautiful portraits of their babies whether they are awake or asleep. No matter what your little one (or their big sibling) might do, we’re going to document their arrival in the world, I promise! 

The trick with the awake babies is to keep them calm and relaxed, and usually a combination of swaddles, heat, white noise (or the amazing Baby Shusher app that all families who visit my studio wind up downloading!), and plenty of patience will get them to stay calm. When the babies are in my studio, I talk to them as if they can understand me, and parents often hear me whispering, “You can be awake, little one, as long as you stay calm.” Sometimes when the awake babies get really wiggly I’ll wrap them up in a swaddle with a layer underneath to keep them from pulling a Houdini and escaping with their arms flailing all over the place, and oftentimes then the parents will hear me telling their baby, “You’ve lost your arm privileges for a little bit!” 

Actually, now that I think of it, this may be why my clients often exclaim some version of “You’re like a baby whisperer! Can you come home with us?!” during their newborn sessions in the studio. It may sound silly, but it always works for me. Patsy was one of those sweet babies who was wide-awake but calm for us! She allowed me to work my magic and we captured so many sweet moments of her. We even got to use my favorite Moses basket and managed a darling portrait of her with her big brother.   

With more than a decade of experience photographing newborns, there are so many tricks up my sleeve. The babies all do give in to sleep eventually, but for some babies it just takes a little more time depending on their age and their digestion – upset stomachs mean upset babies, which always take a little longer to settle. Luckily we never rush our newborn sessions, and we take all the time we need to capture a wide variety of portraits (awake & asleep!) of all of the cute little babies.

Patsy, you are darling and I can’t wait to see you grow up! I am so happy I had the chance to document your beautiful eyes - and little personality!

---

Save this post for later:

Cozy studio newborn portrait session for Winter Lily | Saratoga Springs newborn photographer

I recently had the honor of welcoming Winter Lily to my Saratoga Springs studio to capture her newborn portraits! Winter Lily was accompanied by her big brother, Phoenix, and her parents. Her big brother was SO proud and it was the absolute sweetest thing to watch throughout our session. Our portraits for Winter Lily really focused on the interactions between these two babies and the family together. Winter Lily’s solo portraits featured beautiful pastel colors - and I even got to play with some fun winter overlays and snowflakes! 

While I was photographing Amanda’s family, I knew I was going to fall in love with the final portraits. And, I definitely did! This family’s outfits were perfect in the studio.

When you’re planning what to wear for your own studio newborn portraits, consider light neutrals. Light color shirts reflect light back onto the baby’s face when you hold them up against your chest, it keeps the focus on the family & expressions & love. I’m a huge fan of creating imagery that will be classic, timeless, and simple. Light neutrals help make that possible! 

I’m so happy for this family of four and I’m thrilled that they asked me to document this incredibly special time in their family’s lives! Welcome to the world, Winter Lily! 

---

Save this post for later!

Best of 2023 newborn sessions in Saratoga Springs

Newborn sessions are special for me. I’m always so honored to be invited into such a beautiful time in my clients' lives to celebrate the arrival of their new baby. Whether their sessions are at home or in my studio, every one of them is as unique as the family I’m capturing. 

For the 2023 year, I was extra lucky with the families who visited me. So many of my newborn clients this year were coming back to see me with their second or third baby, and I’ve been lucky enough to document all of their children’s milestones. It felt beyond special to be in the studio with families I adore and to be capturing yet another milestone for their family. 

In addition to our studio sessions, I absolutely adore our lifestyle sessions. Lifestyle newborn sessions are perfect for a relaxed peek into your lives at home. You get to spend your session cuddled up in the living room or all cozy on the bed together, or getting to know your new baby in the nursery that you so lovingly put together before their arrival. It’s a really unique moment and there’s nothing more beautiful than documenting a family at home. 

If a more traditional look is your style, newborn studio sessions are always a great time! They’re wonderfully stress-free - which is one of the best perks, in my opinion. So many families this year told me how much they enjoyed sitting in the studio and how relaxed it made them feel. My favorite memorable compliment was from a dad (who happens to live in my neighborhood!) that had been in the studio for about an hour or so, and between the flowing conversation, the white noise, the cozy temperature, and his sleep exhaustion from his first few weeks with a newborn, he said “I love your studio! It feels like we’re in Las Vegas and I completely lose track of time in here! I mean, what day is it?!?! Where are we?!?!” It was hilarious but also really spoke to me about the atmosphere we create for my families. 

I can’t wait to watch these little babies grow and invite them back into the studio in 2024 for their birthday sessions! Thank you to every family who trusted me to capture these special moments as they welcomed their littlest loves to the world. 

---

Mauve & neutral newborn portraits for Seraphina Marie

I’m so happy I was able to welcome Seraphina Marie to my studio for her newborn session! Her parents and I planned a gorgeous and simple session to welcome their baby girl to the world. During Katy’s maternity portraits, she wore a beautiful mauve gown - so we used that as the inspiration for Seraphina’s setups. I love when we can tie sessions together like that for families!

Seraphina was absolutely perfect during her newborn portraits. She was snuggly and loved being with her parents. Capturing new parents holding their baby is always so special to me. Those early days go by so quickly and I want to be sure you remember how tiny your little one was. Katy actually wore the same gown for these portraits that she wore in the maternity photos, too. After we captured portraits of her and her parents, it was time to wrap her and place her on the sweet setups we created. I focused on mauve and cream when selecting pieces for her setups and I love how they look together in the final images!! 

When they came back to the studio for their reveal session, this beautiful family decided on our matted prints. They are going to look so beautiful on the walls of their home! I can’t wait to see how they look when they arrive. They’re some of my favorite products to create with portraits from sessions in the studio. 

---

Save this post for later!

Baby Girl Newborn Portraits with Pops of Color

I had the best time welcoming Baby Katelynn Carol to the studio for her newborn portraits! She brought along her parents and big brother, Cameron, to help welcome her to the world. Katelynn Carol was already 2 weeks old when she came to the studio - which is totally fine! I love photographing older newborns. There’s something special about their sweet little hands and feet, even as they start to fill up and curl up a little bit less.

Her big brother did such an amazing job in the studio and was so happy to be in front of the camera! He also loved playing with my toy wooden camera and pretending to take pictures of his family with it, and he had the biggest smile any time I turned my camera towards him to take his picture. I loved photographing him with Katelynn Carol, especially with one of my favorite props: the Moses basket!

We picked some beautiful pastel setups for this sweet girl to end the session. She looked so sweet in the different setups and some of my favorite headbands! I’m so thankful this wonderful family chose me to capture Katelynn Carol’s first days!

---

Save it for later:

A colorful newborn session for Baby Rocco

Meet Rocco! He was my first newborn session of 2022! What a way to kick off the year in the studio. Rocco and his sweet parents came to the studio to document his arrival to their family. We kept with a fairly neutral color scheme, leaning into the white floor of the studio and added some pops of color in his setups. It was fun to find beautiful, warm colors for the winter to pair with his white outfits. We also had a little bit of fun with a wintery overlay to celebrate this little winter baby!

Rocco was just perfect during the session, cuddling up with his mom and dad. He slept for me during his individual! I’m sure the cozy knit wraps from Dede Props helped! Dede Props is one of my favorite places to get my newborn’s knit wraps and bonnets from. Located in Poland, everything is SO soft and beautiful - just perfect for my studio babies.

Enjoy scrolling through Rocco’s colorful newborn portraits in the studio from this winter! He’s so cute, I know you’re going to fall in love with him like I did!

---

Save it for later:

Newborn Session with Blush and Cream Pumpkins

Meet Evelyn Marie, or "Evie" as her parents like to call her! This sweet little girl graced my studio recently for her fall inspired newborn portraits. From pumpkins to neutral colors in her setups, this session was a dream come true for fall lovers! You might recognize her parents because they were just featured on the blog during their maternity session. Evie decided to come 3 weeks early so they came back to the studio pretty quickly for their newborn session… but it was great to see them all again so soon!

One of my favorite parts about Evie’s newborn session was that we replicated some of the portraits we put together for their maternity session. It was really sweet to see the commonalities between their portraits! I know they’re going to look amazing together in their heirloom album. Patty and Jared were so much fun to work with for both their maternity and newborn session with Evie. I absolutely adore them both and I hope to see them again more over the next few years!

Enjoy this look into their fall newborn session to celebrate sweet Evie!!!

---

Save it for later:

Older Newborn Portraits for a Sweet Baby Girl

Welcome to the world, Nora! Sweet Nora is a NICU Warrior who was born 2 months early. She spent 5 weeks in the NICU before she was able to come home with her incredible mom. When she was finally able to come to the studio for her newborn portraits, she was already 9 weeks old. But, that’s okay! Nora Jean was just adorable for me, curling up and sleeping during her session. We even got a few portraits of her with a tiny little smile!!

Because Nora’s dad is in the military and overseas, he wasn’t able to be with us for her portraits. Instead, Nora’s grandmother came along and we were able to capture her with her beautiful granddaughter. It’s such a special relationship and I’m honored I could document it for this sweet family forever. I love the color scheme we chose for this session, too. Nora’s mom loves dusty rose and sage green, so we used it throughout the session and captured some truly beautiful portraits.

However, the entire family was able to be online with me during their ordering session! With 5 screens total, Nora’s mom, grandparents, and dad were able to join in on Zoom. It was a lot of fun getting to show her dad the portraits for the first time. And, while watching the slideshow video, Grandma said happily, "I can't see through all the tears!"… so, I’d say they were a hit!

WHAT TO WEAR FOR NEWBORN PORTRAITS!

---

Save it for later:

Classic Family Portraits during a Newborn Session

Family portraits are one of my FAVORITE things to capture during a newborn session (even more than baby smiles!). I love watching new parents interact with their brand new baby, marveling at how tiny and perfect they are. I love seeing the size of the newborn in their parents’ hands. I love watching new moms “ahhhhh” over every little movement and expression.

There really is something so beautiful about being invited to capture these first family portraits for your family, and I truly enjoy watching the beauty unfold and seeing that magical bond you share with your baby.

This session was no exception, and I adore the collection of family portraits that this family chose to showcase on their walls at home. Scroll down for lots of tender moments with the new mom and dad, and their baby Rudy!

The all-white clothing for this session photographed SO beautifully and it kept the baby the focus of the images. I have a whole blog post filled with tips for choosing outfits for your newborn portrait session. Have you read it yet? Go check it out!

---

Save it for later: