A Lifestyle Newborn Session at Home in Troy with NY Baby Photographer

Welcome home, Kiara! I had the joy of capturing Kiara’s lifestyle newborn session at their Troy NY home. Mom and Dad recently moved into their home after spending many months designing and customizing their dream home, and it was the most perfect spot for Baby Kiara’s first portrait session. 

One of the reasons that I love photographing lifestyle newborn sessions is that I adore the idea of looking back through an album with your baby, showing them the nursery that you lovingly decorated for them, talking to them about how you loved to cozy up with them and snuggle on the couch, and letting them see what their house (and their family!) looked like when they were smaller.

Lifestyle newborn sessions offer a relaxed and intimate peek into your lives at home with your new baby. Unlike my studio sessions, we focus on capturing organic moments in the comfort of your own space, allowing you to fully embrace the beauty of those early days as a new parent. There’s no need to worry about packing up all of the baby essentials, dealing with the stress of a car ride, or managing a baby’s schedule on the go. Instead, you can simply relax in your own home while I capture the soft, everyday moments that make this time so special.

One of the greatest perks of a lifestyle session is that it provides a comfortable setting for not just the newborn, but for siblings and even pets. Toddlers and older children often feel more at ease in their own environment, which allows them to be themselves in front of the camera, resulting in more relaxed images. With the familiar surroundings of home, the entire family can truly relax and enjoy the experience, making the session feel less like a photo shoot and more like a special moment captured in time. Although Kiara didn’t have any siblings to worry about, her parents were able to fully relax into being in their beautiful new home with their darling new baby. It was a gorgeous and easy experience for them and her because of it all!

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Simple Steps to Prepare Your Home for a Lifestyle Newborn Photography Session

Welcoming a newborn into your home is a special occasion, and capturing those precious early moments through a lifestyle newborn portrait session is a beautiful way to preserve your family’s early days and memories. Newborn sessions shouldn’t be stressful - whether they’re in our studio or at home, and by following a few simple steps, you can quickly prepare your home for your session!

Declutter the main rooms that you’ll be photographing in.

For most families, that’s the nursery, master bedroom, and living room. Keep in mind that the entire room does not need to be clutter-free, because let’s face it, life with a newborn comes with a whole lot of STUFF (burp cloths, bottles, diapers, bouncers, and so. much. laundry.). Simply move any distracting items to a corner behind where the photographer will stand, or shove them in a laundry basket in the bathroom or hidden in a closet for the session. I recommend keeping nightstands clear of clutter, as well as surfaces that you can see when looking into the main part of the room from the doorway.

Turn off all of the lights in your home.

Most lights create a warm yellow glow and can cause uneven color casting in your portraits. Instead, your photographer will use natural light or boost the natural light with a bounced strobe (flash) to create the natural light look. Turn off the overhead lights, lamps, sconces, cabinet lights, etc. Trust me - one light source is the best way to go! 

Keep your favorite and sentimental items on display in the nursery.

Have a favorite blanket that grandma made for the baby? Maybe an ultrasound photo in a frame? Or a drawing that your toddler made for their new sibling? Proudly display those in the background of your photographs!

Open all of the curtains to let the light in.

No explanation necessary on that one! Brighten up the house, and enjoy the sunshine!

Dress comfortably.

Lifestyle newborn sessions are a relaxed peek into your lives at home with your new baby. Dress in soft, light colored neutrals that you can move around in. Decide if you want to be barefoot in photos, and discuss this with your partner so you’re both on the same page (believe it or not, some partners have strong opinions about their feet in photos – trust me!). 

Use soft, light-colored bedding.

Minimize bold patterns and bright colors so that we can keep the focus on the baby and on your family’s sweet moments of connection when everyone is cuddled up on the bed. A solid white comforter or other light colored blanket/bedding will do the trick!

Set the thermostat to at least 75 degrees, warmer if you’re planning on getting unwrapped/bare skin portraits of your little one.

Babies prefer to be warm. When I work in the studio, it’s warm - so I encourage you to do the same at home. It might be toasty, but if bare skin portraits are important to you, then crank up the heat!

Communicate with your photographer ahead of time.

Send your photographer photos of the rooms you’d like to photograph in, trust their expertise, and let them guide you to capture natural, beautiful moments celebrating your new baby’s arrival in your home. Lifestyle newborn photographers work in many homes, in many situations, and with many families. Trust the one you’ve selected to take care of capturing the moments that matter most to you. 

As you reflect on these portraits in the years to come, you’ll cherish the memories of those early days with your baby—the soft, glowing light filling your home, the nursery you carefully designed with love, and the pure joy of welcoming your little one into your arms. When you share these memories with them, you’ll be able to show them their very first room and remind them of the warmth, love, and excitement that surrounded them from day one.

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Lifestyle Newborn Session in Nursery

Welcome to the world, Carter August! To document his arrival home, Carter’s parents and I planned a lifestyle newborn session in his nursery at home. This little boy’s nursery is simple and sweet, full of neutral colors and darling accents. It was the perfect space to photograph him, his parents, and his big fur brother! No matter how many times I capture a lifestyle newborn session, it will always feel so special to me. 

Photographing newborns in their nursery is super meaningful. Parents put so much energy, time, and love into preparing the nursery while they wait for baby! You’re creating the very first space that your baby will know as “home” and that’s magical. Families take the time to select the furniture, paint the walls, and decorate with special little details all for their new love. 

Alyssa, Carter’s mama, made a beautiful felted mobile with black labs and stars, knowing that her son’s first best friend was going to be their black lab, Lincoln. She spent months lovingly working on this and dreaming about her sweet baby boy. How special is it now to see her holding him and rocking him in this very nursery, while he watches the shapes of his mobile swirl overhead? 

Carter August, you are so incredibly loved. Thank you to his trio for welcoming me to your home. It was beautiful and your session was wonderful! I’m so happy for you all! 

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Lifestyle newborn portraits for baby #3

Three years ago, I photographed this beautiful family in their home when their middle daughter, Sloane, arrived. It was so special to return back to their home to capture the arrival of their newest little girl, Baby Blake! I could hardly believe how big Sloane and big brother Jack were, too. Time truly does fly by! 

This family’s home has such a neutral and boho inspired vibe. I absolutely love photography in this space. It’s got the best light and the space truly makes my job easy! One of the things mom wanted to do while I was there was recreate some portraits from Sloane’s session with Baby Blake. I’m always a huge fan of families doing this - it creates such a unique connection between portrait sessions. But, I don’t think that she nor I were quite ready for how emotional it would make us, seeing both of her big siblings loving on Baby Blake! 

While we spent most of their lifestyle newborn session in their living room, we also spent a little time in Blake’s nursery. I adored their beautiful Moses basket - it’s a favorite for me in the studio, so I was pleased to see theirs in the nursery! We also captured some sweet photos of Blake and her big siblings in her crib. One of my tricks for creating a new “sheet” in the crib is to add your favorite swaddle blanket, tuck it around the edges, and I’ll clone in the rest later on. This is such a great trick to be able to keep your little one swaddled and show off your favorite blankets during this time! 

To the sweet T family, thank you for asking me to capture these beautiful moments for your growing family. I loved meeting Baby Blake and seeing all of your sweet babies. I hope that you’ll treasure these portraits forever - I know that they’ll hold a special spot in my heart.

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A Lifestyle Newborn Session at home with 3 big sisters

Sweet little Shiloh is a lucky baby girl. She was welcomed home by her three big sisters, and her first days at home were filled with love and cuddles.

I was invited into this adorable family’s home for a lifestyle newborn session, and I loved getting to document this intimate peek into their lives at home with their newest addition to the family. They live in a beautiful old home filled with so much charm, and it truly was the perfect backdrop to their story.

One of my favorite parts about our lifestyle sessions is that the fur babies get to join in on our portraits! Do you have a dog you’d love to incorporate into your newborn session? A lifestyle session might be perfect for you!

Welcome Home, Emily Ann! Lifestyle Newborn Portraits in Boston

Walking into this sweet family’s home was a moment of deja vu. I felt like I was just there for Connor’s newborn session, and then I blinked and he became a big brother! I loved meeting his new sister Emily and watching this little family become a family of four. Plus it was so amazing to see Connor now as a toddler & big brother. He was so sweet and gentle with his sister, and I adore all of the amazing sibling shots we were able to capture during their lifestyle newborn session at home.

Checking out those itty bitty baby toes!

Emerson's Lifestyle Newborn Session

Stepping into this family’s home was like stepping into a model home that Chip & Joanna Gaines had styled for Fixer Upper. This beautiful home had Magnolia-style written all over it from the farmhouse accents, scripted and rustic word art on the walls, boxwood wreaths, and black & white accents.

I loved everything about it, and it made their lifestyle newborn session even more special because they will get to show their baby girl one day the house that they moved into right before she was born, and the house that they got ready just in time to snuggle her as a newborn baby.

Sweet little Emerson’s nursery was the softest blush pink with beautiful floral accents, and I loved getting to photograph some adorable family cuddles in there!

We always do a few family portraits on the master bed, and this might have been my favorite space in the whole home. It made for some amazing quiet moments of this whole family together, snuggling up with Emerson and getting to know this sweet baby girl that they just welcomed home a few days ago.

Aren’t baby yawns the cutest?

Ronan's Lifestyle Newborn Session at Home in Charlestown | Boston Newborn Photographer

This newborn session was one of my FAVORITE ones of the entire summer.  I spent months looking forward to welcoming this baby boy home, and it was so amazing to finally meet him and watch his family love on him.

That's because sweet baby Ronan's mama and I were roommates in Boston in our twenties.  I was there when she met her husband, and now we both have little baby boys that we're excited to watch grow up and play together! 

Ronan has a big brother, Holden, who absolutely adores him.  He covered him in kisses our entire session, and he couldn't stop talking about his "baby brudder". 

My little baby Grayson came to their session, and when Holden saw Grayson he was a little concerned that there were not one but TWO babies in his house now.  We had to reassure him that don't worry, this other baby would not be staying and would be going back to his own house soon.   ;o)  

But back to Ronan.  Just look at how tiny he looks asleep on the bed!  I love his little hands!

Brotherly love!

I love watching my friends become mamas, and seeing how they love their little ones is purely magical.  

I've been doing a few "unposed" shots at the end of every lifestyle newborn session lately, and they are often my very favorite ones!  I love how Ronan just stretches, covers his eyes, and gets comfortable.  He really is such a sweetheart!

Bringing Home Baby | Luke's Lifestyle Newborn Session in Saratoga Springs with Nicole Starr Photography

Are you ready to see the most adorable baby boy, with an absolutely dreamy nursery that was designed especially for his family?

Meet Luke.  

His parents are head over heels in love with this handsome little boy, and we celebrated his arrival with a lifestyle newborn portrait session at home in Saratoga Springs, NY.

This was the first lifestyle session I've done where the crib was hand-built by the family.  Luke's dad wanted to build his son's first bed, so he bought all of the tools and the wood, and he learned how to build a rustic, barn door style crib for his baby boy's nursery!

The nursery was decorated with a hand-painted mural of a farm scene, which was perfect for this family since Luke's mother works at a farm in VT.  When you look closely at the walls, you'll see a big red barn, fields of carrots, an airplane flying overhead that will have Luke's name written on the banner, and a little dog peeking out from behind the glider that looks just like this family's fur baby, Toga.  

Speaking of Toga, this is their dog!  This 3-year old puppy was one of the most camera-friendly dogs I have ever encountered on a photo shoot.  He always wanted to be in the shot, and would come and position himself right in the middle of everyone and turn towards the camera (most dogs turn away from the camera, haha!). 

I've got the feeling that Luke & Toga are going to be the best of friends as they grow up together.  What a lucky little boy!

Wondering if a lifestyle newborn session is the right fit for your family?

Welcome home, Trudie Jean | An in-home session with Boston Lifestyle Newborn Photographer

Can we start off by giving a little shout-out to old fashioned names that are wildly unique and hold lots of meaning for the family?  

Meet Trudie Jean. 

This sweet baby girl was named after her grandmother, and she was an absolute dream to work with during her lifestyle newborn session at home in Boston.  She's all cheeks with a peaches and cream complexion, and she has the finest blonde hair, all coming together to make up one really adorable baby girl.

I love being invited into a family's home to take a peek into their life at home with a newborn, and it's always so magical to just let the little moments unfold as they cuddle up with their brand new baby.

Even their fur baby wanted to join in on the celebration!  It can always be tricky to get dogs to cooperate during our photo shoots, and often they're especially hesitant or skittish around newborn babies.  However, we always try to encourage pets to get in for a few shots, and the results are worth it!

I loved their Jenny Lind-style crib so much!  It was perfect in their gender neutral, woodland nursery.

We had a baby boom here at Nicole Starr Photography in January!  Be on the lookout for so many more adorable newborn sessions coming to the blog soon.  In the meantime, check out a few other recent favorite newborn sessions here:

Best of 2017 Lifestyle Newborn Sessions

Vivian Jane: A Saratoga Springs Newborn Portrait Session

John Aldrich: A Lifestyle Newborn Session in Boston