What to Expect at a Newborn Lifestyle Shoot

We have two great options for newborn and baby photography: in-studio and lifestyle. Today, I wanted to share more about what a newborn lifestyle shoot is like. There are some meaningful differences between a newborn photoshoot in a studio and a newborn lifestyle shoot. While both photography sessions yield beautiful images of you and your newest arrival, there are some differences in what the photo session will be like and the resulting photographs. Here is what to expect with a newborn lifestyle photography session.

Newborn Lifestyle Photography

Lifestyle photography is in-home, relaxed, and focused on you bonding with your child in your home. Rather than bringing your little one out to the studio, we basically bring the studio to you. While in your home, we’ll capture important details of your life like the nursery, and important moments like you holding your baby, rocking your baby, or snuggling together. Lifestyle newborn photography is all about capturing candid moments of you living your life. That means we can photograph you doing pretty much anything… bathing, nursing/feeding, or playing with your child. It’s all up to you, and of course, what little one needs!

A newborn lifestyle photography session is a very low-stress session. That makes it a great photography option for very young babies; from two to six weeks of age. One of the great things about having an in-home photography session is that you can include all members of your family, no matter how many legs they have! Brothers and sisters, cats and dogs—all can get involved with the photos.

One of the differences that you’ll see when we move from a studio session to an in-home lifestyle newborn session is that there are fewer posed shots. Those sleepy, smushed baby poses that you see on Pinterest? We wouldn’t do those in a lifestyle session. There will be few formal posed shots and no backdrops. The portraits will mainly be of you holding the baby, getting to know this new addition to your family.

Frequently Asked Questions About Newborn Lifestyle Sessions

How long will it take?

A lifestyle session will typically last 45 minutes, but it can last as long as 2 hours if we stop frequently for nursing and diaper breaks. It’s intentionally an unhurried session. I won’t have anyone scheduled right after you. So, there’s no worry about us not getting shots because baby is unhappy. These sessions are laid back and relaxed. We’ll work around your needs.

Is my house okay for a photo session?

You don’t need to have a designer home or super bright rooms for one of our sessions. All you need is one nice window and we are all set!

I just had a baby. Do I have to clean?

No, mama. There’s no need to clean the whole house. Just declutter one or two areas and you’re done! We can even do this during the photoshoot by just moving things out of the shot. You’re busy with a newborn and don’t need to worry about cleaning! I get that!

Do I need to move furniture?

Don’t worry about this ahead of time. We might move some furniture a bit on the day of, just to make sure the lighting is gorgeous.

When will I get my pictures?

About 2-3 weeks after the session, you’ll come back to the Indy Family Photo studio to select your finished images for artwork. Most of our lifestyle clients opt for albums or several wall pieces rather than one huge image for the wall, because of the story-telling feeling that these images have.

Are you expecting a new arrival? Contact me now! It’s  never too early to talk about scheduling a newborn photography session—whether at the Indy Family Photo Studio or a relaxed, in-home lifestyle portrait session. I would love to tell your story with beautiful images.