There seem to be three main styles for shooting newborn photography: in-studio staged and posed (which I do not do but can get you in contact with an amazing photographer who does if that is your jam!), in-home lifestyle, which I personally love and is my more popular style of shooting because it produces beautiful imagery in an authentic setting, and documentary newborn sessions, which is raw and real to the very core, and captures the most intimate and personal family moments. Each of these styles will give you keepsakes of your newborn in their earliest days, and each style may be desired for a variety of different reasons. I can not stress enough how important it is to find a photographer who's style you mesh well with, so that you enjoy the process and are happy with the outcome.
The first days - and weeks - at home with a new baby are intense. As much as they are filled with love and joy and excitement, they are also often filled with healing, lack of sleep, and adjustment. For some, it may not be the ideal time to think about family photos, but I can promise these days go by quickly and it will be a time you'll one day wish to remember. I had the privilege and pleasure of being welcomed into the Akuna Family home when baby Makaio was three weeks old, to take some candid Day-In-The-Life photos during a time when days and nights blurred together.
Documentary photography is all about capturing the ordinary, in meaningful ways. My time with Tara and her family was as real as things could get - it spoke to everything a family experiences in those early days with a new baby; the juggling of baby and household, the things that make it easier (thanks TLC Holistic!), the colic, the diapers, the feedings, the "sleep when baby sleeps", the constant neededness and exhaustion that comes with it, the support of one another, the new sibling relationships, and the love... so much love! I hope that these images remind families that there is so much beauty happening amid those chaotic and emotionally messy first days.
