I completely enjoyed photographing this newborn session full of family cuddles and newborn sweetness. Being a new parent is such a lifestyle change, it’s important to document it. I ditched posed newborn sessions years ago, because I love this style of shoot so much more. I’d much rather capture a new family, enjoying each other, than pose a baby “this way” or “that way”. This family of three has lots of new adventures ahead as mom heads off to Harvard Business School soon (which she didn’t tell me). I found that out after their shoot from a mutual friend, after I’d already talked to her about my experience with business school (as if it were somehow relatable to what she’s about to do, lol). While I’m definitely NOT a Harvard grad, I do know how to make a newborn shoot a success so here’s a few tips for you of all the things they did to make their shoot run smoothly:

1. Mom fed baby right before our session, when he wouldn’t fall asleep she fed him again at the beginning so he slept for a solid hour while we were shooting.
2. They both kept their outfits neutral and solid so all the focus could be on Baby and the family connection.
3. They brought lots of different stretchy swaddles (which allows for a tighter swaddle) to choose from and I picked the few that I thought would photograph the best. We double wrapped him, so when it was time to change the swaddle, he stayed asleep since all we had to do is take the outer one off.
4. They brought blankets with texture. Texture always photographs well.
5. They brought something sentimental to document (a special blanket).
6. Last but not least, they didn’t stress and just enjoyed their baby so it was easy to capture the connection. That’s a great piece of advice for EVERY type of family photo shoot. Don’t stress about your kids doing anything in particular, let me worry about what they are doing, your job is simply to enjoy each other.

Utah Family Photographer

Salt Lake City Utah, Utah County

@lexiraephotography