Booking, Styling Questionnaire, Newborn Prep Guide

I recommend that all my expecting clients book their newborn session when they have just reached the second trimester to ensure availability. First time moms should pick a date within 1.5 to 3 weeks after their due date. If you have a history of coming early, will be induced or have a c-section at 39 weeks schedule your session within 2 weeks from estimated birth. If your baby comes a week early or late we can always move your session! You are welcome to book online via the booking calendar or send me a message and I can help you pick the session that works best for you. 

After you have booked your session you will receive a confirmation email with a link to a styling form where you can pick your favorite colors, poses and prop preferences. Or you can opt for me to style your session and get a discount on your session fee. A few days before your session you will receive a baby guide on how to prepare your baby for their session.

 

What should I bring to my photo session? 

The only things you need to bring to your session is milk if your baby isn’t breastfed and a pacifier. I have everything else you will need from diapers, to wipes, burp clothes, custom vendor outfits, wraps, props, and bows. 

What should my family wear?

Simple well fitted shirts in neutral colors (white, cream, black, gray, beige, light blue) or dresses with simple designs look best. Avoid busy patterns, bright colors, plaid, and overly loose clothing. There is no need to bring an outfit for your newborn, I will wrap them in a coordinating wrap and a simple well fitted outfit for posed shots. 

Newborn Session Timeline

For family sessions I always start with family so that dad or grandma can take young kiddos out to eat or play after their portion of photos is over. I generally start with individual photos of dad and then mom so that your kids have a chance to adjust and relax into the studio environment. After family photos I will do sibling photos followed by posed shots with family. 

After the family portion I follow your baby’s lead and decide to do either wrapped or posed shots depending on how sleepy your baby is. 

Proofing Gallery or Viewing Appointment Timeline

Within 3 days from your session you will receive a link to either book your photo viewing appointment or online proofing. You may choose whichever method you prefer. These images will be only partially edited. A certain number of images are included in your package and you are always welcome to purchase additional photos or wall prints and products (with extra digital images included). Once you have selected your favorite images by pressing the star favorite icon within your gallery or at your viewing appointment I will get to work on all of the final edits to your gallery including but not limited to smoothing skin, removing blemishes, redness, backdrop wrinkles, and adding black and white copies. You can see the costs for additional images below: 

Final Gallery Delivery

Once I have completed the final edits on your newborn photos I will upload them to an online gallery for you to download. These images are yours to print, save, copy and share. 

Jana’s Maternity Photos

There is nothing like treating yourself when you are pregnant. You are growing and nurturing a whole new person to life,  you deserve to be pampered. There is no better way to pamper yourself than a fine art studio style maternity photo session. These sessions are intimate and relaxed focused on making you feel beautiful in your own skin. You are welcome to bring your own outfits or choose some of the ones provided in my client wardrobe. 
My studio is located in Carmel Indiana right outside of Indianapolis and is private and intimate for your photos. We will play music, get a fan blowing your hair and enjoy an hour of taking photos together. 

 

Jana is a pediatric neurologist at Riley Children’s hospitals. She has changed so many little children’s lives for the better! It was amazing getting to know her and capturing her pregnancy in the most elegant way. She had a very unique vision for her photos and it came to life in the most beautiful way! 

 

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Are you looking for the best newborn photographer? There are a couple of things you should consider when picking your ideal newborn photographer!

Newborn Safety & Training

While a lot of people shop around for photographers based on their budget alone, I would argue that making sure their newborn photographer is trained and experienced in newborn photography should be the first and most important criteria. Newborns are so delicate, fragile and new. They deserve the very best care and someone who has been trained in how to properly handle posing and spotting them throughout poses and props. 

Newborn Photographers Style

Are you interested in posed studio newborn photography? With custom props, a huge selection of colors, tiebacks, wraps, bonnets, furs and setups? Then you are probably looking for a studio newborn photographer. Some people also opt for a lifestyle photographer to capture intimate images of their new baby in their home. Some new mama’s opt for hospital fresh 48 photos to capture their baby immediately after birth. Another element to consider is editing style? Do you like dark and moody? True tones? Light and airy?

Variety of Newborn Photo Packages

There are several approaches to newborn photography packages that a photographer may provide. They may be all inclusive and do minimal edits to each photo, they may specialize in only digitals and online convenience or they may choose to have a full service approach offering you a unique experience from start to finish and including your images in digital format as well as beautiful works of art for your home. You will also need to consider if you are interested in taking pictures of your newborn alone or if you want to be in a few photos yourself and your family. 

The Experience 

If you are still looking for a newborn photographer I would love to do your newborns photos. I am fully trained in newborn safety and regularly take courses to brush up on the current newborn photography trends. I focus on providing my clients with a unique experience and give them a lot of control in planning their own newborn photos with a styling guide to select colors and posing preferences. During your session I have everything prepared so that you only have to worry about getting yourself and your baby to my studio. I have easy parking and access and am located right off of 465 and 31 in Carmel Indiana. After your session you get to return to my studio to view all of your images, watermark free, on a huge tv screen to a musical slideshow. We will work together to narrow down and select the very best images for your home.

Holly Marie Photography Studio Barn

Harper Newborn & Baby Photography Sessions!

I absolutely loved capturing all of Harper’s sweet photo sessions from her mama’s baby bump to her 12 day old newborn studio photo session to her 3 month baby smiles session. She is even coming in for her 6 month sitter session in exactly 1 week. One of the most rewarding parts of newborn photography is watching your littlest clients come back to your studio every few months and capture their first few years as they grow and change so quickly.
Harper’s mama aims to have every color I offer incorporated into her daughters photos throughout her first year. Her maternity photos sported pink and brown accessories. Her newborn photos had all of my coral and floral props and items from my Carmel Indiana Studio Client Closet and her 3 month photos starred yellow and teal!
For her 6 months photos we are planning on rainbow and red and I can’t wait to see how she has grown.

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The Process

While newborn photography seems like an art there’s actually a lot of thought that goes into things like the order of photos, the wraps, outfits and so on. The order below I have planned with your styling preferences taken into account to maximize variety while minimizing the time it takes to get your shots and keeping your baby comfortable and sleepy or happy and awake throughout your session. If you love knowing what’s going on and what to expect during your newborn session I hope you enjoy!

Dads up first!

I always start with daddy’s newborn photos! I typically do 2-3 different wrapped poses with dad and then add in mom for a few couple shots.

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Mom’s turn!

Next I focus on sweet shots of Mamma with her new babe. I often do between 2-3 -wrapped poses with mom before dad hops in again.

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Family is up next!

I start with mom and dad so that older siblings have a chance to relax and acclimate to the studio environment. They watch their parents smile and snuggle the new baby, they see the strobe fire and become comfortable with the new situation. At this point I will have dad pickup the older sibling, or have the sibling stand close on a crate. If there are more than one older sibling I have mom and dad kneel so that the siblings can stand close and all be at the same level.

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Backlit!

I absolutely love backlit window shots. It has become my most popular photo for new family’s. I start with a backlit family photo and then move on to mom dad and baby and then siblings and baby. The backlit shots are a timeless and intimate shots that focus’s on the connection between you family and your new baby.

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Big brothers and sisters time to shine!

In my styling guide I have parents select their favorite sibling shot and always start with that one. My goal is to provide parents with 3 unique sibling setups. As a mom of 4 I know that shots of my boys together will always be my favorite so it is an aspect of newborn photos I focus heavily on. These setups include backlit on the poser, backlit holding baby, flokati fur, bucket shot, holding their new baby.

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Posed family shots

In my styling guide you can select to have your baby in an outfit or naked for the posed family shots. If you’ve selected an outfit I always put the outfit on BEFORE I even start wrapping so they are ready to go. Babies often hate being changed so I like to make sure the posing process is as quick and seamless as possible. For posed shots I often do bum up, criss cross and head on hands as pictured below. And include a quick shot with their sibling too.

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Newborn Poses

At this point there are two ways a session can go. If the baby is sleepy I will jump straight to sweet sleepy posed shots at my table. If they are awake I simple will swaddle them up and move these posed shots to the middle.

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Wrapped photos!

After naked shots I swaddle baby up in multiple wraps to get them cozy and warm and also so that as I unwrap them they are ready to go in the next color for the next setup. I love to do as much variety as possible so I typically do a prop and flokati for my first wrap set.

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Half Wrapped

The next portion of my newborn session is half wrapped photos. In my styling questionnaire you are free to select which of these styles you like the best. These shots include in a bowl, basket, head on hands in bucket, womb on fur and more!

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BABY TOES!

There is nothing sweeter than baby toes! This sweet wrap focuses on their tiny bodies and sweet little toes.

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Baby Tower

For the last two shots we move back to fabric backdrops and wrapped poses. Babies love wrapped poses so I often use them to sooth the babies, take feeding breaks or if baby is wide awake. Womb, hammock or tucked in One of my all time favorite newborn poses is womb! This sweet pose curls them up similar to how they fit in the womb and showcases just how little they are. I love finishing with these relaxed poses and sometimes baby will wake up and we can finish with….

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Baby Mug Shots!

Babies make so many adorable little facial expressions. As they root around hunting for milk. Their eyes squint as they adjust to being out of the womb, surrounded by light. Their hands flail around as they search for their mouth. These innocent squirmy few minutes at the very end of the session are often the sweetest.

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Baby Led Photo Session

 wI have lots of tips and tricks up my sleeves to help your baby smoothly and easily go into poses and props. I will do my best to ensure you get a great variety of setups even with a colicky baby. However at the end of the day if your baby is super unhappy with a pose I will move on because not every position is comfortable for every baby. I hope you have enjoyed this sneak peek into my average newborn session workflow! I can’t wait to meet you and your little one!

Will’s Cake Smash Photo Session

Will is one! Already at this ripe young age of 12 months Will is already so passionate about space! He is obsessed with the big bang theory and loves dancing to the theme song! His love for space though is only outweighed by his love for his balloons and his mommy and daddy. Throughout the whole cake smash photo session will would stop, turn around and get so excited about his balloon arch. Through the studio photo session he would crawl over and throw huge smiles at his daddy. He also enjoyed smashing the spoon on the ground to make drumming noises and smearing the cake on the floor. It was such a joy to have Will in my studio in Carmel Indiana.

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Harrison’s Baby Milestone Photo Session

I can’t believe how big little Harrison has gotten! 6 months ago, almost to the day, I had the privilege of meeting him and his family for his newborn photo session in my studio in Carmel Indiana. He has 2 older sisters and one who passed away when she was only 17 days old. We did a sibling photo to honor her sweet memory and did several rainbow photos to honor her loss as well. The rainbow symbols hope after a storm, a promise of what’s to come.
Harrison has easily doubled or more in size since his newborn session. He was so squishy and focused on everything around him. He loved putting everything into his mouth as quickly as possible. We focused on a traditional setup for his photos focusing on cream, white and gray. At the very last minute I decided to do a little strawberry bath as well, and I love how much he enjoyed that part of his photo session.
I am so excited to do his birthday cake smash in just a few more months!

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Tommy’s 7 month Sitter Session

I had the absolute privilege or photographing sweet Tommy’s newborn photos 7 months ago and I was so incredibly excited to see him again for his 7 month sitter baby milestone photo session in my Indianapolis Indiana studio! Tommy is a very unique baby boy. His journey started 4 years before he was even born when he was frozen as an embryo. So now at the age of 7 months he has been around for 4 years and 7 months. 

Tommy is the happiest little boy with a ready smile and big blue eyes! We planned his set in cream and blue to enhance that sweet feature. He loved playing peekaboo with a blanket and nursing in his mommy’s arms for pictures. 

His mama hand picked some special outfits for his photos and I pulled a few from my exclusive client closet. 

I can’t wait to watch him and his sister continue to grow! Looking forward to capturing all of his future milestones!

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Rize Newborn Photos

I got to meet the sweetest honeymoon baby last week! Doesn’t he just look like he was made of pure love? I was so excited to plan Rize’s newborn photos. His nursery theme is boho and I went crazy with creams and blues to accent his nursery. He did so great for his newborn pictures. He slept and snuggled his way through all of his setups.
His mama and I have a lot in common. We love having our kids close in age and plan to  homeschool them so that we can spend a lot of time with our kiddos as they grow.
My newborn photo studio in Carmel Indiana  is fully prepped with everything you could need for your sessions. Most of my parents literally just bring their baby and a bottle if they are formula fed.
Rize’s mama brought him a pacifier that matched his set so perfectly I just had to take a picture of him with his pacifier in. It is easily one of my favorite shots too.

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Collette Haire Newborn Photos

I wrapped this sweet 13 day old baby up nice and snug and put a little stuffed rabbit in her arms and her mama burst out laughing since their last name is Haire! This sweet baby girl did amazing for her newborn photo session! They lived super close to my newborn photo studio in Carmel Indiana and she slept like a dream. Her mama and I agreed that there’s absolutely nothing sweeter than a baby in a bucket and we’re committed to putting her in a bucket for pictures as often as possible till she’s too big to fit! Collete’s favorite picture pose however were the ones snuggling in her parents arms. She curled up so tiny in between her beaming parents. If you are looking for a newborn photographer in the Indianapolis Indiana I would love to chat with you!

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