Before my son was born, I didn't think much about photography. I hired a newborn photographer AFTER he was already born, but luckily she was able to fit us in right away. Like most new moms, I didn't know that there was a very short ideal window in which to have them done. One of the things I remember her telling me during our session was no matter what photographer I use going forward, not to let anyone sucker me in to doing 3 month photos, because they weren't really necessary. I hadn't even thought about that. I didn't plan to hire anyone again until his birthday, and I didn't. (With the exception of our annual holiday photo.)
After becoming a photographer myself, I came to realize that many moms do like to professionally document their baby's age more than just once a year. I offer the sitter session as part of my packages because it makes sense to me as a notable milestone. It's usually about halfway through the year, and there's so much more we can do once the baby is sitting up. People sometimes ask me for 3-month photos, and I'll always oblige, but I do let them know that unless they (the parents) want to be incorporated into the photos as well.. there's not a ton we can do. It's too old for the sleepy newborn poses, but too young to sit them up in front of a nice background, or in a cute prop. I can get them laying down, from above.. or we can do tummy time. Other than that, there's usually not much else. But if the purpose is just to document the size and the age, that's totally fine.
Recently I had a mom contact me for newborn photos, even though her baby was already three months. In the photography world, this isn't really a newborn anymore. She agreed to move forward with the session understanding that we probably wouldn't get the same sleepy shots as a newborn, but I agreed to still use all the same props and accessories I use during a newborn session. I hadn't ever planned a baby session that way, but I'm so happy I did!
Baby was four months old by the time he came in for his session, and he was WIDE AWAKE the whole time. There was no getting him to sleep. Honestly, he was so awake I didn't even try. I still used all my newborn wraps and sets, and I still posed him with mom and dad the way I would a newborn. But unlike a regular newborn session, I was able to capture more of a connection between him and his parents. And happiness!
And for the photos by himself, he was so jolly. Look at all the great facial expressions we couldn't have gotten in the first two weeks:
And even though he's a lot bigger than a newborn, he's still just a baby. So we've still got all those great baby details.
I'm not sure yet if I want to add another milestone session to my package options, but if these kinds of shots are good enough for your newborn session, then bring me all your babies <3
