Newborn sessions don’t have to be involved. Complicated posing takes a lot of time and patience – but really high quality, peaceful images can be taken in 1 1/2 to 2 hours. If you’d like to learn more about newborn sessions, click here.

In our photo sessions, babies are in charge. If they’re unhappy, we take a break. They’re always warm, always comfortable, and always content.

The blanket and headband were a gift from family. You’re always welcome to include whatever you’d like in a session.

A few days earlier I’d had a newborn session with another baby girl and the mom said “no pink, pink is overrated.” When I arrived and started talking to Madlin she said, “I want pink. Lots of pink!” So funny how people wait for pink and can’t wait for it, or what to deviate from pink. Whatever works for you!

Tessa’s two older, very proud, brothers. They were so super gentle with her!

Neutral colors for the win.

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful family with me!

Pittsford NY Newborn Photography.

Some moms don’t feel comfortable being photographed right away, but Malissa was 100% on board. If you can muster up the energy, it’s great to have mama-baby photos. They’re simply priceless.

Finneas didn’t really want to sleep for us, but that was completely fine. He was awake but calm and looking around. So sweet!

Malissa and Justen were able to incorporate some blankets that were meaningful to them. If you have any I’d definitely recommend including them.

Part of the reason we wrap babies during newborn sessions is to hide their diapers, and the other reason is that when they’re awake they kind of flail their arms all over the place. Wraps are an artistic way to keep their arms in place.

Baby Yoda for the win.

I have a number of cheescloth wraps to choose from but you’re always welcome to include your own bit of style – such as a baby yoda hat.

This might be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

Keeping babies happy and comfortable is our number one priority during a session. To understand better what to expect during a newborn photography session, click here.

Sessions take place in your home because my kids are loud and crazy and because it’s where you’re most comfortable. No need to clean anything (you just had a baby!) – only a very small area is needed.

Thank you so much Malissa and Justen for sharing your beautiful baby with me. Welcome to the world Finneas!

Henrietta NY Newborn Photography.

Joanna and Steven moved to Rochester a couple of years ago so Steven could pastor a local church.  Joanna loves dance and cooking from scratch with whole foods, and Steven loves theology and music.  When you walk into their home you’ll see a library’s worth of books, hear a guitar or drums, and smell something being freshly baked from scratch.

Once they got settled, Imannuel made his appearance into their family.

Esther and Caedmon welcomed him with open arms. Esther was especially excited to have a baby in the family.

Their session took place at their home in Greece.  In home newborn sessions are a very peaceful, low effort way to have newborn photos taken. You can even stay in your pajamas if you want.

Not all babies love to be posed and I don’t force it. Immanuel was in the “please don’t move my arms while I’m sleeping” camp and that’s completely fine. We were still able to get a lot of heart warming images.

When you have an in-home newborn session I bring several bins of blankets, furs and cheesecloth wraps for you to pick from. It’s completely up to you what you’d like to use, or I can offer suggestions if you’re not sure. Most families choose just a few colors and keep it simple so the focus is on the baby and not the props.

For families looking to document their baby’s first year, be sure to check out the Baby’s First Year Plan, which makes it easy to capture all the major milestones without having to think about it.

Thank you so much Joanna and Steven for sharing your beautiful family with me!

Prity contacted me after a difficult birth wanting to know if we could schedule a newborn session in the next week. If this is you, don’t hesitate to call and check! The newborn time is fleeting and we can usually work something out, even if it isn’t planned far in advance. Many moms don’t anticipate how beautiful their babies are going to be and decide to schedule a session after their baby’s birth. Be sure to check out the Newborn Portrait Guide for more information about newborn sessions.

Lydia was perhaps the most relaxed baby I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. She slept through the entire session to the point that Prity and David started to wish that she would wake up so we could get some photos with her eyes open. That is super unusual!

She even gave us a few smiles.

A friend recently added a bunch of headbands to my collection and I was a little giddy to finally have a girl to be able to use them with. Thank you Lauren!

David commented that Lydia was a dyer of purple clothes in the New Testament so we did a lot with purple, but also explored some blue and pink. It’s an interesting exercise in color to take a traditionally “boy” color and make it feminine.

This quilt was a gift that they wanted to incorporate into their session.

After the inside photos we stepped outside for some family shots. Generally moms don’t want to do this, but they don’t fit for very long. Before you know it they’re running in the opposite direction.

Thank you so much Prity and David for sharing your beautiful family with me!

I’d never been to a chiropractor before in my life, but a very close friend of mine raved about hers and I had some lower back issues so I took the plunge. I walked into Nicole’s office and she did muscle work and adjustments that made me feel like I’d had two hours of massage in about 10 minutes. I’m a believer.

So, if you’re in need of a chiropractor, you should pay Nicole a visit. You can find more information about her practice by clicking here.

When I first started seeing her she shared that she and her husband were trying for a baby, then eventually that she was pregnant and here we are. Meet Gavin, 12 days old.

Gavin arrived the day after his due date and weighed in at a whopping 5 lbs 13 oz.

Nicole loved this color of teal and picked it out before the session.  If you’re pregnant and planning a newborn session, you’re welcome to pick out your own wrap color and I’ll buy it for your session.  Just a little perk to be aware of.

Gavin wasn’t a huge fan of being posed (many babies are not), but at the same time was also content just to look around and experience life on the outside.

Stephen works for an insurance company in Buffalo and commutes each day. He experienced his first father’s day shortly after Gavin’s birth.

Nicole found this pose via the Pinterest board and wanted to try it out. For more information about what goes into a newborn session as well as a Pinterest board of session ideas, click here.

I have a big giant duffle bag of wraps and blankets and you get to choose (if you want to).

Thank you so much Stephen and Nicole for sharing your perfect little baby with me. The time with your family was so sweet!

Tara and Rob split their maternity session between High Falls and Corbett’s Glen last month.  They were very concerned that the baby would arrive before the maternity session, but he stayed snuggled inside for a few weeks more.  After a fast and furious labor, he arrived safe and sound.

Meet Lukas, 11 days old.

Tara said that she and Pinterest had a special nesting relationship. She made this carpet out of yarn pom poms and had the nursery decorated with a variety of Pinterest inspired projects. My favorite was the reading nook with Christmas lights and a bean bag.

You can’t necessarily tell from the photos but Rob is a really big guy. As in, you could tell by looking at him that he played football, loves football and probably has a football jersey or two in his closet.  Lukas is already on track to follow in his footsteps with his hat and some Bills style booties.

Babies are such a nice way to start people.

Meeting couples before and after they become parents is a sweet experience. Watching them stay the same people, but care about completely different things and to just find absolute delight in their baby is one of the highlights of my life.

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful bundle of new life with me!

Expecting a baby? Click here to access your free copy of the newborn portrait guide!

Jenna is, of all things, a labor and delivery nurse. She has a calm and peaceful presence and I would love to have her at any birth of mine. She said all of her knowledge flew out the window when she went into labor, which is something I’ve heard many birth professionals say (including my midwife), but you should see her swaddle a baby. It was like watching origami.

Tony is also a nurse, but works in cardiac surgery, which he loves. But that’s not how they met – they’re an eHarmony success story.

Another fun fact – they share the same birthday.

We started the session with family photos because it’s so important to capture such a life altering experience.  Sam was calm and content during this part of the session and spent some time both peeing and pooing on his parents and the floor.  All in a days’ work.

Next we tried to move on to blanket photos but Sam was totally disinterested in anything besides nursing.  Newborns have a hard time being awake for too long and so we had him asleep for about 15 minutes but he wasn’t very posey.

Many babies prefer not to be posed very much, whereas other babies seem not to care what you do to them. It’s all normal and worth being expectation-flexible. While the highly posed images are adorable, so are the less posed ones. It’s hard to go wrong with new babies.

Thank you so much Jenna and Tony for sharing you beautiful new family with me! It was a joy and a privilege.

Amber was among those fortunate moms who give birth a few days early and escape those final days of waiting and waddling. Amber and Braden said that their experience was great and that parenting so far had been what they expected. I’d love to see a study on the difference between first time parents in their twenties and first time parents in their thirties. What a difference those years make in how we handle parenthood! My first was born when I was 22 and I felt like someone had dropped me out of a plane. It’s so much fun to see people handle it this way.

This was their second Baby Bundle session.  You can see images of Amber and her beautiful belly here.

Amber and Braden built their house in Hilton and have a stunning outdoor pool that I’m sure Ryan will thoroughly appreciate in a few years.

This wagon was made by Ryan’s grandfather (I think – forgive me if the details are wrong!). When you schedule a newborn session all you have to provide is the baby. I come with lighting, blankets, wraps and headbands. Often families will choose to include their own props, such as this beautiful wagon. Ryan was on the smaller side as babies go, and fit nicely inside.  Amber was just outside the image to make sure that he wouldn’t fall.

Amber said that she has a huge weakness for father-baby shots.

This basket was a wedding gift.

Amber’s baby shower theme was the moon and stars, so she had a moon hat available. The blanket he’s sleeping on was a handmade quilt made for Ryan.

Thank you so much Amber and Braden for sharing your beautiful family with me!  I’m looking forward to seeing how much he’s grown!!!

On February 13th Laura told me that she’d prefer the baby’s birthday not fall on a holiday. Babies don’t always pay attention to these requests, and Violet made her appearance around 9:30 am on Valentine’s Day. Her older sister got a huge kick out of their Valentine’s Day present.

A frequently asked question is who is responsible for providing blankets – me! All you have to provide is the baby. Blankets, wraps and headbands are all provided. I’ve been revamping my collecting and organizing it according to color. I’d just bought three purple wraps with no idea that the name Violet was on Laura’s short list.

Allison and Josie are thrilled to have another girl on the girl team. And their brother Zach is going to be an awesome husband with so much girl experience.

Kids aren’t always up for pictures like this, but an offer of some sugar usually solves the objection-problem and makes them super happy.

I’m a continuing education junkie and spend pretty much all of my down time learning about photography. A recent instructor that blew my mind talked a lot about taking the baby’s cues and not forcing any pose. In the photography world it’s easy to forget that a baby is still a person, and it’s important to honor their cues. I’ve personally adopted this approach and most parents are thrilled with the idea of keeping their baby comfortable. The specific pose they’re in is far less important to 99.9% of parents.

So I was a little giddy when Violet rocked this pose.

Many babies don’t like it, but she was very content and would have stayed there all day. I almost didn’t want to move her.

Laura also made an appearance on the blog with her Blessingway photos. To view images of Violet on the inside, click here.

Laura said that she sleeps a lot in this position.

As we were working Josie grabbed her mom’s camera and said very sweetly, “Excuse me Ms. Debra, I’m trying to take a picture.”

This behind the scenes shot is the portable studio setup that I bring with me. Laura has a huge window in her living room that had excellent morning light, but I bring studio lights in case your home doesn’t have big giant windows.

A huge congratulations to Laura and Jon!!! Thanks for sharing a little piece of your life with me. <3

The rules say that a newborn baby has to be photographed between 3 to 10 days old, or maybe 14 if you’re really pushing it.  That’s because new babies are sleepiest, bendiest and curliest when they’re very small.  As they wake up a little, they’re less apt to sleep through posing situations.

In the past I told a mom that six weeks is a bad time to photograph a baby and that it’s best to wait until they’re older.  Needless to say, she never called me back.

But when Tracy gave a session to her sister Lindsay, her baby was due around the same time as mine.  I didn’t object to a session a little later on and we had a lovely time. The images were not curly, sleepy posed images, but they still captured the essence of falling in love.

My conclusion was that there’s no bad time to photograph a baby.  They are babies after all!  Most parents aren’t really hung up on the super posed images anyway and just want to capture their beautiful baby just as they are.  So if you miss the newborn window, don’t worry!  Your baby is still beautiful and completely photographable.

When Lori first contacted me she was still pregnant and interested in newborn photos and when I didn’t hear from her after her due date came and went, I assumed she hired someone else.  I was absolutely delighted to hear from her again when Julia was about six weeks old.

Lori hired a doula through Beautiful Birth Choices and did everything she could to prepare, but took some time to recover from the childbirth experience. I hear you Lori! I have friends that love it (including some lovely doula friends who work for BBC), but me? Not so much. And that’s okay! The best time for photos is when you’re ready for them.

Among other skills, Chris is a baby whisperer in his free time. Julia let us do a little posing before she woke up and objected.

We caught a mild day in December and popped outside for some images in front of their brand new house. They recently moved to the Rochester area and bought a beautiful house in Brighton. A new house, a new job, a new baby – lots of changes!

Julia fell asleep again and we were able to get her hand up under her cheek before she woke up and wanted to hang out some more.

What a privilege it is to see a man become a father.

Congratulations to Lori and Chris and welcome home Julia!