Newborn Photography and Baby Photography are here to document the most important moments in your baby’s life.

Not only Newborn Photography but also Baby Photography became more and more popular over the years. Especially in the last ten years the market for newborn photography has reached new heights. Newborn Photography on Long Island is no different to this trend. Parents are driving a whole new movement towards documenting these early memories. Photographers are now offering sessions right after the baby is born. Literally within 48hrs, with mom and baby still in the hospital. How cool is that! The more traditional sessions take place in the first 2-3 weeks of baby’s life. New, proud parents love sharing them with family and friends through social media.

10 years ago when I was starting my journey with photography- newborn photography was the main focus not only for me but also for many of my colleagues . We attended photography workshops to learn safe posing and handling of the tinies humans. We waited for months to mentor with well known newborn photographers in our industry. And there weren’t that many 10 years ago. It was all so exciting. Newborn Photography was booming. But with time we all noticed a shift, or rather an expansion – towards not only newborn photography but also baby photography.

These two although sound similar are quite different. Newborn photography covers everything related to exactly that – newborn babies. Most photographers recommends doing the session in the first 2-3 weeks of baby’s life.

According to the famous Vogue newborn photography had officially gone “mainstream,” and I have a feeling this trend is not going away in the near future ;).

Why are the reasons we recommend this exact time frame? Well… babies sleep well in the first weeks and to have a successful newborn session we want them to be relaxed. Sleepy baby = relaxed baby. And please don’t get me wrong, we also work with awake babies but the general idea is to have a smooth, easy session and the younger the baby (my personal sweet spot is 12-15 days for newborn photography) the session tends to be easier. Personally I extend my newborn sessions for babies up to 4 weeks. I photograph them with parents anyway. Another important reason – if parents want to capture the sweet curly poses, it is way easier to achieve them with babies around 2 weeks. They are still very flexible and love being curled up and swaddled. Of course there are exceptions from the rule but you get the general idea. And the last reason to keep newborn photography sessions around the specific time frame are…baby acne. Yes… they usually show up after 3-4 weeks and some babies can have severe case. This faze in baby’s life is completely normal but well.. it makes our life so much easier later when we edit the photos ;).

After the newborn faze come few different important milestones in baby’s life. 3 months, 6 months and finally one year. 3 months sessions are here to photograph your baby’s first smile and eye contact. 6 month sessions a.k.a “sitter session” usually happen around 6-8 months when your baby starts to sit unassisted. Sitter sessions are my favorite baby sessions! Babies can’t walk yet and enjoy the attention. And finally one year old portraits – either traditional session or one involving a cake smash (these are so much fun!).

Some parents decide to document only one session and some prioritize ALL the milestones. Many photographers, including myself offers “baby plan milestone packages”. These packages include newborn session and all the other baby sessions. Some parents jump from newborn to one year old session and skip the “smaller milestones” in between. Regardless what you decide to document – you will NEVER regret it. Ever. Your baby grows so fast in the first year. With everything what is going on in your life, your work, caring for a newborn baby (and sometimes older siblings) it’s easy not to think about booking a newborn photography session or any baby session. We get distracted. We think we will get to it eventually. However I have never had a parent telling me they regret booking the session and capturing the precious memories.

From my personal point of view I regret not doing this for my own babies. Yes, I was that busy mom and although I have hundreds of photos on my phone (some of which are gone already since I switched phones few times) I do not have the “real” portrait session. I am not dwelling on that fact. However if I could go back in time I would definitely invest in baby portraits to not only have this memory for myself but also for my boys when they grow up.

Summary of my post is if you decide to book a portrait session for your baby – either the newborn session or session for older baby, you will keep these memories forever. Newborn photography is still the main focus for many parents but capturing your baby as she/he grows and changes in the first year is as equally as important.

My only advice is to book with a photographer who’s style you really love. Remember these memories will stay with you and your family for generations to come.

You can check more images HERE