Lyla Grace| My Baby’s Newborn Session
Ever since I found out we were pregnant with Lyla, I started planning her newborn session! This entire pregnancy was different than when I had Matthew. Six and a half years ago I hadn’t quite kicked off my business yet, and actually had the hospital photographers come in and do Matthew’s session (!) But this time, I knew I wanted to go all out and do Lyla’s session myself. No matter how long it took. No matter how hard it would be.
And yes it was a little difficult. She is one of the best babies in the world. But still is a normal baby, so she got hungry, startled a lot, and was STUBBORN. She even stood straight up at one point, pushing out of my lovely pose LOL. And for me physically, it was a challenge to get up and down and be mindful of my so very swollen feet and ankles. I had my mother there with me and could not have done it without her. Literally. There are prop poses that I will not do if I don’t have a spotter and I would not have attempted my most-wanted shot of the camera pose without her there. And she was more patient than I was even. I think there’s something about when it’s your own child that you just want them to cooperate already lol. But after many hours (I won’t tell you how many exactly) we accomplished every single shot I wanted. And I am so happy with how they turned out!
As many of my friends know, we are a Star Wars family. I married the biggest nerd ever and now have a six year old mini-nerd. So I had to do a Star Wars shot for them; a fun cars shot for Matthew; and the camera and wedding dress shot for myself. I also did an outdoor shot which I had never done before with a newborn! It was a little more challenging than I thought it would be. I brought my reflector to shade her from the sun and found a bunch of flowers that I put together, but I was alone for this shot, so I was literally standing there with my left arm out holding the reflector, my right hand on the camera shooting, and my eyes on her plus every little bug around ready to attack like a mama bear. I was there maybe ten minutes and was good with my one shot. Whew! I am in love and have always been in love with outdoor newborn shots.
Sometimes parents say to me that they aren’t sure if they want to do a professional session for their coming baby because they didn’t with their first/others. I urge you from my own experience to not hold back. Your season of life might be completely different than it was with your first. When we were pregnant with Matthew, we were just starting out, with two part-time jobs and we honestly hadn’t even given a newborn session thought. But six years later we were in a completely different stage. I decided it’s okay to have their pictures be different! So much can change over a couple years, and you don’t want to hold back just because they might not match. Trust me, your kids won’t care. I am so glad I did Lyla’s session; no regrets at all!
