So today is a day of firsts for me in a few different ways. The first way being that I have never before…and I mean NEVER…posted a sneak peek of a session on the same day I shot it. It is a goal that is typically not worthy of attempting to achieve because it requires editing until your eyes bleed or until you develop carpel tunnel, whichever takes you down first. However, I felt that if ever a new mama needed to see a sneak peek of her newborn baby’s first photo session, it was Baby O’s mama. You see, he gave us all a run for our money today. From the start, things were looking fantastic. He was awake, but perfectly quiet and content. We scooped him up, started taking some photos, and realized something unfortunate….He DID NOT like to be moved. Now that can work okay for a few shots, but the truth is that when shooting newborn photos, you have to move them around a good bit so that you are not just taking the same photos over and over again. Variety is important and something I really strive for.
So what do you do when a baby gets fussy? Well, you nurse him, change him, rock him, turn on the space heater, crank up the white noise, swaddle him, unswaddle him….rinse and repeat. This all would work for a few minutes, he would drift off, and then promptly wake right up with each little shift or noise. Poor Baby O was not a fan of the art of newborn photography! With time and patience, I have never met a baby who does not eventually zonk out for enough time to get all the shots I want to get in…until today! That was, of course, my #2 “first time” that I experienced with this session.
Then came #3…just when we had all given up, we decided to just take photos with his cute hats on while he was crying. Hey, we figured we might as well go for the angry baby look if the peacefully slumbering baby thing wasn’t going to happen! So I had mom sit and hold Baby O in her lap while I asked his dad to put on the hat. Then I said, ” why don’t you hold his head still from behind and I can snap a quick shot” Well, we made a crazy discovery with that request. Apparently, Baby O finds it immediately calming to have BOTH his parents holding him at the same time. I am not kidding when I say that he immediately stopped crying and remained completely happy and calm for the rest of our session. It was nothing short of amazing….and a little frightening too! I have visions of his mom and dad both having to hold him at 3 am when he wakes up tonight! So that is why I am posting this preview so soon after the session. I know Baby O’s mom and dad were a little worried that they wouldn’t get enough non-crying shots from today. I hope that this gives them all the reassurance they need that even with all the fussing, their sweet baby boy actually made for one heck of a baby model. I hope they love the photos and that you all do too. Here are my top picks from today:

































































































