This year I’ve been a mini baby boom here at Live Love Laugh Photos – heard exciting news of my old clients welcoming little ones into their families and meeting new clients who hired me to capture their new bundles of joy. At home newborn/family sessions at some of my favorite sessions to photograph so you can images how happy I am about all these new babies!

I’ve met this Ridgewood family a few years ago when they came to my Ridgewood photo studio to get holiday photos of their three kids (they win most stylish trio award with me every year! And I was thrilled when at their last Christmas photoshoot the mom told me that they are expecting baby #4 to arrive in 2021!

The family took my suggestion to wait till the baby is around 6-8 weeks to do their session and I am so glad they did! Baby Q. gave us great eye contract, and we captured newborn images that the family loved!

And as I always do during my newborn/family sessions we capture lots of family images doing what they do – playing chess, reading in their reading hook, and just having a good ol’ time!

Now looking at these newborn/family photos would not you agree that it’s worth waiting till around 6-8 weeks after the birth to do your newborn session?!

I love newborn photoshoots – brand new squishy babies, seeing so much love in the parents eyes, hearing sweet sounds babies make – what’s not to love?!! I’ve done (and still do from time to time) newborn photoshoots at my Ridgewood photo studio but lifestyle family newborn photo sessions done at clients’ homes are my favorites! (Side note: even thought I am fully vaccinated, I still wear a mask when I am at clients homes and keep my distance).

There are a couple of schools of thought about when you should do your newborn photoshoot. While many photographers recommend doing them as soon after the baby is born as possible (usually within first 10 days) I recommend waiting a bit and doing the session when the baby is around 6 weeks or so. This gives Mom time to recover and start to feel like herself again and for the family to settle (as much as you can ‘settle’ into anything with a newborn) into a new routine. And the baby is more awake and aware – so we can get great eye contact in photos.

When this Mom and I spoke prior to the photoshoot she asked me if it would be OK for her parents to join in for some photos and of course I said YES! I think it’s wonderful when kids grow up near their grandparents and capturing that special bond in photos is just so special! So if you are reading this blog and have your parents/in-laws living nearby – schedule a photoshoot with them (even if it is not with me) – you, the grandparents and your kids will treasure these photos forever! But I digress… so let’s get back to this awesome family!

Mom and Dad were easy going and the Mom looked so great – if she did not have a baby in her arms, I would not have believed that she gave birth just recently. Grandparents were wonderful and up for anything and when they were not in photos they did a great job helping during the photoshoot – be it making the big sister laugh or holding my hand while I was balancing on a step stool taking photos:)

The baby was absolutely perfect – giving us great eye contact and looking super cute. And the big sister M. was beyond adorable. I don’t know what I did (I guess being silly/being myself did the trick) but big sister M. and I became best friends by the end of the session! She kept calling me Lini and according to her grandfather, the fact that she gave me a nickname meant that we were friends for life:)