I get lots of questions about what a posed newborn mini session is versus a posed newborn full length session so…how about a blog post to clear up the confusion, eh?
Posed Newborn Mini Session
The posed newborn mini session is a great way to document your newborn if you’re looking to capture those teeny newborn features without needing/wanting all the bells and whistles of the full session. The mini session is one hour in length and includes wrapped images of the baby in buckets and props. The session is baby only and the diaper stays on so that I can move faster and not worry about the inevitable messes that happen when you take a diaper off a newborn!!! 🤣 I use a smaller variety of backdrops, wraps and props (usually between two to three set-ups) which yields between five to ten fully edited digital images.
I do ask that you plan to feed your baby either right before you leave the house – if you live within 15 minutes of the studio – OR plan to arrive early and feed your baby before the session starts so that we can utilize the entire hour for posing and photography. Otherwise the end result will be smaller ❤️
Full Newborn Session
The full newborn session is 2-3 hours in length (let’s be honest…it’s usually about 3, I rarely get it done in 2) and it includes the full workflow: tasteful nudey shots on my table (3-4 separate poses on two different backdrops) then usually 2 different prop shots (buckets/baskets/beds/heart bowl/dog bed) and, if chosen, the family add-on.
When a client chooses the family add-on (*), there are lots of different options:
- mom + dad + baby
- mom + baby
- dad + baby
- sibling(s)+ baby
- mom + dad + siblings + baby.
*The Family add-on is intended for the nuclear family only.
In terms of organizng the session, my ideal scenario is when the baby arrives fast asleep and I can get to work immediately on her nudey shots to get those done. While some nudey shots can be done with an awake baby, I don’t prefer it. I can move much faster with a sound asleep babe and, if she wakes up in the middle of the prop shots, it’s totally fine! Typically, for those, baby’s arms and legs are swaddled so awake status is no issue. In fact, I *love* catching wide eyes during prop shots. Those inquisitive peepers are the windows to your baby’s soul – and her soul is the purest it’s ever going to be Right Now.
Once we get those nudey shots done, I like to move on to the prop shots and then do the Family Shots last. Of course, that’s only ideal if there are no older siblings to photograph (and the majority of my newborns are the first born so it works out!). If there *are* big sibs, no problem! We’ll just switch up the order and do Family Posing first thing. Once we’ve finished family posing, we’ll send dad home with big sib(s) and mom will stay behind to catch some peace and quiet while I work with the baby. If baby is awake from the Family Session, not a big deal! I’ll start with the wrapped prop shots (and get those peepers!) and eventually baby will fall asleep.
How Soon Do We Get Our Images?
There’s no difference between the newborn mini session and the newborn full session here. My turn-around time for any gallery is about two weeks. Sometimes, when I’m overbooked, I may promise a three week turn-around time but I will check with you about it first – I never want you wondering where your images are. I gained one client recently who had a session done with another photographer…and then that photographer fell off the map. Phone calls were ignored, emails were not responded to, texts went unanswered. This client finally reached out to me in a panic to have another maternity session done because they had no idea whether they would ever see the photos from this other photographer – we got it done and they were *very* happy.
Two to three weeks…never more, I promise (unless something crazy happens and then I WILL BE IN TOUCH).
Special thanks to baby Zoey (in her full session) who modeled all my points in this blog post – she was so good to me (asleep *and* awake 🤣) ❤️
Did I Answer All Your Questions?
Let me know in the comments! And have a wonderful day!
Liz Viernes Photography is based near Hanover, Maryland, and specializes in maternity, fresh 48, posed and lifestyle newborns and first year milestone portraits.
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