How Newborn Sessions Work | Milaca Minnesota Motherhood and Baby Photographer

How We Work:

I start planning for your newborn shoot way before your little one arrives because we can’t always tell exactly when they’ll be born. Sometimes it’s later or they could decide to arrive a little earlier. I also understand that you’ll need some time to rest after the birth of your baby, so this is taken into consideration when planning the shoot.

We aim to schedule newborn sessions between day 3 and 12. This time period is when baby is squishiest and smallest. Babies bigger than 10 lbs can start to have issues fitting in some of the props. If your baby is older you can still have beautiful photos. Baby is considered a newborn until the end of their 3rd week. If baby is premature it works really well to schedule for their due date.

Babies also tend to sleep more often during those first few weeks, which helps me get the best shots too.
If you’re unable to attend the shoot yourself due to a difficult birth, we can always schedule the shoot at home. In home portraits have a more lifestyle-type look and feel.

During the Session

Your session will last 3-4 hours. Please prepare for your session beforehand by following these recommendations.

When you arrive I will greet you and take you up to the studio. You can leave your shoes by the door when you come in. I will have a couple benches for you to sit on so please set your bags on the floor and underneath. My studio is big enough for small and medium sized families. For larger families I would recommend the in home session or renting a studio out of St cloud, a beautiful rental barn in Mora or another MN studio.

Once you are settled in to the studio we will have you change baby’s diaper, I will wrap baby and then you will nurse your baby to sleep.

I will work baby into a pose on a prop while you get yourselves ready to be in photographs. I cycle through poses on a prop or bean bag and then on mom and dad. This makes things super easy for baby. Then once we have exhausted a pose I will transition baby into another pose and do another cycle. Beanbag, prop, parents, siblings*, grandparents*. Each pose as it applies to each client. 

If baby fusses during posing it helps to have a pacifier on hand, even if you do not use one at home. I have been called a baby whisperer many times for my unique ability to get babies to accept pacifiers.

For the family members

I recommend to bring with snacks and water bottles for the other family members. We keep the studio quite warm to make working with a nude baby much easier.

Once we have cycled through enough poses/looks We will wrap up the session. This can be as little as 2.5 hours or as many as 4.

After your Session

I will post a fully edited sneak peek for you on Social media within 48 hours. Then I prepare a proofing gallery of the best images from your session. This gallery will be edited for exposure and white balance. Background elements, flakey skin and other distractions will not be fixed in this gallery. The sneak peeks are designed to give you a good idea of what your final images will look like. This gallery will arrive via email within 48 hours.

Choosing your Images

Visit your gallery, select your favorites and send them to me. There will be a super easy way to do that in the gallery. Then I will edit the ones you select. Please allow 2 weeks for this final gallery to be sent to you. This final gallery will be your shopping cart. You will be able to select from any of our products and display items. You will make your selections and check out. If you need help designing wall arrangements we have the ability to import a photograph of the space you would like to design and you can place your artwork up on your wall. Just ask and we can set this up for you.

Getting your Art to you

After you have placed an order and paid we will order everything from the lab. We have everything ship to us so that we can review the items and if necessary make changes and order again. This ensures that you will receive only the finest quality. Once your order is ready for pick up you will be sent a link to schedule a time to do so.

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Nicole Hollenkamp is a custom portrait photographer in Milaca, Minnesota specializing in maternity, newborn, birth, and milk bath photography. Serving the Northern Twin Cities area, including (but not limited to) Anoka, Becker, Big Lake, Bock, Clearwater, Elk River, Foley, Foreston, Garrison, Gilman, Glendorado, Isle, Maple Grove, Milaca, Monticello, Oak Park, Ogilvie, Onamia, Otsego, Princeton, Rice, Rogers, Sartell, Sauk Rapids, St Cloud, St. Joseph, Waite Park, Watab, Zimmerman  and More.