Being an Austin-area newborn photographer means that I’ve seen a lot of unique Austin newborn photography (after all, our slogan is “keep Austin weird”). Sometimes, parents want to include an out-of-the-ordinary prop in their photoshoot, while others want to keep it simple. It’s ultimately up to the parents. In the case of newborn sessions, the client does know best.
Baby Valentina’s newborn session was a gorgeous, classic newborn photoshoot that let me use traditional pinks, rosettes, whites, and pearls. The result? Angelic pictures of this new little life without too many extra props. This session gave me the chance to focus solely on my subject!
Austin Newborn Photography: Meet Baby Valentina
Meet baby Valentina.
Her photoshoot was a last-minute, baby-only newborn session. Valentina’s mom, Olivia, called me to book a session when Valentina was only five days old. (Kudos to her, I would have been too tired to think about planning a photoshoot). We met four days later when Valentina was nine days old. You can see how little she looks in photos with props. She was a wee one!
You can especially tell how tiny she was in my newborn prop bed. I’ve used that bed in several sessions before hers, and usually, the babies take up a bit more room. Not little Valentina! She snuggled up into it like she were a full-sized person in a full-sized bed.
Olivia & Chance (Valentina’s dad) were worried that Valentina would not sleep through the session. Sleeping newborns are much easier to work with during photo sessions, and they give us the classic sleepy newborn look that parents covet in their newborn photos. However, when babies don’t sleep, it’s not a huge issue. Valentina wasn’t the sleepiest baby, but she was a sweetheart to work with.
Pinks, Whites, & Roses
I love all my newborn sessions. I especially love making newborn sessions personal.
Olivia & Chance were clearly excited to photograph their little girl when they came to me with this photography request. I could tell that they wanted Valentina’s newborn session to be all about the excitement of gaining a daughter. So, when Mom asked me to include pinks and whites in Valentina’s baby photos, I made sure to include as much as I could.
Working with colors allows me a lot of wiggle room. I love incorporating texture for contrast, as I did in the picture above. With the exception of Valentina’s hair color, her skin, headband, blanket, and background are all a similar color. I allowed lighting and texture to work their magic here, bringing out Valentina’s beautiful complexion and soft baby skin.
A Quick Turnaround
Quick turnarounds aren’t always possible for Austin newborn photography. Newborn photos can take some photoshop work to get right, depending on the circumstances. All newborn photographers take time to remove blemishes from pictures, sort through their photos, and work with lighting and contrast to take a perfect photo.
I knew how eager Olivia & Chance were to get these photos back, and who can blame them? Valentina is exceptionally photogenic. So, I managed to get these photos back to them two days after Valentina’s newborn session.
I’m happy with the way they came out, and I hope Valentina’s parents are, too.
Valentina looks perfect, and I had such a fun time working with traditional “little girl” colors to create a soft, snuggly, sweet set of photos. I hope one day Valentina can look back on these and see how much her parents wanted to capture her tiniest, sweetest moments.
I made Valentina’s last-minute newborn session work out, but I can’t always guarantee a quick turnaround on my photography sessions. Ideally, all newborn sessions are booked before you even meet your little ones in person! If your baby is due sometime soon and you want a session with them, book your session now. Trust me, you’ll want the time after your labor to rest, recover and spend time with your newest family member — not to scramble to find a newborn photographer last-minute.
