One of the questions that friends and family ask me most often is–when is the “right” time to take photographs of my new baby? Though there isn’t one “right” answer, I am going to tell you guys all the reasons why this is what I suggest to family, friends and clients alike. I love taking photographs of new babies, and I love kids. Anyone who knows me will tell you this, and there are so many photographers out there (especially portrait studios) who will tell you that you “HAVE TO” get your baby’s photographs made every three months during the first year.
Welp, I disagree. I think you should get your baby’s photographs done a little less often (gasp!). Let me tell you why…
First, newborn photos. Newborn photos are CRAZY important to get. Anyone who has EVER been a parent will tell you that your baby is only a newborn for a short time, and when I say short, I mean SHORT. Typically, newborn photographers will only take “newborn” pictures for the first 14 days of the baby’s life. This is when their behavior mimics the behavior in the womb, and that’s how we get those adorable, squishy poses out of your sweet babies.
This is gorgeous Ashland. See how she is so comfy all squished together like that? You can’t do that with a 1 month old baby.
This is Abigail at just about a week old. She slept wonderfully (once we got her asleep), and it’s all because of her age!
This is Alison, and she was AMAZING. I was able to pose her like this because she was still a newborn.
Alison again. Who doesn’t love a baby in a bucket?
This is also a great time to get some photographs with new big brothers/sisters. The baby will let anyone hold him/her. These boys are the cutest!
So cute. I can’t stand it.
Beautiful Lucia at 9 days old. She snuggled up perfectly, and I love her.
Babies change so quickly the first few months, and the next time I suggest having photographs done (by me, duh!) is when they are around 4 months old. The reason for this one is pretty simple. Most four month olds can hold their heads up pretty well. A lot of 3 month olds cannot. Both of my boys had gigantic heads(seriously) and had trouble holding their heads up for long periods of time when they were 3 months old. But, by four months old they did amazing. They were also still small enough that they weren’t rolling around a TON, and they are fairly immobile, which is great too because then you can use a lot of props.
This is the perfect example of the head situation. Crosby has a giant head, and by 4 months he did an amazing job holding it up to capture this gorgeous image.
Another bonus is that they are so much more expressive by four months old. I get a ton of variety of expressions–smiles, gurgles, coos, and serious faces too!
You can also still get away with a bit of naked-ness.
I love the natural, playful tone of this image.
Cute boy.
The next time to take photos should be between 6-8 months. In my opinion, you should be closer to 8 months than to 6 months. By this time, your little one is doing all sorts of new things. Most importantly, sitting up by themselves pretty well. This opens up a whole new level of photographs. Some babies do this earlier, which is why I have a range here. However, by eight months the majority of little ones are sitting up pretty well and are able to do a lot of different things, some are crawling, and some are even pulling themselves up which again mean that you will have a great variety of images to choose from!
So much expression by this age! I love it!
Crawling opens up a whole new world for pictures!
So does sitting up! What a big girl!
Another thing I love about this age is that I feel like you can FINALLY do things with cute outfits. Babies no longer look uncomfortable in clothes, or like they are too big for them!
Cutie.
Just cute.
Crosby is so excited to be sitting up!
And the differences in expressions are amazing!
More props too!
Then, last at one year old! I love one year pictures! Babies can pull themselves up, most are standing on their own, some are walking (or walking holding on to Mama or Daddy’s hand, which is just as cute!); and also…CAKE SMASHES. I just love everything about one year pictures.
There is NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING cuter than twin girls.
Love this little guy. How cute is he? He was a walking fool at his one-year session.
Love it! They can sit (safely) in chairs now, and stand with them. It’s just so cute.
Babies standing up. So cute.
Intense cake eating. I love it.
Welp, that’s what I suggest for your baby. Once they are over a year, I would still do one more session at 18 months, and after that things tend to slow down, so yearly sessions should be good! Though, I do love a good themed session once-in-a-while too.
To set up your session with Rebecca Hoyle Photography check out my website, or click the contact me button under this post to email me!