With the State of Massachusetts beginning a phased reopening last month, lots of questions from clients have arisen. The most common question from families with a 0-3 month old is: what kind of poses can happen with an outdoor newborn session?

Outdoor Newborn Sessions: 0-3 Months

From 0-3 months, the typical child does not have great head control. They can’t quite sit up, crawl, or do tummy poses very well. What is a photographer to do? The answer is: a lot of the same things we would do indoors!

The lifestyle genre of newborn photography has a huge focus on family connection. This makes it easy to transition to outdoors because many of the poses I do are done in parents’ (or sibling’s) arms! Instead of your bedroom or living space as a backdrop, we have the beautiful outdoors.

Can You Get Enough Variety?

Yes! Think of this like an outdoor family session. So much can be done even with an infant-in-arms. We have different backdrops, different lighting, and many kinds of poses that can be accomplished outdoors. Detail shots can be taken in parents’ arms!

How will you get sibling shots outdoors?

It’s true, with indoor newborn sessions, I usually lay siblings on the bed together and stand over them. This doesn’t work for social distancing! If the bigger sibling is 3 or older, it’s pretty easy to accomplish outdoors. They’ll simply sit on the quilt/blanket you bring and hold their new baby. Most are really excited and proud to show me how they can!

If you have a smaller age gap and the “big” sibling is 2 or under, it is a little more challenging. Two year olds are not always reliable baby holders! In that case, I get creative with composition. We may have one parent holding the baby and one holding the big sibling. I will direct them to interact and focus on their connection. By composing the image in a way that highlights the kids, it won’t feel like a full family portrait!

What if our baby is fussy?

This is a valid concern! I treat an outdoor newborn session just like I would treat an indoor newborn session. We are baby-led, leaving plenty of time for feeding and soothing. If you anticipate that your baby might be fussy, I would plan to bring a swaddle, a pacifier, bottles if you’re bottle-feeding, and don’t forget snacks/treats for your big kid. A surprising number of fussy babies feel very soothed by the outdoors and you might find they’re calmer than they normally are indoors!

I’m sad that the images won’t look like a traditional lifestyle newborn session!

This is understandable. Many parents have a vision in their head during their pregnancy of snuggly photographs in their beautiful nursery that they worked so hard to design. I am sure that vision never included a pandemic! The images will look different but different is not always bad. This is a moment in history that we are all living through! Ten years from now, you will tell your 10 year old about the year they were born. How their photographs are special because they are different.

Still craving those nursery shots?

Book an in-home milestone session at 6 months, or 12 months! Eventually we will get back to being safe indoors. Your baby will be in their nursery for quite a while. In-home sessions are beautiful at any age. In the meantime, let’s all embrace the outdoors! Who knows, maybe outdoor newborn sessions will become a lasting trend.

XOXO- Lyndsay