Having a child changes your entire life. It is heartbreaking, joyous, exhausting and completely wonderful. It is also a whirlwind. This is the reason why so many families are prioritizing newborn photography in Birmingham to capture those perfect (and perfectly imperfect) moments with their new babe. Obviously, you can sit down with your tired parent brain and google “family photographer in Birmingham” who specializes in newborn photoshoots. You will then find 5,000 options and be forced to choose the perfect one for your family. Let me make things a bit simpler for you with a few pro tips:

1. Safety

There are numerous factors you need to consider and the safety of your newborn is the most essential. Word of mouth and online reviews are a great way to get a read on a photographer’s personality. For a newborn photography session you are going to want someone who is flexible and patient. Someone who will not force your little baby into an awkward pose. Someone who will stop the session so that you can do a feeding if that is all the baby wants. Someone who will remember to give your whole family room to breath, snuggle and feel the love.

One more note on safety….I am vaccinated but am more than willing to wear a mask with a filter to your session. I will wash my hands immediately upon arrival and ask you to do all the handling of your little one. I will also refrain from bringing any of my own blankets or props unless you have requested something in our correspondence leading up to the session date.

2. Aesthetic

As I mentioned, you are going to find 5,000 photographers in your area ready for hire. I would recommend using your gut here. Breeze through the images that pop up with each website and the companies that make you stop for one entire internet second are the ones that most likely align with your sense of aesthetic. If you are drawn to emotive, genuine images of family love then Fossil Photography just might vibe with you.

3. Photographer’s experience

For a newborn photography session, I feel that experience truly does matter. Lighting is unpredictable at an in-home session. Lord knows that a newborn’s mood is unpredictable. Parents’ are tired and typically don’t have a lot of ideas on what they want during the session. Gentle guiding (not quite the same as posing), a good base of knowledge on using natural light and flash photography and experience of photographing with less than cooperative tiny humans but still finding a path to capturing beautiful imagery go a long way to creating a positive experience and images that you will cherish. Fun fact, I always wear white or light gray to my newborn sessions so that I don’t have any weird colors bouncing off me onto your perfect babe’s skin tones. What a pro, right?

4. Budget

You can spend a used car price tag amount or find someone that is just starting out who is willing to gain the experience/portfolio boost for a quick $50. My advice is find someone that aligns with hot tips #1-3 first and then find a photographer from that pool whose budget you are comfortable with. Keep in mind that photographers put a lot of time into communicating with each client before and after the session, traveling to and from your home, sorting through and editing every valuable image with painstaking care. This adds up to a lot of hours and that doesn’t even touch on the investments we have in all of our camera and editing gear. We work our butts off but I think that all the good ones love it and wouldn’t have it any other way. <3

Contact the Fossil Photography.

I truly hope that these tips were helpful. At Fossil Photography, we are honored to capture all the feels of this fleeting time in your family. If you are looking for newborn photography in Birmingham, we hope to hear from you and to continue documenting your family’s life in the years that follow.