It’s no secret that moms love to take pictures. A piece of your heart is literally walking around outside your body, growing and changing every day. You want to capture every minute – especially in the early days.

My daughter Ellie, at three days old.

I took the above image when my youngest daughter, Eleanor, was just three days old. I whipped out my iPhone and attempted to pose her, but I was too exhausted to try to get anything better than this. Plus I had tons of time to try again, right? Wrong. I became very ill with pneumonia the following day, and it took me another month to fully recover. This is pretty much the only photo I have of my sweet Ellie during her newborn days.

A favorite from a recent newborn session.

This is from a recent newborn portrait session. What changed in the time between taking the two images? I invested thousands of dollars in photography equipment and software, spent countless hours receiving education and training from some of the most renowned newborn photographers in the world, and worked harder than I’ve ever worked in my life. It was so worth it, though – I wanted to be able to give other moms something that I didn’t have.

Newborn photography is so much more than pointing a camera and pushing a button. It’s lighting, angles, textures, technique, and above all, SAFETY. When you hire a newborn photographer, you are literally putting your baby’s life in that person’s hands. With that in mind, I’ve put together a brief list of reasons you should hire a professional for this monumental task.

1. You’re going to be exhausted. A newborn session should take 2-3 hours. That’s 2-3 hours you could be cat napping on the couch while resting assured that your baby is in capable hands, enjoying his or her first big photo shoot. You should be sleeping when baby sleeps, not worrying about taking the perfect picture!

2. There’s no getting this time back. It may seem like time is standing still during the pregnancy, but as soon as the baby is born, it will begin to fly. Your baby will never be as young or as teeny-tiny as she is today. I’m painfully aware of that fact every time I look at the one picture I have of Ellie as a newborn. I’ve taken many lovely photos of her since then of course, but I’ll never have what I give to my newborn clients.

Ellie at six months.

3. We’ll have everything you need. Have you seen Pinterest lately? There’s a million amazing ideas out there for newborn portraits. Wraps, baskets, tiebacks, flokati rugs, buckets, furs, mohair bonnets, flowers, headbands…the list goes on and on. With Amanda Wose Photography, all you need to bring is your baby. We have a vast selection of premium props in a variety of colors and styles. We’ll discuss your preferences and home decor during the consultation, and we’ll have coordinating props ready to go when you arrive for your session.

4. This is a monumental moment in your family’s legacy. Just as weddings are thoughtfully and professionally photographed, so should the birth of our children be. You created a human! This is a time to be documented, to be preserved forever in print, to live on your walls as art and bring enjoyment every day. We create heirloom products of the highest quality for our clients, so that you can rest assured that your investment will resist fading and warping for decades. 

I hope this post has been helpful! As always, please feel free to email me if you have any questions or to book a portrait session with Amanda Wose Photography. I look forward to preserving this amazing time in your life.