LIFESTYLE SESSION PREPARATION GUIDE

HOME

For the lifestyle newborn session, your house should be tidy. I’m here to focus on you and the interactions with your new baby but the background is also important. Just general cleaning is needed.

•  Clean the dust and basically put all stuff in the rooms where it belongs (no coats on the couch or towels on the bed sort of thing). 
• Giving windows or mirrors a quick wipe does go a long way because streaks or dust on these surfaces can be very obvious in photographs.
•  Open blinds and curtains in the living room, bedroom, and nursery.
•  Make the bed, fluff pillows, and clean off bedside tables.
•  Use natural color bed lining without patterns if possible (white/ ivory is the best choice).
•  Remove excessive furniture from the shooting area, if possible
•  Crank the heat (or turn off the air conditioning). The adults may feel a bit hot and uncomfortable, but the baby will be toasty and happy.
•  Hide rubbish bins.
•  All internal lights — including lamps — are OFF.
• Try a vase, candles, fruit bowl, etc — but keep it simple. 

I will probably use some of your home décor, furniture, etc… I may need to move some things around or take frames off the wall. It’s really about getting the shot and avoiding distractions in the images.

BABY

•  The morning of your session, dress baby in a loose outfit that zips or snaps up the front with a loose diaper and no tight socks to avoid marks on sensitive skin. You can swaddle the baby in a warm blanket until I arrive. 
•  If the baby’s skin is a little dry or flaky, try applying a small bit of baby lotion to those spots the day before our session.
•  Please feed the baby before my arrival so as to make her/him asleep. I highly recommend if you’re solely breastfeeding pump and bottle feed your milk for your baby’s session.
•  One more important thing is to keep the baby awake before the session so that she/he is nice and sleepy. You can play with baby, talk with baby, maybe even give h​er/him a bath before the session — whatever it takes to keep the baby alert for an hour or two.

WHAT TO WEAR

• Keep in mind that I’m documenting a day in your life, so keep it real by wearing what you’re most comfortable in and by being yourself. 
• When choosing clothes for family members please try to stay with natural pastel colors without bright prints, logos, or patterns. The good choices are white, light grey, beige, light blue, etc. 
• Try all your clothes BEFORE the session to be sure that it fits well.
• The house will be warmer than usual so dress appropriately for the temperature.
• Please do not use bright or dark-colored nail polish.
• Moms, keep make-up looking as natural as possible. Avoid using too much hairspray; soft hair photographs best with newborns. Avoid long earrings or necklaces. We want all the focus to be on you and your baby! 
• Dads, if you’re wearing a new tee shirt be sure to iron out the sleeve crease in advance.