Eight days after Axton was born, we decided spur of the moment to do his newborn session. I borrowed some props from Christopher and headed to John’s. Upon arrival, I literally Googled something about newborn baby photos natural light, had about two minutes to try to figure out what I wanted to start with, and set to work.

We started photos about 2:30 and ended two hours later. The day was pretty perfect for light, with a cloud cover quite a bit. Babies are so sweet to work with, and Axton did great. I’ll share through the post what I used for location and background.

I use a Nikon D800 and most of these pictures were with my Tamron f2.8 28-75mm lens. I took some with Nikon f1.4 50mm lens. I did not use a flash.

Oh, and John cranked the heat way up in the house, so it was pretty toasty warm: perfect for Axton and pretty warm for the rest of us.

I began in the dining room, using pillows and a blanket for my background, and put him in a cute little sack. His bright eyes lent the perfect sparkle to the photos.

Next, we went to the nursery. The gray wall was an ideal backdrop. The south window let just enough light in through the curtains.

So I began experimenting. Doing some pictures with Baby and Mommy.

I used a chair or stool for height and worked to get some family pictures and stay with a clear focus in the tight space. Don’t you love how those teal greens worked together?

Next, we needed some pictures of Daddy and Son.

In the midst of that, I wanted a ring pose, and I tried a little different twist.

I originally wanted to try the black shirt so I could do the strong arm holding-baby-out photo. Although it didn’t turn out the way I had thought, the black shirt brought a dramatic look with the gray background, and I loved the result.

Next, we moved to the living room. As I set up for the basket photo, Dad and Mom went by on a walk, and John flagged them down and invited them in. It was great to have some company for the last part of our photo session.

For the black backdrop, I used two dining room chairs and clipped a black blanket on it. We swaddled Axton in the wrap, and then I put the gray blanket on the ground. We had a perfect amount of light coming in from the windows. For the family picture (see the last one), Dad and Mom held the blanket out because I needed the extra width to keep the background black.

I hope you enjoyed a peek into the newborn baby session!

Love,
Sarah

“By thee have I been holden up from the womb:
thou art he that took me out of my mother’s bowels:
my praise shall be continually of thee.”
Psalm 71:6