A Session With Natalie Maria Photography From Start To Finish

I promise a photo session with me will not stressful. It will be laid back, fun, and easy. I strive for relaxed and easy sessions…posing will mostly be guided and directed, and you don’t have to practice smiling or anything…just be yourself and know that you will have fun and we will capture some great shots.

Before we even meet for your shoot, you will have filled out a session form. I send these out to everyone…they provide me with information about your family, and act as a contract. I love hearing a bit about who you are as a family and it helps me to know certain things before the session.

Read on to learn how my maternity, newborn, and family sessions go from start to finish.

NEWBORN

When I arrive I will check out your home to find the best window lit spots (after taking off my shoes of course). I work with natural light, so I will need all artificial lights off. I tend to use the master bedroom and nursery the most, and sometimes the living room as well. I pick the best spots according to window light, and if there happens to be only one good window, we may do the entire session there…but don’t worry, I get tons of variety by simply moving myself and you around.

I like to start with the baby on their own…usually they are calm at the beginning of a session because they have just been fed, so I’ll get the shots of them alone first, and then I can have the baby in their parents arms the rest of the session if need be. If the baby is fussy off the bat, I may start with family shots until the baby calms down. If you need to nurse that’s totally fine…I will step out while you do, or if you would like nursing photos I can snap a few shots (that is one of the questions on my session form!).

I tend to start in the master bedroom on the bed…that is usually where I will do shots of the baby alone, and then I can easily go into family shots. I will also do sibling shots there…sometimes after the shots of baby alone, I will add the older kids. Then I’ll add in parents. After that I will get some shots of each parent individually with the baby. From there we will go to to the nursery. This is, of course, if the nursery is finished and has good light. We will make our way to the living room after the bedrooms, and sometimes I might even grab a shot or two in the kitchen depending on what your kitchen looks like!

I do have some requests to go outside, and if that is something you would like we’ll add that on at the end of the session. Sometimes there are other good spots in a home…a little alcove with a window in a hallway, a hallway itself, a den, kitchen, or even an office. We will go wherever the light takes us!

Family

My family sessions at home are similar to my newborn sessions…although if you have multiple kids we may shoot in your kids rooms as well.

My outdoor family sessions are a little different. We will meet at a location of your choosing…usually a park or lakefront, I’m also always up for a good urban session in downtown Chicago. The time I most often recommend is golden hour…it’s the hour before sunset. The light is golden and beautiful and really adds a gorgeous tone to the photos. In summer when the days are longest, golden hour can be a bit late….sometimes that can interfere with dinner and/or bedtime. But if you can rearrange your schedule a bit and give your kids some down time beforehand, it really is worth it. I do offer morning sessions as well, but I avoid mid-day as the light can be really harsh and unflattering.

I usually have a few spots at each location that I like to shoot. So we will be on the move a bit. I will start in one spot with some family photos, and then grab some shots of each child individually. We will move to a different spot and do some shots involving more action…I may have you holding hands and walking, or holding your little one and spinning, or maybe sitting together and tickling each other. I may grab more individuals of the kids, and then move to a third spot. We will do photos of parents individually with kids if desired, and maybe a few more family shots.

Certain locations provide more ideal spots than others, so sometimes we may move around a few times, and sometimes we may stay in one general location.

If you would like to see some of my favorite locations in and around Chicago click below!

Maternity

Maternity sessions can take place at your home or an outdoor location. If at home, I may avoid the bed and couch, because I want you standing more than sitting so we can see your belly clearly in the photos.

If this session is just you and your partner, I will get shots of you together and some of you by yourself. Your hands will be on your belly a good portion of the time, so just be aware of that going in! I will direct you as to how to stand and offer my suggestions on posing. If you have older kids we will absolutely involve them in photos too.

Maternity sessions tend to go a bit quicker than newborn or family…so if it’s just you and your partner, don’t be surprised if we’re done in 30 minutes.

So that is basically how my sessions go! Obviously there are certain circumstances that might end up changing things a bit, but this gives you a pretty good idea of what will happen.

I can’t wait for our session!