The Woodlands at-home newborn photography

Welcoming Sawyer with a gorgeous in-home newborn session in The Woodlands, TX

This precious in-home newborn session celebrates the arrival of Sawyer Terese, the first baby for parents Hannah and Austin. Sawyer is also the first tiny human for fur brother Gus, a sweet puppy who is so excited about the new baby!

A precious baby nursery in pink & soft greens

Hannah and Austin needed a few more minutes to get Sawyer dressed for her first-ever photo session, so I popped up to the nursery to get a few photos of Sawyer’s room. Hannah went with soft pinks and greens for her daughter’s nursery, with floral accents. The rose-print curtains flow perfectly with the decor above the crib.

In fact, if you think your nursery is missing extra sparkle, patterned curtains are a wonderful way to add a little magic to baby’s room. By keeping patterns and prints to a minimum everywhere else, curtains like these in Sawyer’s room add visual interest by incorporating decorative elements from the room.

Although you may not have considered it yet, baby’s room will likely change several times in the coming years! Whether you’re updating the decor as he/she grows or preparing the nursery for another child, it’s wonderful to have professional photos so you’ll remember exactly how the space looked when baby came home!

I always love these quiet few moments in a baby’s nursery, just before the session officially begins. I get to see how hard mom and dad worked to prepare the perfect place for their infant, and every nursery is filled with so much personality. These are such happy, hopeful spaces where couples spent months dreaming of their little loves.

Celebrating a family of three!

Hannah and Austin have so many beautiful spaces in their home that would have worked perfectly for this in-home newborn session; Hannah said she liked the lighting best in their upstairs living area. This cozy, large room features a light colored couch and a yellow blanket that provided a perfect pop of color behind this family of three!

For this series of photos, we varied which parent was holding Sawyer and how they interected with baby and each other. Most newborn sessions consist of mama and dad gazing down at baby, always with the softest smiles, while I capture what parenthood looks like in the early days of baby’s life.

Mama’s heirloom lace headband

Hannah wanted to incorporate a headband that she herself wore as a newborn; I absolutely adore using heirloom items in newborn sessions! I’m sure the photos of Sawyer in her mama’s headband brings back all kinds of memories for Hannah’s mother.

With Sawyer in a light, mint-green gown and mama Hannah in a soft pink long dress, the girls were perfectly dressed for photos in Sawyer’s nursery, decorated in similar colors!

By photographing Hannah standing and seated with Sawyer, she has a wide variety of shots to choose from in her photo gallery. Honestly, I also like to include some seated shots just so mamas can get in a few snuggles and a few moments of rest during the photo session!

We also worked in a few shots of Sawyer in my tiniest flower crown, which looked so pretty along with her light yellow swaddle blanket.

Quiet snuggles with dad

Sawyer is the first grandchild on Austin’s side of the family, which means she’ll probably be the center of attention for quite some time! It’s amazing how even tiny newborns like Sawyer look even more delicate and fresh when dad holds them.

I think the baby snuggles with dads are every mama’s favorite moments from the session. A wonderful benefit of an in-home newborn session is it’s a slow, purposeful morning where all you have to do is focus on your new baby. There are no distractions from phones, emails or texts. For some moms, it’s the first times she gets to savor watching her husband as a brand new father.

The photo above is one of my favorite ways to photograph a newborn in dad’s hands. I love how it captures how strong and protective he is, and it’s also a great shot for showing off baby’s hair swirls and any fun accessories, like this flower crown.

Baby snoozing softly in a basket

We wrapped up our morning together with Sawyer snoozing happily in my Moses basket. I love these shots because they’re simple and beautiful. Babies are sometimes swaddled; other times, they’re just comfortably snuggled inside the basket in a onesie or gown.

Underneath the ivory or gray flokati that you see in the basket is a newborn posing set. A squishy but firm donut pillow encircles baby to ensure they stay in one place. There are two firm pillows inside the donut to provide some cushion, and a small circular pillow is underneath baby’s head to prop it up just a bit. This pillow set is what gives the impression of babies snuggled perfectly inside the basket, and it’s also what keeps them fully supported.

These photos capture Sawyer as she sleeps peacefully; I don’t pose or manipulate newborns in any way. I prefer a completely natural approach; these are often the moments when parents catch a glimpe of how their babies looked in ultrasound photos!

Parents often have strong feelings about whether they prefer posed newborn or lifestyle/unposed newborn photo sessions. Even with my own children, I vastly preferred the unposed approach because it allows parents to participate so much more in the session.

If you opt for a posed newborn session, typically that takes up most, if not all, of your session time. This means very few, if any, photos of you with your newborn. We had posed newborn photos taken of my first daughter, before I was a photographer myself, and one of my biggest regrets is that I’m not in a single newborn session photo with her.

Celebrating life with a baby girl

What a beautiful morning with this sweet family of three (plus Gus)! Hannah and Austin have absolutely beautiful memories that will forever capture life with Sawyer, just shy of one month old.