Preparing for your Maternity and Newborn Session | Mariah Meyer Photography

Maternity

Generally any time after 32 weeks works well for maternity photos. You can book this as far in advance as you would like. Your significant other and other children are more than welcome to join you for photos! If something changes and we need to do photos earlier, or if baby arrives early and we can’t do them there is no fee or penalty for having to cancel or reschedule.

Mom has a variety of options for clothing. Jeans and a snug fit maternity top, bare belly outfits, a dress, a flowy gown, your outfit will set the base for the others if anyone else will be in photos with you. If you would like specific ideas feel free to reach out and we can chat!

For dad, generally nice jeans or khakis and a nice top that goes well with your outfit is all they will need.

The types of photos that we can do are the same whether we are in studio or outdoors. There are plenty of poses for couples as well as just mom. You may want to include things like infant shoes, onesie, ultrasound photos, a sign of some kind, a prop that you would like to use in their newborn photos once they are here. Be sure to let me know anything that you would like to do so we can be prepared.

Newborn

Typically to schedule newborn photos we will go about a week after your current due date and schedule the session a date around then. We can always move this around if we need to. This at least gets you on the calendar and booked. We then keep in contact and you will want to let me know when baby arrives.

If you are doing in hospital photos, you will want to let me know when you are IN labor so that I can be ready the following day to come for photos before you are discharged.

For lifestyle and studio photos you can let me know once baby is here and things settle down after birth for you and if we can keep the scheduled date and time or if we need to move it around.

Parents, what should you wear for photos? I always say to keep it comfortable and simple. Mama, whatever you are comfortable is totally okay. You do not need to get dressed up fancy. I assure you that some black leggings and a comfortable

top works perfectly. For dad, jeans or khakis and a nice shirt or polo works well. Stick to neutrals like greys, blues, tans, even darker greens for tops. Think earthy tones.

What should baby wear? Baby can wear anything to arrive to the session. Most infant clothing does NOT work well for photos. It ends up baggy, bunched up and just in the way for a lot of things. That’s not saying that you CAN’T have them in an outfit. We can discuss this before your session to make sure what you choose will work well. I have plenty of different colored wraps as well as knit outfits that can be used at the studio. If you have a certain wrap or set you would like to bring you are welcome to.

How can you prepare baby? There isn’t much involved to prepare baby for photos. I recommend trying to feed them before you arrive, however, that doesn’t always work out and its 100% okay if you need to feed them first before we start photos. Often times photos are a process of feed, burp, diaper, photos, repeat! If they have particularly dry skin, lotion isn’t a bad idea to try and reduce that. Otherwise just bringing anything you might need for them is all you’ll need to do to prepare baby.

There are many types of photos that we can do for newborn sessions. From family and dad/mom and baby to just baby by themselves and siblings photos. That is all included in your newborn session if you would like it. I encourage clients to bring any special items they would like in photos, or let me know any ideas they would like to try.