Why I Chose To Photograph My Own Son’s Session | Jack Alexander

Sarah Borchgrevink Photography, located in Northwest Harris County, is a full time newborn portrait artist serving Houston and surrounding areas. See more fun details about the latest squish, Jack Alexander, and why Sarah chose to do his posed newborn photos.

Introducing Jack Alexander  | The Chief to the Tiny Tribe of Wild Women

Good afternoon, friends! I am really excited about this particular blog post because it's all about introducing the latest member of the Borchgrevink family, Jack! This post also shares why I chose to photograph his posed newborn portraits myself.

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you may remember we announced this pregnancy in July when I was around 20 weeks pregnant. We purposely waited to find out the gender before telling everyone since we already have three little girls. They’re named Lucy, Emma and Amelia, however, we lovingly refer to them as the Tiny Tribe of Wild Women.

It turns out baby number 4 is a BOY! This was a really fun surprise and while all babies are wonderful and ultimately, the goal is a healthy bundle of joy, we truly are excited about adding a chief to the little tribe because parenting a boy is a new experience.

His due date was originally 12/15, which was super fun since my birthday is 12/14 and Amelia’s is 12/9, but he decided he wanted to cook longer and hung out for over a week before making his grand entrance!

Jack Alexander Borchgrevink was born at Cy Fair Hospital on December 23rd, 2017. His official birth time was 1:57 PM. Weighing 8 pounds, 4 ounces he is the perfect little man; he was also 20 inches long and his head was 14 and ½ inch, his chest 13 and ¼ inch. All in all, things went very smoothly! While you're here: check out what I recommend for packing a hospital back + must haves for delivering at Cy-Fair Medical Center. It's my fourth baby here, after all, ha! 

When it came to deciding on professional newborn portraits, I did book a fantastic in home lifestyle newborn photographer. After all, I am very excited about adding a new baby to our family and the lifestyle session will have a lot of family photos. I want to be in the images and I am looking forward to having truly lovely sibling shots, too. 

Nevertheless, for the posed portion it felt really personal. Jack is my last baby and this is my gift to him; to photograph him in his most precious state. There is a plethora of amazing newborn studios in Houston Texas, so this decision is not based on lack of talent by any means. The options are endless and I'm thrilled to be friends with many newborn artists who truly shine. While I was pregnant with Baby Boy Jack, I planned his session from the moment I saw the positive (+) sign, ha! I did not know his gender then, but I knew I could not wait to meet baby.

Being a mommy myself truly helps me identify with the exciting emotions surrounding the joy of bringing home a new baby. Whether it's your first or last baby, you spend months dreaming of their face, talking about names, decorating the nursery, preparing your home for this precious little life, and your heart is exploding because you already love him or her so much. It's unconditional love. Hearing the heartbeat for the first time is the most beautiful sound to a mothers ears; seeing their profile on the ultrasound makes you so happy, and sharing that experience with your spouse or partner leads you to feel closer to them. 

This in mind, I had a whole session set up for Jack before he even arrived. I made lists and wrote out a session plan. I broke his session up into about 4 days so I was able to concentrate on different aspects without feeling rushed. 

Day 1: Cozy and unique wrapping such as tootsie, potato, and womb. Check out my three favorite ways to wrap newborn babies, too!

Day 2: Macro Images (up close details like lips, toes, his chin, baby magic, ahhh!)

Day 3: Floor props like bucket, bowl, crate, and a wooden trench.

Day 4: Flokati rugs and naked bean bag posing 

Working with Jack was my love letter to him: one day, when he is married or graduates college, I will have timeless and gorgeous newborn portraits of him, the most precious and tender time in which he entered the world. I spent about 6 hours on these images, but they'll last for a lifetime and I will always have these images in an album to look back on and cherish. Newborn photography is *absolutely* an investment, however, you're commissioning an artist to preserve this incredibly special time for you - it is fleeting and one you can never capture again so by booking someone who specializes in posed newborn portraits you're selecting someone who will treat your baby's session with the utmost care, respect and love. 

Without further delay, present Jack Alexander Borchgrevink + my favorite images of him. If you check back in a few weeks I'll be blogging some wall art options and how we will be displaying these images in our home.

Wishing you a wonderful Thursday. All my joy to you friends!

Warmly,

Sarah

Thanks for visiting my blog to see more of Jack Alexander + tips and tricks to photographing your own newborn baby!

If you liked reading about newborn session ideas and why I liked documenting his first professional session, these topics may pique your interest, too! Enjoy, friends! :-)

• The Magic of Froggy Pose | How to Safely Create Magic + Step by Step
• Setting Your Business Apart Through Awesome Customer Service | Nine Ways to be the Best
• How to Incorporate Your Clients Newborn Props from Home

Specializing in timeless posed baby portraiture, Sarah Borchgrevink Photography is a Houston Newborn Photographer serving the surrounding areas including Houston metro & 610 area, Cypress, Katy, Spring, The Woodlands, Sugar Land, West University, Memorial & Galleria, Bellaire and The Woodlands, TX. See why Sarah offers the Best Newborn Photography. In addition to breathtaking newborn images, Sarah also offers stylish natural light family photography as well as dynamic outdoor maternity sessions for expecting couples.

Here's Where Sarah's Newborn Studio is Located:

 

Tricks to Implement Bean Bag Posing During Newborn Photography

Tips & Tricks for Posing Newborn Babies During a Studio Session by Houston Newborn Photographer Sarah Borchgrevink

Howdy! Thanks for stopping by my blog to read some tips and tricks I have learned when it comes to posing sweet babies during a studio newborn session. Many parents adore these stunning, curly poses because they replicate how baby is during their time in the womb. Their brand new nature is truly divine and they are my favorite subjects to photograph. If this is your first time here, welcome! A few fun facts: my name is Sarah Borchgrevink and I'm a Houston TX Newborn & Baby Photographer who specializes in posed newborn photography through the use of sweet, cozy, unique wrapping and also darling naked bean bag posing. I am often influenced by texture, color, textiles, and light and my styling results in timeless, classic and pure newborn portraiture. I have been photographing babies, full time, for about 3 years, though have also been working with families and maternity portraiture for 5. My heart belongs to newborn photography and I'm really excited to see you're at my blog. Let's get started.

Schedule baby accordingly

The first trick I have for you is the foundation of your newborn session: for baby to be the appropriate age for studio portraits. While every newborn artist does have their own preferences on specific dates, I personally prefer the first 14 days of life, but my absolute favorite days to have your little one in studio is 5-8 days new and fresh. While this does sound really early to most parents, you must keep in mind that the longer baby is out of the womb, the less curly they are and bendy. They also don't sleep as well once they're over 10 days. Sometimes parents call me when baby is around 4 or 5 weeks new and unfortunately, I cannot guarantee they'll receive the poses they see in my portfolio. I can offer some really sweet wrapped shots, however, for those naked and squishy adorable poses, we really need baby to be as new as possible. Most mothers book in the second trimester and notify me immediately once baby is earthside. For example, the next newborn I'll be seeing was born 2 days ago. Mom called last night to arrange her appointment. I offered her 3-4 days that fell within this week so I'll be seeing baby at 7 days fresh. 

Keep It Simple

Secondly, when working with newborn babies, don't worry if the pose is simple. Simple is good. Simple is beautiful. Simple is timeless and classic. Sometimes photographers feel like they have to accomplish every single pose known to man in order to be creative, unique or offer a gorgeous gallery to parents. My rule is that I offer 3-5 poses with several different angles, hats, wraps, or headbands. This alone can yield 15-20 different images full of variety. Paired with macro photos, which are those upclose and sweet details of baby's characteristics, such as nose, profile, toes or lips, you'll have many beautiful options to show the parents. By keeping it simple, you learn the flow that works for your own studio, you focus on improving, and also learn your own tricks to nailing those adorable, naked bean bag poses time and time again. Keeping your posing simple also does not create too many expectations for the baby. Remember: the baby is a person, too, and sometimes it's just too much on them to try every single pose you can think of. Choosing your favorite 3-5 will yield better results. 

Don't forget safety

Tip and trick nothing number three is to always keep baby safe. I cannot stress the importance of this enough! One way you can keep baby safe is making sure you use composites at the appropriate times. A composite image is when two or more photos are merged together in processing to create a new image. This is often done in Photoshop with the popular pose called "froggie" in which baby is sitting up with their hands holding up their head. When photographing this, you want to do several images and merge them together later on. This is a more advanced pose, but by being safe you will be able to feel more confident once you're no longer a beginner. I also think it's important to let clients and beginner newborn photographers know that these poses require skill and safety; professional newborn photographers, like myself, do not just stick baby on a backdrop and hope they can hold their heads up. In fact, we have newborn safety awareness month, every September,  for this very reason: because people try things they see online and think it's not difficult, when in fact, the could hurt a baby. See behind the scenes images of how the froggie pose is achieved.

To elaborate, in the images above, I keep my hands on baby at all times. I take images in which I am holding baby's head and she is never supporting herself. Then, I take more images in which I am holding her hands in place while keeping her neck stable. I keep my entire hand underneath her chin and upper arms. Then I merge the images together in processing, seen below, to create the final look.

The froggie pose is beautiful and sweet, but does require safety and skill. By seeing how it's done, I hope it inspires you to always use proper safety techniques. If you're a parent, I also hope it teaches you to ask photographers if they composite this image.

Firm Bean Bag that's tightly packed

The fourth tip I have for you is to make sure your bean bag is tightly packed and filled to the brim with packing peanuts. The more firm your bean bag is, the more supported baby is and this also helps to make sure baby does not sink into the bean bag. We want to see each adorable little toe, facial feature, and also make sure baby is curled up nicely. You can buy bean bag fill at many places like Amazon but I like to go to my local post office or UPS store and have it filled very tightly so it is super firm. 

Warmer is better

Because your womb, or uterus, is in the core of your body, baby is used to a warm environment of 98.6 degrees. Baby has spent 9 months in a warm hot tub and enjoys being in a warmer environment. Remember: baby cannot regulate their body temperature always, even if full term, and a baby's body surface is about three times greater than an adults, compared to the weight of his/her body (source - Stanford Children's). Because of this, babies lose heat rapidly. In order to pose baby in these sweet, curly poses and help soothe baby, it is best to create an environment that mimics the womb. Often, parents worry the room is too warm, but by keeping all of these facts in mind, it'll help you understand that by keeping the studio at an optimal temperature, baby is neither too hot or too cold and they can maintain a comfortable temperature. 

I personally keep my studio at 77 - 80 degrees Fahrenheit through the use of air conditioning. I also have several small, mobile space heaters on hand that can be placed 3 feet or so from the baby so that they have warm air when needed. Baby's comfort is always on the forefront of my mind. While we may feel a little warm, no one is ever sweating buckets. 80 degrees is the warmest it'll ever be. Here in Houston, that's almost chilly compared to the type of weather we usually experience, ha!

White noise

White noise is my fifth tip for you because like heat, this emulates the womb environment. When babies are growing, this is is what they hear. I use a white noise app on my smart phone, but you can buy many awesome options such as this one. I have white noise on after I greet the parents and help get them settled. Mom and Dad come in, get situated, undress baby, and we immediately start feeding baby. Once baby is being fed and is down to their diaper, I turn on the white noise and also make sure parents have the opportunity to ask any questions. 

Posing pillow sets

Posing pillow sets are paramount to your newborn sessions because they help keep baby safe, secure, and move them from pose to pose. Without a posing pillow set, you cannot scoop baby's face up into the light or have them supported enough to hold a pose. The posing does take time and these pillow sets will help you tremendously. I personally use the photoblock set, but if you're on a budget there are many options out there such as this affordable set. There are also even some nifty DIY options you can do, too! For instance, when I first started working with newborn photography, I used bags of rice, lentils or beans because they're firm and sturdy. To this day, I still keep them in my studio to help weigh down floor props like bucket or put behind baby's back when doing froggie pose so that they don't move forward. 

Keep your fabric taunt and tight

The final tip I have for you is to keep your fabric or backdrop taunt and tight when setting up. The more taunt and tight the fabric is, the less wrinkles you'll have to remove when editing the images during post processing and you'll also have a smoother, more seamless final look to your newborn images. Don't make things harder on yourself than they need to be! Take time to set up, use heavy duty clamps (I like these from home depot) and this will make sure the back drop stays in place. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog to read some of my favorite tricks and tips on newborn bean bag posing during your session! I hope you enjoyed reading about safely posing babies and were able to find some new ways to work with babies! 

Sarah Borchgrevink Photography is a Houston Newborn Photographer specializing in gorgeous posed newborn sessions. Her studio is located in Northwest Houston. In addition to breathtaking baby portraiture, Sarah also offers stylish natural light family photography as well as dynamic outdoor maternity sessions for expecting mothers and couples. Sarah joyfully serves the entire Harris and Montgomery county areas including North Houston, Cypress, Tomball, Spring, Jersey Village, The Woodlands, Magnolia, Conroe, Willis, Montgomery, Humble, Kingwood, Porter, New Caney, Waller, Memorial & West Houston, Katy, Fulshear, Sugar Land, Pearland, Hempstead, Richmond, West University, Rice Village and Porter TX. Connect to chat with Sarah today! Please consider booking your session at your earliest convenience in order to secure your appointments on the calendar.