Capturing That Newborn Freshness in the Hospital (Dayton, Oh Fresh 48 Photographer}

As a Birth and Fresh 48 Photographer, my heart is broken for expecting families right now. In the midst of this COVID-19 sh*tstorm, plans for having births, hospital freshness and even newborn moments captured by a professional photographer have come to a screeching halt. I’m hoping that this resource will help expecting families and our amazing labor/delivery/mother/baby nurses work together to capture this fleeting time in a beautiful way. You can use your phone or your fancy camera if you have one. Either will work.

Here are my Top 10 Tips…

1. Turn off all overhead lights and use only window light. The more natural light you have coming in the better. So open those curtains WIDE!

2. Turn OFF the flash. This is super important!

3. If you have access, the white wrap newborn shirt (see above) is perfect for timeless photos. Just this and a diaper is great! It’ll leave all of those perfect little details easily visible to capture.

4. A simple swaddle blanket will also work. So use what you have, just remember that simple is better. Busy colors and patterns are distracting.

5. Utilize the hospital bassinet when possible (see below for ideas).

6. Move around. The key is to move yourself, not the baby. You can get tons of shots just from moving your own feet (shoot from above, get close, back up).

7. Don’t forget details! (birth stats card, hospital bracelets, toes, hair, lips, profile, that belly button cord clip…)

8. Lose the pacifier..it’s bulky, distracting and covers all of those sweet features.

9. Get low or shoot from above to reduce background clutter in the room.

10. Don’t forget to grab a few shots of baby with mom & dad!

I hope you find this helpful! If you’re a client of LNP or a patient of one of our treasured nurses who use this resource and would like for me to edit a few of your photos for you, please email them to @lindsaynicolephoto@gmail.com and I’d be thrilled to do that for you.

*Scroll on for some inspiration!

Stay safe, Stay healthy!

All my love,

Lindsay