Integrating lifestyle sessions into newborn sessions. I want you to think about something. This is gonna help guide your sessions. I was at a session, I don't know, a couple of years ago, and I'm thinking to myself, okay, lifestyle and newborn photography. Everything is guided by the baby. Kind of except babies can't walk, babies can't talk, babies can't really do anything. How can I start thinking about newborn lifestyle photography? You know, why don't we integrate the baby within a family lifestyle session? So the family is gonna be interacting. The baby's kind of a prop. Kind of. We're gonna story tell, baby just happens to be there. Show life at that moment. I know she was just saying, we wanna show life as it is right now. We don't want them to forget. Go with the flow. We will use this phrase for the next, forever. For the whole class and you will see why, okay? We're gonna need to go with the flow. Be flexible. Create some actions to cause a reaction. So what do you think I did...

in this photo right here? I set mom and dad in the back with the baby. I pretty much typically position them first. And then I told the siblings, "Hey you guys, go be silly on the bed. Go do your thing. Go snuggle." They started tickling each other. I concentrated on them and then the parents are in the background. That's real. This is life, this is their third child, life's chaotic. They now have four kids. At the time, this was how it was. It's just really, really important to create interactions in order to get some natural moments happening. Connects you with your families. Allow for more time. So how is lifestyle newborn different? Number one, allow for more time. For typical regular family lifestyle sessions, which we talked about in my previous class not too long ago, we talked about how the sessions last about an hour and a half. For newborn lifestyle sessions, I book one a day, I typically do them in the morning, and we're gonna get into those details, but just you need to make sure that you allow for more time. You don't wanna feel rushed. I'm always having to slow myself down. I'm just like this all the time. And you don't want parents to feel that. You don't want parents to feel rushed. Allow for more time. Grab some wrap shots. You're gonna grab some wrap swaddle shots in the bed. That's how it's gonna differ from full lifestyle sessions. We'll get into all these details in a little bit. Even though babies don't move, something is always happening. If the baby's awake, the baby's looking at you, the baby's crying, the baby's stretching, the baby's doing something. Let go of all the fears of perfection. We're always worried about every single image having to be totally perfect. Everything has to be compositionally perfect, the lighting has to be perfect, mom and dad have to look happy, the two year old has to look happy. That is not gonna happen, ever, ever. Unless they live in a glass house and they are plucked off of some island. That's not gonna happen. And you need to prepare mom when you walk in the door about this. The biggest thing with this with going with the flow, you need to make sure that you tell the parents. If the siblings need a break, give them a break. All of these go with the flow moments, and we're gonna really get into going with the flow when you see the live shoot happen. Showing your services. How are we gonna gain some lifestyle clients? Show your services. Make sure your website's clear. Are you gonna add to your services, are you gonna take away your services? So who right now out in the audience, I'm just curious, has lifestyle photographs on their website? Who does not? Out of those of you who do not, who plans on shooting lifestyle? Okay, this is a problem. (class laughs) Who's gonna hire you if you don't have any lifestyle pictures on your website? Are you blending services together? Who likes to do both? Who likes to do posing? Who likes to do posing and lifestyle? Who out of those people don't have anything on their website with lifestyle? (class giggles) Do you see where I'm going with this? This is a problem, right? Are you getting rid of everything altogether and go for it, or are you just gonna start gradually adding on? These are all things you have to think about when we start changing your mindset about how you're gonna be shooting. When you can let go of the perfection, just remember your clients will too. Let them know that while you're gonna influence the shoot, while you're there, you'll be capturing the in-between moments as well. I always tell my clients never look at me unless I tell you to, especially dads. Dads just feel like they need to. I don't know. It's always like mom snuggling the baby, there's the siblings snuggling mom and the dog looking at the baby and here's dad. And so you need to guide dads quite frequently. But you only can influence things so much. You can gently direct families into a position. Let's go over to the couch over here. I want you guys to snuggle, I want you to look at the baby. Then they need to do their thing. And that's how you're gonna create those natural moments. It's so important to communicate these with your clients.

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Emily Lucarz

Emily Lucarz is a newborn and family photographer located in St. Louis Missouri. She began her career, like many photographers, after the birth of her first child in 2009. Known for her happy personality and extreme patience with children, she has quickly become the most sought after family photographer in her area, booking consistently almost a year in advance. Emily credits her love of people and outgoing personality to help her business grow the way it has.

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topics covered in this class

Family & Lifestyle Newborn Photography Portrait Photography Digital Photography

Ratings and Reviews

JennMercille

Oh my goodness!!! This was such a wonderful class. Not only is Emily a very gifted pro, she is the personable mentor that makes learning simple and the fun big sis you want to be around. She is a wealth of information and a total open book about it all. Being in her studio audience was so much fun, and the time flew by way too fast. I highly recommend this class not only to newbies trying to find their style and refine their technique, but also to seasoned pros looking to tweak their art with a creatively authentic perspective. As a newborn photographer with an established studio business model, I cannot wait to infuse what I have learned into my style and incorporate her business genius into my session and pricing structure. Thank you Emily Lucarz for sharing your creativity, knowledge and uplifting energy with us both in the class and behind the scenes! You are awesome!

Jessie Fultz

Buy this course! If you are at all interested offering lifestyle newborn sessions, whether you are a new photographer or you have been in business for years, buy it! It's 100% worth your time and money and you won't regret it. Emily is so fun and genuine which makes learning from her such a joy! Not only does this course go over troubleshooting different scenarios that are bound to happen during some sessions, but Emily also gives all sorts of other tips that you wouldn't even know you needed to know until she offers up the advice. It's fun to watch her interact with her clients to ensure that she is able to make beautiful pictures in such a natural setting. Thank you Emily and CreativeLive for coming together to make this course happen! I am beyond thrilled that I was able to watch these last two days and learn SO much!!

Hiba Alvi

Emily is amazing! I love how detailed she is and tells you how it is. It is nice she shares her personal journey and what she does - which is great! Love it and would highly recommend this course! I don't have a studio, and normally travel to clients home to do photoshoots - so all the tips here are more than helpful! I am so excited to do my upcoming photo session this weekend - can't wait to put these tips to use!

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Integrating Lifestyle Photography into Newborn Sessions

Integrating Lifestyle Photography into Newborn Sessions

Lesson Info

5. Integrating Lifestyle Photography into Newborn Sessions

Lessons

Class Introduction

What is Lifestyle Newborn Photography?

Why Are You a Photographer?

Why Shoot Lifestyle Photography?