Though every photo session is tailored to suit your needs, I have outlined a few tips to help you prepare for your shoot:
Prenatal
During a prenatal photo shoot, I take a ton of mom by herself in a variety of clothes and wraps, incorporating anything personal that she would like included in her photo shoot such as a teddy bear, baby shoes or blanket, or possibly a family heirloom. Dad is more than welcome, even encouraged, to join mom in the photo shoot, as are other children.
Babies
Once baby arrives, I usually start the session with family photos, then photograph mom with baby, dad with baby, tons of baby by him/herself, and all of the bits and pieces (head, feet, bum, hands...). Again, I encourage you to bring anything personal that you would like included in your photo shoot. Moms and Dads, please be sure to bring a plain black shirt as I will use you as a backdrop for some of the images.
So many people ask, "When is the best age to bring my baby in for photography?" My answer is, anytime! Babies grow and change every day. They do different things at different stages, so it just depends on which stage you want to capture in your photo shoot. Within the first month, we get the teeny-tiny baby moments where baby is more willing to be positioned and cuddled. At three months, baby is focusing and smiling! At six months, they might be sitting. At nine months, they are on the move! Each stage is amazing!
Kids
I work to capture kids' personalities by making them comfortable. I play upbeat children’s music to help get them in the mood to smile and have fun! While I like to keep things simple so as not to distract from the true stars of the show, I do have a selection of props that I use to evoke specific moods and expressions! As children can be unpredictable, I am flexible and willing to follow their lead throughout the session! Often, they do something more spectacular than anything I can dream of.
Families
Family sessions usually include shots of the entire family together; mom with the kids; dad with the kids; mom and dad together; the kids together and individually. My studio can accommodate families as large as 17 people while the outdoor location of FishCreek enables me to photograph even larger groups.
Clothes
For clothing, I recommend keeping it simple with either jeans, khakis or black pants. On top, black or white is classic, but please wear what you're most comfortable in -- something coordinated without a lot of patterns works best. For prenatal, I recommend bringing a white tank top as well as a selection of clothing that you think will look nice in a photograph. I also have a number of wraps that we will use. For the baby photo session, we'll likely strip baby down to diapers and nudes for most of the shots; however, a little white onesie works well for the family shots since it won't bunch up around his/her face, but if you have something in particular that you would like him/her dressed in, please feel free to do so.