Taking newborn photos outside is one of my favorite things to do, but it’s definitely a different experience than shooting indoors or in someone’s home, and the prep work for styling these sessions is different too. Here are some of my favorite tips to help you nail the styling for your next outdoor newborn photoshoot.
Switch up your styling
The styling I give my clients for an indoor/in home newborn session is very different than the styling I give my clients for outdoor newborn photoshoots. There is more to think about with styling for an outdoor session than an indoor session and it’s important that you make sure your clients know that! Whether you just communicate this to them or create a totally different style/session guide based on the session type, it’s important that your clients know what to think about through the styling process.
Choose the right color palette
For my in home sessions I almost always tell the family to dress in neutral colors that match their home decor. This helps to make sure they coordinate colors with their surroundings but for my outdoor sessions I take different surroundings into consideration, making sure that they throw some color into their styling to help pull in different pieces of the environment. I love using neutrals and earthy tones at the beach or having them try to match the colors of the sunset/blue hour sky!
Styled over swaddled
I almost always prefer my in home session babies to be swaddled. It’s helps create that cozy, at home, snuggly vibe for their photos and I actually tell my in home sessions to not plan to shoot in any real “outfits” because they just don’t photograph well. But for my outdoor newborn photoshoots the opposite is true. Little outfits with exposed baby hands and toes are precious and make sense with the environment of outdoor photos and where swaddles give an in home session a cozy vibe, a loosely draped blanket or wrap does the same for outdoor photos.
consider all of the individual pieces
The last thing I really consider for my outdoor newborn photoshoots is fabrics and pieces that give movement. When you’re working indoors, you need cozy sweaters, cardigans and layers to create a snuggly vibe; but when you’re outdoors you need articles that are going to show the movement that’s happening around you in your environment. The wind isn’t going to blow a sweater around like it will the tails of a dress or the collar of a linen shirt. Make sure you take this into consideration as you’re styling your outdoor newborn photos!
Do you have an outdoor newborn session coming up? Make sure you check out this blog post where I talk all about creating a slow and relaxed session pace.
