little naps in the garden

A major benefit to living on the Emerald Coast is the warmer weather. Due to the warmer climate I can offer outdoor newborn sessions almost all year around. When scheduling an outdoor newborn session or a newborn session that includes an outdoor portion I want to weather to at least be 72 degrees. I use shaders to keep baby out of direct sunlight and watch for signs of baby being too warm. 

One of my favorite parts of an outdoor newborn session is stylizing. During my stylization consultation I discuss a color scheme, and prop selection. Once a color pallet has been created I get to work pairing props, textures and layers along with outfits. Then I begin researching flowers that are in season and call my local growers and check to make sure what’s available. 

Two days before the session is when I take a trip to the flower market. I do this for a couple reasons. The first is so I have time to make sure I find all the flowers I want for the session, especially if I have any special requests and the second one is so I have time to clean and prep all the plants and flowers I get. I’m by no means a florist but having a basic understanding of flowers really helps when you incorporate them in your images.  

be a wild flower

Florida’s West Coast is home to some of the most beautiful wild flowers, it would be a shame not to incorporate some of those blooms into your new born session! If your session is strictly outdoors I may recommend some local wild flower fields. Especially in the fall as that is when most wild flowers bloom in West Florida.

These images were taken from my first Outdoor Newborn Mini Session in a wild daffodil and yellow tulip field. I incorporated some locally grown berry tulips and small white dogwood flowers for variation.

During an outdoor session I provide 2 to 3 prop sets. If the session takes place in a wild flower field we are a little more limited on the color scheme however, I do my best to add as much variety as possible and try to find a flower field with colors that match or complement your color scheme.

Welcome to My Garden

So what if you want some of the traditional newborn poses or some family studio photos and some outdoor newborn photos? That’s simple, step into my garden! For clients that want a portion of their newborn session to be outdoors, I provide access to my garden.

I offer a few different varieties of plants and flowers, but will purchase and arrange flowers to fit a specific color scheme for a client. The images below are taken from a session I had in my garden.

Little Greenhouse Session

Another option I offer for clients who want something unique is my greenhouse! These greenhouse photos are some of my favorite to stylize, they typically are styled with green and earthy tones, little terra-cotta pots and macramé plant hangers. It has a very boho vibe to it. During these green house session I offer two to three prop sets. The first is the greenhouse, then to add variety to the gallery I stylize a corresponding set with my elephant ears and fig plants. This prop set is either in a boho planter or a bamboo bed.

There are so many options when it come to outdoor newborn sessions. I think as more and more photographers learn the art of outdoor newborn photography it is going to become a classic style that each photographer is going to have a unique perspective. Each session is going to be an original concept allowing for the photographer to create and the client to have images they will cherish for a lifetime.

Do you want more information on how I incorporate fresh locally grown plants and flowers into my newborn sessions, or how I run my outdoor newborn sessions? Check out my blog to see my take on the 2021 trendy greenhouse sessions.