why I don't subscribe to the "14 day rule" for newborn photography | fairfield county newborn photography

In the newborn photography world, there is a general rule of thumb that it's important to photograph your newborn between about days 5 - 14 of life. The reason given is that you want the baby to be as sleepy as possible, so you can move them around and pose them without disturbing them. Many of my clients come to me with a sense of urgency once the baby is born because they realize they want photographs and don't want to miss the "brief" window that they've been told they have. 

As a candid lifestyle photographer, I always let them know that the "14 day rule" doesn't apply to what I do. The reason is because I don't pose the babies I work with - I simply capture the beautiful time when a baby is so new, as naturally as I can. I care about the emotional connection between new parents and their baby, and the sweet moments between big siblings and the new baby. I care about capturing those precious toes, that curl of hair, that adorable yawn, and yes, I love to get them swaddled up and cozy too in their favorite blanket! It's about documenting this brief moment in time, when the miracle of life is fresh and there's that feeling of "I can't believe you're really mine." And whether a baby is 5 days old or 21 days old, they are still so little and so new.

In the last few months, I've photographed babies between the ages of 7 days old and 25 days old. I think it's safe to say, for newborn lifestyle photography, there's no such thing as "the 14 day rule." And on the rare occasion that they don't sleep...beautiful baby eyes!

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