Bringing Your Fur Baby to the Studio | Houston Newborn Photographer

Specializing in newborn portraits in the Houston area, Sarah Borchgrevink Photography offers the option to bring your fur baby for the sibling portion of your studio portraiture session.

“My husband and I absolutely loved working with Sarah! She was so accommodating and so personable. We wanted our newborn photo shoot to include our dog, and she was even ok with that! We were very surprised, as many other photographers refused that request. Sarah is warm and inviting, and the entire experience was pain-free. She was so good with the baby, and most importantly, the photos came out amazing! We immediately used them for our birth announcement/Christmas card, and we are excited to work with her in the future for yearly family shoots. I cannot recommend Sarah highly enough!”

— Lauren

“My husband and I absolutely loved working with Sarah! She was so accommodating and so personable. We wanted our newborn photo shoot to include our dog, and she was even ok with that! We were very surprised, as many other photographers refused that request. Sarah is warm and inviting, and the entire experience was pain-free. She was so good with the baby, and most importantly, the photos came out amazing! We immediately used them for our birth announcement/Christmas card, and we are excited to work with her in the future for yearly family shoots. I cannot recommend Sarah highly enough!”

— Lauren

Hi, there! Welcome! As a professional newborn photographer, I pride myself on offering a top notch portraiture experience that's both easy going and fantastic. Working with new parents and their darling bundles of joy is an absolute honor; part of offering a wonderful customer service driven experience is listening to their needs and being open to making their dream image happen. In this case, when Mom and Dad contacted me, they asked if I'm open to pets in studio. Fur babies are often the first baby; they're part of the family. 

I am happy to accommodate requests, such as incorporating the family pet into your session. 

If you'd like to bring your pet to a photography session, a few things to note:

• let me know in advance
• share details about the pet's personality
• have a grandparent or friend be available to take dog home after "sibling" portion

The sweet pup was very calm and laid back. When adding him into the family and sibling portion of their session, I used the big white bed. This is a good option for safety. Mom and Dad also sat right next to the baby and pup; I simply cloned them out of the images in processing.

Followed by the sibling "fur baby" portion, we moved onto the normal styling you'll find in a typical newborn session I document. Since you're already here, check out some super cute images of baby boy Jacob!

Sarah Borchgrevink Photography is a Houston Newborn Photographer specializing in gorgeous posed newborn sessions. Her studio is located in Northwest Harris County. In addition to breathtaking baby portraiture, Sarah also offers stylish natural light family photography as well as dynamic outdoor maternity sessions for expecting mothers and couples. Sarah joyfully serves the entire Harris and Montgomery county areas including Houston, Cypress, Tomball, Spring, The Woodlands, Kingwood, Memorial & West Houston, Katy, Sugar Land, Pearland, Richmond, West University and Rice Village.

Sarah's newborn studio is located in Houston:

 

Newborn Girl Photography | Ideas for a Chic & Precious Portrait Session

Sarah Borchgrevink, a baby photographer based in Houston TX, shares how she designs dainty and girly newborn sessions for her most petite, precious clients.

“Sarah is amazing! She took photos of our daughter at 6 days old and was everything we could’ve hoped for and more! She was so gentle with her and handled her as if she were her own! Being able to select colors and themes for our session was so special and the pictures are just stunning. We will cherish these forever and are so happy we made the investment into Sarah Borchgrevink Photography!”

— Lindsey

 Pink, Grey, Tan, Cream & Ivory for Timeless & Classic Baby Portraiture

When I think of a newborn girl session and the styling behind your timeless newborn portraiture, the first thing that comes to mind is dainty, classic, chic, and feminine. While I am a professional Houston newborn photographer, I also have three little girls of myself and I love all things sweet and simple! When designing baby's first portrait session for my clients, I like the session to be soft and pretty, particularly for little girls.

For instance, neutrals with one pop of color can be a truly stunning final gallery! Grey, to elaborate, is one of the most perfect neutral colors because it can be light or dark, warm or cool. This is perfect because baby's have a variety of different skin tones. Grey is a lovely accent color, too, because it's forever in style and timeless. In this case, I sent over my styling questionnaire to this sweet baby girl's parents, and they requested pink or peach be used in their session. They're totally in luck because my studio has every color you could possibly want, ha! 

Let's get started on some fun inspiration for your own baby's session! I am super excited to preview this darling little one to you and hope you feel inspired!

Rustic Wooden Bowl with Grey Tones and Ivory Lace

This is a new rustic bowl you'll find in my huge prop collection. It's a great choice for a newborn girl session because it can be styled with either neutrals or color, depending on your preferences. In this particular case, however, Sadie's sweet mom requested grey to match their home and nursery. In order to create a unique set up for her baby girl session, I used several layers such as antique lace, chunky knit layer, hand dyed cheese cloth and an organic, custom made tie back to adorn baby's beautiful forehead. Vintage meets classic timeless results is my newborn motto: it means that through this type of styling and design, you create stunning newborn portraiture that will forever be beautiful. Why be trendy when you can be timeless? :-) These newborn images will be passed down to your child and their own children will view them - they'll be displayed at weddings and beyond. Investing in a photographer who provides gorgeous styling and all props is something you'll never regret.

Antique Farmhouse Metal Bucket with Cream & Tan Textured Layers

The distressed metal bucket or pail is a staple in my photography sessions. It fits most babies who are 10 pounds or less; it has a ton of character and also is just super cute, ha! The baby in the bucket image is one of the most requested photos by parents. To make this set up incredibly chic and precious, I pulled an ivory antique lace layer, and also a tan + taupe chunky knit layer so they contrast with the barnwood distressed floors. I paired Sadie's set up with a soft, muted blush pink headband, too, with the most girly hand sewn bead work, simply adorable! 

Soft Ivory Backdrop with Matching Wrap & Dainty Handmade Tie Back

Ivory is a color I much prefer to white, mostly because there is a little more warmth to this color than white. It also looks better against the skin of newborns. White, you see, contrasts so much with newborn skin that it often highlights redness, jaundice, or purple and blue undertones. When styling for the newborn, their skin tone needs to be kept in mind. Sadie looks sensational here, wrapped artistically in a womb style. I adore when little one's hands and feet are curled perfectly, reflecting how they grow in the womb, and also when you can see their face perfectly. Remember: when posing a newborn you should always be able to see each characteristic on their face. It should never be hidden. You can achieve a chic and precious portrait session for a newborn baby girl by adding fun elements to the session such as the feminine tie back, seen below, that has a small hint of peach. :-) 

Muted Blush Pink Cheesecloth Wrap & Sweet Bean Bag Posing

Naked bean bag posing is truly beautiful. We can see all baby's precious details while still keeping the neat and modest. Their chubby cheeks, little rolls, feet, and belly are truly adorable! To make Sadie's session very girly, without using too many props, I pulled a very light blush pink cheese cloth wrap for her bean bag portion. It's a nice layer that suggests gender but also is soft, sweet, simple, timeless and dainty - just like a beautiful newborn baby girl!

Warm Pink and Chunky Knit Layer for Potato Sack Flokati Pose

This flokati rug and wrap are both new to my studio. :-) It's a rose colored rug, perfect for a little baby girl! It is everything that showcases a little girl. I prefer the chunky knit layer, shown below, because it makes baby more round. When posing baby in the popular potato sack pose, you don't want any lumps to be seen. 

Cream Vintage Egg Basket + Quilted Pillow & White Flokati Rug

This was my favorite set up mostly because how fresh, clean and simple it is. Sadie's hands are gently folded beneath her precious chin, a little white bonnet frames her face beautifully, and this pillow is just lovely underneath her sweet little head. I bought this flokati rug in December and now it's a favorite of mine for newborn girl photography! I love how fluffy it is. This vintage egg basket is also the perfect oval prop for a new baby and fits literally every newborn I've used with it! Score! Styling for chic newborn sessions that are super girly has a lot to do with the props; in this case, the lacy detail on the bonnet and the pink hue of the pillow suggest baby's gender. 

Neutral Inspired Tootsie Wrap Set Up with Girly Beaded Headband

Again, I used the white flokati rug when styling this super girly newborn session since Mom and Dad like neutrals a lot. The neutral cream looks perfect against her skin, adding a soft creaminess and luminescence to little one. Sometimes parents ask me if the baby's skin is altered in Photoshop; I actually don't do a lot of retouching on little ones. I do clean them up and adjust skin tone as needed but most of the work is done via lighting. If your lighting set up is correct, then baby's skin will have contours, shadows and highlights. Think of it like this: as women, we contour our face via make up in order to sculpt our features. Professional lighting during a newborn session is key: the portrait session for a newborn will fall flat if your lighting is poor. This wrap is also a favorite of mine since baby's sweet little toes poke out in such a cute manner! Finally, to add the feminine and chic detail to this darling newborn girl's session, I added a beaded headband filled with different hues such as pink, blush, rose, quartz, cream and white so that it fits the theme of her dainty session while also showing baby is a girl. :-) 

Precious Macro Details | Baby's Unique Characteristics 

I love macro details! Parents ask me frequently what these are and the answer is simple: they're the unique details that make your baby who she is. It's her lips, button nose, dimpled chin, chubby cheeks, cupids bow, sweet little ears, tootsie toes, fingers, profile, hands, etc. I photograph these throughout all of my sessions at different points; some images are done during bean bag, some during floor props. Either way, these are details you will treasure forever! Right now baby is brand new but I cannot tell you how fast little one changes. Before you know it, baby will be a month old; you'll blink and then she'll be 6 months old. 

All newborn sessions should contain macro images because they add much soul and depth to your final galleries. 

Session Styling Questionnaire | Best Houston Newborn Photos

Sarah Borchgrevink Photography shares the newborn styling questionnaire and how she creates stunning baby portraiture sessions by keeping your preferences in mind.

Designing Gorgeous & Unique Photography for New Babies

Hi, gang! Good morning to you! Today's blog post is all about what you can expect when it comes to newborn styling and session design. If you've ever taken a quick peek at my Houston Newborn Photography Studio, you'll see that I have a huge array of props and items on hand just for you. Part of booking a newborn collection with me includes having full access to all of the amazing, custom and handmade items for new babies.

However, sometimes it can be overwhelming to parents when they try to consider all the different options. They see the buckets, bowls, crates, headbands, wraps, backdrops, etc., and it becomes what I call "analysis paralysis" where it's just too much and overwhelming. Since most parents do one newborn session and these truly are once in a lifetime photos, I have developed a great newborn styling and stat questionnaire tailored to each baby to ensure you have the most beautiful, breathtaking and gorgeous photos possible!

For example, the questionnaire covers things like skin tone, baby's weight, and your feeding preferences. These type of questions are really important to ask because it helps me know what colors will look good against baby's skin, which props they'll fit best into, and also if I should bring you in earlier since a formula fed baby eats quicker than a breastfed baby. It helps with scheduling and planning. 

Moreover, your questionnaire covers things like the type of colors in your home or baby's nursery or if there is a prop you love on my website and you'd like to make sure it makes your way into the nursery.

What You May Expect from the newborn questionnaire

• What is baby's birthday?

• How much does baby weigh?

• Is baby jaundice?

• Is baby bottle fed or breastfed?

• Does baby take a pacifier?

• What colors are found in your nursery?

• What are a few colors you would like to avoid?

• Is there a prop you love?

• What are your favorite poses?

• Is there a pose you'd like to avoid?

• Do you have any concerns I may assist with?

These questions are a fantastic starting point for me so I know how to design something you're sure to love, treasure and adore for generations to come. Remember: these photos will be passed down as heirlooms and you're not just taking these for yourself, but for your little one, who will then show them to his or her own children (many years from now, ha).

Creating the Best Houston Newborn Photography

Each session is an individual - just like your family and baby. I take your answers to the styling questionnaire and creating a unique session just for you. It removes the guesswork for you and takes stress away from parents. Everything is provided by me. Please do not feel like you must bring any props from home. :-) 

For example, for this session I am going to preview, Mom relayed answers to all of these questions listed above. She explained baby weighs just under 8 pounds, is not jaundice, is breast fed, does not take a paci, and that she really would like to see only mint, sage, pink, blush, neutrals and purples in baby girl's session. She was also open to all sorts of props. Mom and Dad did not want any naked bean bag posing - just simple, cozy and sweet newborn styles of wrapping for a more modest session.

Here's what I came up with for Baby girl R. 

I am so excited to have worked with this family again, too! They're some of my favorite clients and we've had a wonderful time getting to know one another. :-) 

Girl Newborn Photography Session Color Scheme Ideas

Baby R's session was filled with all things girly, sweet, timeless and classic. Soft, muted colors such as lilac and blush pink; sage and mint also made an appearance as well as organic neutrals. Check out some of my favorite images. She is truly one of the most stunning newborn baby girl's I've had the honor of photographing!

As always, thank you for visiting my little creative corner of the earth in which I share fun details about my professional Houston newborn photography! If you enjoyed reading about the newborn styling questionnaire, you may like reading about these topics, too:

• Favorite newborn poses during baby's first photo shoot

• Cozy & unique styles of newborn wrapping

• Why Sarah is the Best Houston Newborn Photography Choice for You