Newborn and Maternity Lifestyle Photography by Elena Blair

Newborn and Maternity Lifestyle Photography by Elena Blair

Learn how to create natural, simple, timeless, newborn and maternity photos that transcend any industry trends. 

In this course, Elena teaches you her style of Newborn and Maternity photography called “Lifestyle,” which focuses on human connection over perfection. Almost all of Elena’s maternity clients also book newborn shoots, so Elena includes a maternity shoot in this newborn-centric course, so that you can see firsthand how to use a maternity shoot to get to know the whole family before entering the intimate setting of their home after they’ve just welcomed a newborn.

Elena’s style of newborn photography is “baby led.” She never puts babies into unnatural positions, and they rarely leave their parents’ arms. Most important of all, this method is SAFE! Having spent ten years as a Newborn Intensive Care Nurse, newborn safety is paramount on Elena’s priority list.

The only thing you need to execute this style of newborn photography is your camera. That’s it! You’ll learn how to create beautiful newborn photographs without any artificial light, reflectors, posing aids, or props, and the entire session is done in the family’s home. 

You’ll get to see Elena photograph one maternity session and three newborns from start to finish. You’ll hear EXACTLY what she says and see EXACTLY how she works with real clients.

You’ll also see Elena’s culling process for each session, so you can see what the images look like straight out of camera, as well as be able to pause the culling video to see her settings on any of the photos you see. 

Finally, you’ll get access to the completely edited galleries as well, so you can see exactly what was delivered to the client. 

 

Maternity

Almost all of Elena’s maternity clients also do a petite newborn session, so that is why we are starting this newborn-focused course off with a maternity shoot. Newborn sessions in the family home are very intimate. Families with newborns have just had their whole lives changed, and it feels very chaotic. So, it’s great to get to know the family at the maternity session in preparation for the newborn session. This maternity shoot includes the whole family, including a teenager and a 5-year-old. Like all of Elena’s maternity shoots, it is outdoors at the golden hour.

Newborn I

The first newborn baby session is in the home of a family with 3 kids – 2 boys and a brand new baby girl. As in all Elena’s sessions, she never puts the baby into any poses, and just lets the baby lead the session.

Newborn II

For our next newborn session, we are also in a home with 2 boys and a newborn. This shoot is different because the house is quite small, and it is a very cloudy day. As you will see, this affects Elena’s camera settings, and everybody gets pretty close together!

Newborn III

In this last newborn session, we are with a family that Elena has worked with quite a bit, so she knows them well. This family also has a toddler, which can be quite a trick. Elena always lets the toddler run the show and doesn’t expect much of them. Their little lives have just been rocked, so she does her best to not stress them out. The newborn’s grandparents are also in town from Brazil, which is so special and got everyone a little emotional.

Final Editing

In this final editing video, Elisa from Image Salon goes through Elena’s images from all the shoots in this course and shows you how they edit Elena’s pictures.