Newborn Photography in Babylon, NY

Baby Shea | Lifestyle Newborn Session | Babylon, NY | Long Island Photographer | Apollo Fields Wedding Photography

It’s not often that I take on newborn sessions, but when I do, I really love them! Specializing in weddings was one of the best business decisions that I made, I love being able to target in on couples that I know I’m really going to connect with and have an awesome relationship with. My workflow is a well oiled machine and I’m really proud of the wedding business that we have.

But occasionally, a friend or a previous client will have a baby and I just can’t resist the opportunity to pull out my camera! I only do lifestyle newborns – no crazy props, no unnatural poses – just authentic family moments that capture the spirit of having a brand new baby in the house. Personally, I don’t like studio newborn (think garland, cheesecloths, flower crowns) and I find it sort of odd to prop a newborn babies head up as if I could do it on its own (it can’t). If you like those photos, power to you! Everyone gets to like what they like, it’s just not my jam. It’s also SUPER specialized and requires posing and lighting that’s just plain out of my wheelhouse.

What I can capture is lifestyle and I really love this approach. Somewhere between a casual session and documentary approach, I love watching new moms and dads settling into their routine and finding themselves as parents. This session was especially meaningful to me: It was for a good friend Jon and his lovely wife Jen. You might recognize their faces since I also captured their engagement session and wedding years ago!! It has been so fun watching them move through different chapters of their lives in the photographs and it is such an honor to be trusted with these images.

In January of 2018 they welcomed their first baby into the world – a son that they named Shea Edward. They decided to let the sex of the baby be a surprise and I still remember the feeling of excitement that I got when Jon sent me the patented “proud dad” text and photo when Shea was first born! I was eager to capture this time in their lives and as soon as we were back in Long Island we set up a session. We began the afternoon just relaxing and gushing over Shea, and then I began shooting away. We were lucky to be able to incorporate Jon’s parents who were visiting to help out with the new baby, too. It is their first grandchild so they are positively smitten!

I love these photos because this time goes by so quickly. Babies change practically overnight and before you know it, they are tiny little adults. I loved capturing the little features, the hands and toes, the baby hair, the little wrinkly soft skin, because I know that Jen and Jon will always be brought back to all of these details in the years to come when they look at the photos. So even though this session was a little break from my busy wedding season, it was such a welcome one and I’ll always treasure these photos!