Newborn Photo Shoot

So as I mentioned before, we decided to forego hiring a photographer for newborn pictures and try to shoot some of our own.  We did a few rounds of pictures and we got some that we really like!

In the Hospital

 We actually had every intention of getting professional pictures done in the hospital.  The photographer came by on Monday (the day before we were discharged) and gave us all of the pricing info and we told her we were probably interested, so she said she'd put us on her list to check back on Tuesday before we went home.  Tuesday morning Cooper had his circumcision and due to some crazy complications we had to stay at the hospital a little longer for some lab work to be completed.  So we figured we'd have plenty of time for the pictures.  But no one ever showed up.  So after Coop got back from his procedure, we decided to get him dressed and try to shoot some pictures of our own.  David took these shots since I still wasn't moving around too well and I think he did a great job!

Fun fact-- we took this onesie to the photo shoot we did with our friend Amy back in November for our Gender Reveal Christmas cards.  It was fun having a baby to put in the onesie, I personally think he makes it look even cuter!

I ended up being so glad that the hospital photographer never showed up, because we would have paid for and probably gotten some great pictures, but I'm really happy with what we were able to take on our own!

At Home

We did the majority of the newborn photo shoot the Saturday after we got home when Cooper was exactly 1 week old.  I looked through a bunch of tutorial and pose ideas on Pinterest.  I used a lot of tips from this post, mainly the setup ideas and positioning suggestions for how to place the props and camera in relation to the window.

I started with a few of him swaddled while we figured out the lighting.  I basically positioned myself/the camera and then took several shots in several different modes.

Then I unswaddled him a little so we could see his precious hands--he likes to bring them to his mouth and suck on them

Since he was good and asleep, I was able to move him around a little to get this sweet shot

My Aunt Beverly bought him this bear and brought it when she visited us at the hospital.  I plan on using it in his monthly pictures (which will start in just a few days--I can't believe it!) so we grabbed one of him at 1 week old with the bear too.

We also took the Baylor and OU baseball cap pictures during this photo shoot.  

We used a combination of these pictures and the ones from the hospital shoot to create Cooper's birth announcement.  And then we ordered a few extra prints for some family.  I felt pretty good when the photo center at Sams called to verify that we had taken the pictures and that they weren't taken by a professional photographer before they would release them.  I know a professional photographer would have probably gotten a lot better shots, but I was happy with how they turned out

Family Pictures

We also wanted to get a few pictures of us with Cooper.  When looking at different pose ideas, there were several for taking pictures in the nursery and several for taking pictures on the bed.  Cooper's nursery does not get very good light any time of day because of the trees in our front yard, which will be awesome for him sleeping, but not so great for pictures.  Our bedroom is usually pretty dark with our blackout curtains, but when I opened the one on the East side of our house up it brought in a lot of natural light, so we shot a few pictures on our bed.

Daddy loves his boy

And I'm pretty fond of him too

First picture of all 3 of us taken outside of the hospital!

We sure love our little guy and are glad to have these pictures to capture this special time for our family.