Baby E and his Behind the Scenes Video| Jessica Catherine Photography

Jessica Catherine Photography’s mission is to provide a five-star newborn photography experience and white glove service that is customized for every client.

This customization begins during my very first conversation with prospective clients.

So much is done over email and text messaging these days, but a phone call is the first step in my process because it is the very best way for me to learn about what someone is looking for quickly, easily and in a comprehensive manner.

The first time I spoke with Baby E’s Mom and Dad on the phone, we discussed generally what they were hoping for in a session and the style and feel they preferred.

They also explained that their nursery had a woodland creature/natural theme.

Once we had covered some basic details via telephone, we moved to the next step, the in-home Design Consultation.

This Design Consultation is crucial for me to fully understand each client’s style and hopes for their session.

Simply being in someone’s home reveals a lot.

What colors do they use to decorate their home?

What artwork is on the walls?

Is their style classic, modern, minimalist, etc.?

In addition to me observing their design preferences, we discuss topics such as preferred colors, infant poses, props, etc.

We also discuss each family’s previous experiences with taking professional portraits - what they liked, what they didn’t, etc.

During this consultation, I flipped through this family’s wedding album to really understand the types of portraits that appealed to them.  

Of course wedding portraits are vastly different than newborn portraits, but diving into a discussion about past experiences can certainly assist me understand what type of portraits appeal to someone.

For example, mom said she disliked “overly posed” portraits and did not want to look at the camera, which was very helpful information since I almost always include parent portraits with their newborn.

So for this session, I never asked Mom and Dad to look at the camera, and they loved the parent portraits I created with their preferences in mind.

During the Design Consultation, we also flipped through my sample albums to look at different portraits and setups which helps me understand what each family prefers.

Toward the end of the Design Consultation, Mom and Dad took me upstairs and showed me the nursery, to which I exclaimed “your nursery looks like it belongs in a magazine!”  

It was so nicely decorated and literally picture perfect.

In the video above, I made a bit of a mess of their nursery during the session, so you’re going to have to take my word for it and look past all my equipment.

Creating a studio in someone’s home requires a lot of gear, but I tell my families it will only be messy for a few hours but your portraits will last many lifetimes!

Seeing how Mom and Dad decorated the nursery before the session really helped me understand what colors and style they preferred for their baby.

I was inspired by this gorgeous nursery and styled this happy little man’s session using similar and complementary colors.

Mom and Dad also requested that their fur baby be included in the session and I was happy to oblige.

I almost fell out of my computer chair when I saw the baby smiling when the dog was sniffing him!

The knowledge I gained during our phone conversation and Design Consultation really illuminated this family’s stylistic preferences and vision for their session and helped me create portraits customized for this beautiful little family.

This family loved albums and ultimately ordered a gorgeous, vegan heirloom album, two matching grandparent books and beautiful mounted print of their little one.

If you would like to schedule your session, contact me below so we can get the conversation started.