Shooting an In-home Newborn Session During a Pandemic

Having recently jump-started my photography business, I knew I was in for even more of a challenge starting during a pandemic… in the middle of Winter in New England. Like, honestly, what was I even thinking? My Covid-isolated brain had finally lost it. 

My husband and I chose to protect our family as best we could, which meant staying home and not having contact with friends or family, utilizing curbside pick-ups and doing what probably a lot of other families were learning to do - bake bread. A lot of bread. As we see our friends and family making the choice to open their bubbles - seeing others, going to restaurants, getting a babysitter (my dream) etc. - we’re continuing to stay home and stay distant. I won’t lie - it ain’t easy. So I knew scheduling some in-home sessions was going to be tough - tough for me to make that leap and tough for the client to let a stranger into their home during this time.

With a little trust from both parties, I was able to find Courtney - a new Mom taking similar precautions as my family! Courtney had been dying to have photos taken of her new little girl, but was terrified to let anyone come close (I don’t blame her!) As we text back and forth about the precautions each of us was taking, we both began to feel at ease going forward with the session. She wanted photos of her little cherub, and I was chomping at the bit to get back out into the world and do what I love to do.

So on a cold, windy, sunny day in Boston, I found myself walking through Beacon Hill, camera gear on my back and baby accessories dripping from my arms to the apartment Courtney shares with her new baby and husband, Umberto. They welcomed me into their home with masks on and windows cracked. Courtney was just finishing a feeding and we soon got to work on capturing this new little treasure.

Courtney and Umberto made me feel at such ease being in their home. It was the first time either of us had interacted that closely with an “outsider” in a year! For me, there was a level of anxiety but excitement, normality but also the sense that being around others was somewhat foreign to me lately. I’m used to hanging out with a 1 year old all day - this was weird! 

But in the end, we captured some amazing pictures of their little squishy sweetheart (who was a gem the whole time, btw) and maybe, we can start to see the light at the end of this very long tunnel.