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We did, my husband is also good with the camera and editing, so we had a few set ups in the nursery where we had the best light.

But I like less posed photos, the ones that are my favorites are not from those sessions.

My husband did them and they turned out OK. I say go for it!

How much do you want your pics to look professional? A lot of people are fine with okay pics that maybe have props but aren't really going to look polished like professional pics-- and if that's you then I think you can probably go for it.

But honestly I've never seen a non-professional take newborn pics that look professional. Newborn pics are sort of a whole other ballgame, from lighting to backdrops, to posing and calming, to editing. It takes practice. Even being "professional" when I started doing newborn pics, my first couple sessions were not my best. I don't feel like I really hit my stride with them until I was at least 5+ sessions in.

I plan to try! been looking at Pinterest tutorials... sure mine will turn into classic Pinterest fail lol

I didn't, but that was because I didn't have a DSLR at the time. I did try to take a few with my PnS and they turned out well. My cousin is a photog so we had her come and take one or two. Anyway, over the course of the year I got a DSLR and I feel comfortable using it so for any other babes I would DIY no question. Do you have any kids you could practice on? Really any macro photography you can do, even doggy noses or flowers, would help hone your skills. Since you'll be doing lots of close-ups.

@looch: I agree with you it seems the highly posed newborn pic is going out of style which I think is great. If I am able to have a second child I would myself focus more on hospital shots, since we have so few of those.

When we did our newborn photos I just put some pillows in his PnP and covered them in a nubby blanket. Then I put the PnP in a spot with good lighting (although my definition of good lighting has become more complicated since then).

I did! They came out decently, I lost the SD card with them on it so now I just have the crappy cell-phone picture of the computer screen left. Blaaahg.

I do photography as a hobby but take it pretty seriously but I'm no professional! O wanted to do newborn pics with my son but when it came down to it I was just to tired to so it when the time. Ame! Hoping to get some done with this lo! Hopefully I won't be as tired!

It is SOOOO much harder to do with your own baby than someone else's. I've done a handful of newborn sessions and I was easily able to "shoosh" them to sleep and re position them, DS2 wakes up as soon as my boobs are within 6 feet and starts rooting. Lol. Luckily he has very alert eyes so the pictures I've gotten of him awake his eyes aren't cross eyed or anything. I just haven't been able to get any cute sleepy pictures.

We did them professionally. I would only say no because I was so tired and sore that I wouldn't have been wanting to be as nimble as I would have had to be.
I do "photoshoots" with her now though, and they're perfectly adequate so I don't doubt your ability at all with better equipment/talent than I have...

If you want to make sure all babies have similar props, my photographer was perfectly willing to work with props we brought.

I did for my first - but it was so stressful. Took me forever to get the shots and forever to edit (perfectionist in me)! Plus everything was so new and I was tired and hormonal. I'm having them done professionally for my second. That way they'll be done quickly and I won't stress over it.

DH and I did a cute scene using hay bails and pumpkins when our lo was a couple weeks old. The Decor was amazing but the photos not so hot. We ended up taking baby girl much later (12weeks) and getting professional ones done.

i did, but it's my job. i'm finally having family photos done next week though and i'm excited!

above all, have fun with it and know that it won't be perfect, it will take forever. natural light is your friend and you need way more of it then you think you do!

I'm a fairly competent photographer with great equipment and am I'm SO GLAD I went with a pro. Here's why:

-At 2 weeks post-partum, I was still figuring out how to feed my LO, rock her, hold her, etc. While we did take some photos at home, I love the pro ones more than the ones I took. My LO was the first baby I'd ever held... ever. I honestly don't know if I could have copied the poses I saw because I was so scared of waking my LO. The photographer we used was a newborn specialist and she knew how to order the shots we wanted (e.g. start with her all cocooned, then progress to her laying naked, etc). She also knew how to get my LO back to sleep between shots.

-I was actually IN the pro photos with our LO. These are pretty much the only photos we have of me & her from the early days since my DH is terrible with the camera.

-Lots of different backdrops and props to choose from.

-She got the photos to me in a timely manner and I was able to get birth announcements out fairly quickly. I know that for me, I have a giant backlog of photos to edit so it would have been months before I had "finished" photos to send out.

I did. There was no way I could afford a photographer. They definitely aren't fancy, no dslr or anything nd any professional woukd cringe. But I have a few I love. And they are more unique to me than the Pinterest type ones.

@jedeve: @lovehoneybee: Such cute pictures! Great job!

OP- I am planning on doing this with my second!

I'm a decent photographer with good equipment, but I am planning on having a professional do it. (1) I don't know how I'll be feeling then and bending down, etc may still be uncomfortable, (2) it'd be nice to have some family photos as well, and (3) I'm not a professional so they just won't turn out as well I'm actually thinking about "registering" for a session or asking one of the great-grandparents if they offer to buy us something.