Swaddles, Poses, and Patience: Inside a Newborn Photographer's Studio

Discover the artistry and significance behind newborn photography with Megan Grove, a specialist serving Northern Colorado from her purpose-built studio in Windsor. Having refined her craft since 2009, Megan reveals why she abandoned wedding and senior photography to focus exclusively on capturing those fleeting first weeks of a baby's life.

"These photos are not just pictures. They are heirlooms," Megan emphasizes, sharing her personal regret of not having professional photos of her firstborn during that brief, irreplaceable window. Her story serves as a powerful reminder of the lasting value these images hold for families - unlike material possessions that depreciate with time, these photographs become more precious as years pass.

Throughout our conversation, Megan dispels common misconceptions about newborn photography, particularly the notion that it's simple enough for anyone with a camera to master. She explains the years of experience needed to safely pose newborns, the specialized environment she creates with careful temperature control and white noise, and why the first three weeks of life represent the optimal time for these sessions. As she puts it, "You simply cannot go back" once this window closes.

Whether you're expecting a baby, know someone who is, or simply appreciate the art of preserving life's most precious moments, this episode offers valuable insights into a specialized craft dedicated to creating family treasures. Connect with Megan through her website at megangrove.com or on Facebook to see examples of her beautiful work capturing Northern Colorado's newest residents.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Nick George.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of newbornphotography?
Well, one specialist might becloser than you think.
Today we have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Megan Grove, with NewbornPhotography.
Megan, how's it going?

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Oh, it's going really good.
Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Thanks for being here .
Did I get your last name right,grove?
Yep, okay, just making sure Ishould have checked that before
the show started.
We're excited to learn allabout you and your business,
your photography profession.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
Tell us about it and your business, your photography
profession.
Tell us about it.
I am a newborn photographerserving Northern Colorado, so I
see a lot of Loveland, fortCollins, windsor.
Occasionally, people fromWyoming will come up to do
newborn photos with me.
I have a photo studio inWindsor, colorado, and it is
specifically designed fornewborn photography, because

(01:04):
that is the only thing I do.
So it has all the things thatyou would need for newborn
photography all the wraps, allthe props, just everything.
So it's really great.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
How did you get into this niche in photography?

Speaker 3 (01:18):
I've been doing photography since 2009.
I was originally hired on bysome of the large corporations
and I did that for several years.
I even tried school photographyand when I went out on my own,
I tried all the different thingsweddings, school, the senior
photos I tried all of it.
But when it really came down toit, I liked photographing

(01:40):
babies the best.
And when I started doing justbabies, I realized that I really
only wanted to be doing newborn, because that's just truly
where my heart is.
It's just I love holding thebabies.
I feel like it's just reallycool getting to be part of that
very narrow window in thesefamilies lives.
It's pretty cool.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Speaking of narrow I've you know it's such a unique
niche that I was unfamiliarwith it until we reached out to
each other.
What are some myths ormisconceptions in your industry?

Speaker 3 (02:12):
There's a couple, I think one that I would say is
that it's not super easy to posethe babies.
I think a lot of people see thephotos and sometimes think I
could do that, but honestly,it's taken me years to learn
what I'm doing.
Learn the posing.
Safety is huge.
You don't want to just trustyour baby with anybody, so a

(02:36):
misconception is definitely thatit that just anybody could do
it, because, honestly, you wantto make sure that you can trust
the person that you are havingyour baby in their hands, so a
big misconception is that justanybody could do it.
I really recommend findingsomebody that has a little bit
of experience.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
Right.
I mean, can you give us a, forinstance, like a secret that
maybe you use to make the babydo what you want?
I know this sounds strange.

Speaker 3 (03:03):
Well, I've got tons of stuff like the white noise
machine.
My room is always fairly warm,um, but and there's like always
like padding and stuff, likewhen you're trying to get the
baby soothed again.
I think all of those kind ofthings you kind of grow into.
Whereas the first photo sessionI did with a newborn um is
definitely not the kind of photosessions I do now, it was was

(03:23):
entirely different.
So it's you just really growinto all those kinds of things.
I don't know if there'snecessarily a secret, more than
just kind of practice makesperfect and I do them every week
.
My last photo session was anewborn.
My next one will be a newborn,it's I don't know if there's a
secret other than just keep ongoing and keep on just doing it

(03:44):
over and over again until youfinally get it.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
I see a title for the article for this podcast today
being something having to dowith the baby whisperer.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
I hear that sometimes .
I hear that sometimes.
I think a lot of photographersdo, because if you're doing
newborn post photography, you doneed the baby asleep.
So we do spend time getting thebaby to sleep.
It is, it is definitely part ofit.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
We know that marketing is the heart of every
business.
Who are your target customersoutside of just everybody that's
recently had a baby?
Is there a geographic regionthat you're aiming for?
Is there a specific familythat's in a certain scenario of
of of their lives, like thefirst one?
That kind of thing?

(04:27):
And how do you attract yourcustomers now?

Speaker 3 (04:31):
Um I I sorry my screen closed for a second.
I love anybody that has a newbaby.
Obviously I definitely love thenew parents, like the brand new
parents, because those are fun.
But I definitely see a lot ofnot first time parents.
They come as far asgeographical location definitely

(04:54):
northern Colorado.
Some people will come fromDenver.
I've had people come from asfar as like four or five hours
away.
I kind of almost recommendfinding a newborn photographer a
little bit closer than that,because it's hard to get your
baby in the car for that long.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
Right.

Speaker 3 (05:07):
But I will photograph anybody's baby.
Really, my thing is that Ireally like to photograph them
under six weeks and preferablyunder three weeks, because
timing makes a huge difference.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
Have you ever thought about doing your own podcast,
maybe featuring some of yourclients and their photos?

Speaker 3 (05:24):
I had an idea for a podcast a couple years ago and I
started out.
It was actually just going tobe like a fun photographer
podcast where you're justtelling funny stories.
But when push came to shove itwas a little bit harder than I
thought.
It was going to be trying toget people scheduled on
interviews and I was not beingable to focus on newborn
photography.
So I felt like I needed tochoose, and I love newborns.

(05:48):
I love little babies.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
I wouldn't give that up, yeah right, but as far as
your personality goes, you'reattracted to the idea of it.
It's just the work.

Speaker 3 (05:58):
I was in debate when I was in college, so I do kind
of like that kind of stuff, butat the same time it's not, I
don't think it was quite for me.
So I think I was okay with justcutting the strings, like
within the first couple episodes, and being like well, I tried
it, but I don't know that I needto keep doing it.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
Outside of work.
What do you do for fun?

Speaker 3 (06:16):
I have three boys so I usually do stuff with them.
We like paddleboarding,floating the river.
It's always a little bit of abummer when the weather starts
turning and we can't do some ofour favorite stuff like that
anymore.
But just hanging out with them,doing stuff with them, is
really what I do for fun, whenit's not photo stuff.

Speaker 2 (06:34):
Megan, please tell our listeners one thing that
they should absolutely rememberabout newborn photography.
What's the big takeaway fromthis podcast today?

Speaker 3 (06:42):
That these photos are not just pictures.
They are heirlooms.
These are something that youget to keep forever, and that's
super important because mostthings like if you buy a new car
, it's going to depreciate, it'sgoing to break down.
Photos literally last foreverand it's also such a short
period of time.
I know that I personally regretnot getting photos done of my

(07:04):
oldest when he was a newborn.
I don't have anything nice tohang on the wall with my other
two boys because I did gettheirs done.
So I do have regrets about thatand I feel bad for anybody that
ends up regretting that,because you just simply cannot
go back.
So make sure you get them doneat that early stage, because
they change so fast.
It's crazy.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
I agree.
How can our listeners learnmore about newborn photography
and all of the ways that youguys exist online?

Speaker 3 (07:33):
I highly recommend going to my website.
It's megangrovecomM-E-G-A-N-G-R-O-V-E, kind of
like a group of trees.
There's lots of photo exampleson there.
It talks a lot about what theprocess is, lots of information
on there.
But of course I also post toFacebook and that's facebookcom
slash megangrovephotography.

(07:53):
You should be able to find meon there and that has more of my
most recent stuff.
I'm always posting on there.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
Just make sure people know that I'm still here doing
what I'm doing, doing what Ilove well, megan, I really
appreciate you being on the showand we wish you and Megan Grove
sorry, not Megan GrovePhotography, you threw me off
there Newborn Photography thevery best moving forward thank
you, thank you.

Speaker 3 (08:13):
I really appreciate you having me on today.

Speaker 1 (08:15):
Thank you so much thank you for listening to the
Good Neighbor Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tognpfortcollinscom.
That's gnpfortcollinscom, orcall 970-438-0825.