Pittsburgh In-Home Photo Session – Mary Beth Miller Photography – aka the Baby Whisperer

Did you know that I photograph families inside their homes all around the greater Pittsburgh area!? I have been an in-home photographer for the last 14 years! Sessions that take place inside the home are my very favorite!

Here are the kind words a Mom sent me after she received the link to her gallery from her in-home newborn session:

“These are wonderful. Thank you so much!!! We have been gushing over these beautiful pictures, as have all the loved ones we have shared them with. We’re also telling anyone who will listen about what a pleasure it was to work with you.

As first-time parents we were especially impressed with your obvious expertise about babies—you picked up on subtle cues from Aster about what he needed that we hadn’t even learned to look for yet.” -E

Messages like this from parents seriously make my day…week…month! It was such a pleasure to meet and work with these wonderful Moms and their first baby!

And I’ll admit, I take some pride in being a baby whisperer and a bit of an expert on soothing babies and reading their cues! I cannot help myself when I go to a session to teach new (and even experienced parents) some of the “tricks” I have up my sleeve when it comes to making a baby happy!

I cannot tell you the number of times I have rattled off the list of the “5 S’s of a Happy Baby“! I love to demonstrate my swaddling technique or my special baby swing/sway or my favorite one I call, “the kitty trick” where I lightly caress the area between their eyebrows to soothe them to sleep. (most babies and cats love this!)

One of my favorite tricks is bouncing on a big yoga or exercise ball while cradling the baby. This was the number one-go-to move for my babies and it worked nearly every time. As an added bonus, we would do it in the bathroom next to the shower because my babies tend to prefer that over actual white noise machines!

Although my photo sessions never “require” a baby to be sleeping, it is better to have a calm and awake baby or a sleeping baby, then a fussy baby! So my tricks come in handy to get baby to relax and even fall asleep. I can usually even get older babies that are 6-8 weeks old to fall asleep! But I will say, I do prefer the awake photos of a baby!

In addition to having my own three babies and photographing babies for the last 15 years, I’ve been around babies for the majority of my life! When I was just 6 years old, my sister (half sibling) had her first baby…and then three more kids after that.

I was always very close to my sister and her four little ones so I had a lot of experience with babies early in life. I started babysitting for multiple families at an early age, volunteered in the nursery at church and I and even became a nanny for a couple of families while I was in college.

So rest assured, your baby is in good hands when I come to your home for a newborn photo session! I also very much believe in a baby-led photo session. This basically means the baby runs the show. If they need fed, changed or just cuddled and walked around or rocked, we take all the time needed to address their needs!

It was such a pleasure to meet and work with this adorable little family! Baby A was so pleasant and relaxed for most of the time I was there! I didn’t have to use too many of my baby soothing tricks to make him happy!

If you’re looking for an at-home newborn or family photographer in Pittsburgh,  please get in touch to inquire about a session! I’d love to plan a photo session for your family!

Here are some other blog posts that you might want to check out! 

Are you on Instagram? I’d love to connect with you there!

All images by Mary Beth Miller Photography 

Mary Beth Miller Photography specializes in family and newborn photography in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and many of the surrounding areas. Mary Beth has over fourteen years of experience photographing families, newborns and babies in Pittsburgh including the South Side, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Oakland, the North Shore and Northside.   Her style is very relaxed and natural and your family session will feel like a stress-free Sunday afternoon with your family!