Having a newborn at home, there’s no excuse not to do a few photo sessions. I have had sessions with babies before but never younger than a couple of months. I do have to say that I do love the results of the super newborn sessions but THEY.ARE. HARD. So I thought it would be fun to share my experience. Some things I did wrong, others turned out right just out of luck. But I am sure happy I did it. Here’s what I had to do:
before the session:
- get a bean bag
- get knit hats. If you are wondering where to get them from, etsy is the answer. so many cute options! I made an arrangement with one of the etsy sellers and was able to trade a couple of hats for newborn shots for her to use in her site.
- get a few baskets from target and pier 1 but ended up not using them that much. I liked the bean bag better.
- looked at the work of other photographers that shoot newborns, specially the breathtaking work of Carrie Sandoval of Baby as Art. But I also didn’t want to look too much because I didn’t want to loose my own style in the process.
the day of the session:
- turn up the heat to 90 degrees! babies love to be toasty warm so if you are going to have them in their birthday suit you might as well crank it up. I know some photographers use space heaters but they make me nervous.
- turn on a sound machine.
- picked the brightest room in the house, which is Sofia and Chloe’s. It sure was overcast that week!
- I created a backdrop by putting a blanket in front of a dresser and using the drawers to hold it up. some people have the moms help out but in my case I was the mom so had no extra hands. during the editing process the creases in the blanket really bothered me but what can you do. It also turned out that I didn’t have enough room to pull back and be able to get a full shot of Liam while he was lying down. So most of my shots are partial.
- covered the bean bag with a changing pad in case my model had an accident during the session. I also put a heating pad underneath to make sure it was warm. but I never was brave enough to shoot without a diaper. not me, the baby.
- made sure baby was well fed and ready to snooze.
the session:
- ok. all of you photographers out there that are able to prop the baby’s head on the baby’s arms: I either have a baby with no head support or I am not patient enough. so hard! as soon as I was able to do it and grab the camera, the pose was gone. so I improvised.
- baby did not want to leave binky.
- I was sweating like a pig. it was a million degrees in that room!
- my baby is the cutest, sweetest baby in the world but he is going to HATE me when I show his friends his baby pictures. but I LOVE THEM!
what I took away from the experience:
- if you are a photographer thinking about doing newborn sessions or a mom expecting a baby, the best time is during the first 2 weeks of their lives. they sleep more and its before the baby acne kicks in. my little guy started peeling too. not cute for pics.
- I know there are photographers that are amazing with newborns but I’m not sure its for me. the environment seems too contrived for my taste. I like the craziness of toddlers or the unpredictability of pre-schoolers.
- no matter what camera you have or what photographer you choose, DO TAKE PICTURES of your newborn! a lot of us get caught up in our crazy lives right after we leave the delivery room and having other children doesn’t make it any easier. but no matter what, make time for a little session with your new love.
here are some SOOC (Straight out of camera) shots. unedited and taken by sofia, my lovely assistant. but they show some of the props.
this one is when we were waiting for liam to fall asleep. you can see the bean bag, an extra pillow and the sound machine to the top left.
this next one has those darn creases and that binky…
this last one shows the “blanket on the dresser” system as well as the cord for the heating pad. you can’t say we aren’t resourceful!
thanks for reading but now go and GRAB THAT CAMERA!
