so this was my very first newborn shoot. i did my research and planned for a longer than usual shoot. i knew the little guy was going to be the boss. and i researched and researched for tips to make the whole thing go smoothly. my friend jessica kettle gave me some very useful pointers as well. with all of this, i'd love to say that it was easy, peasy and was in and out in an hour flat, but i'd be lying. newborns are HARD. it was some of the hardest work i have done as a photographer. although i have to say it was a lot of fun too.
i forget how teency they are. he was such a sweet boy, but wasn't at all happy about being naked.
i was honored to share this time with their little family.
{these were all taken by a window in natural light}
in case any of you are curious as to what worked (for me) and what didn't, i'll let you in on a few helpful tips when photographing wee ones, although i'm not an expert quite yet:
make sure the heat is bumped way up, almost to the point of being uncomfortable. not only does it help them to be happier naked, but their skin looks more smooth and less blotchy.
heating pads (on low to med.) placed under a blanket are genius!
move slowly and quietly. in the beginning of my session his mom had the radio playing, softly, but i think with all the excitement of the shoot he felt a little overstimulated. so i asked her to turn it off and after that he was much more calm.
gently massage their legs and arms to get them to bend into position.
patience is KEY! plan for a lot of stopping, comforting, feeding, etc. i found that taking pictures of newborns is opposite of taking pictures of kids/toddlers, in that the first 20 minutes of a toddler shoot will most likely be your best pictures and the last 20 minutes of the newborn shoot are the best. (in my experience anyway.)
8 comments:
Thank you so much for the tips! I have a newborn shoot lined up in the next few weeks-whenever the little one decides to make their grand entrance-and am a bit nervous. And as always, love the pics. The one of the little guy crying with the big blue hat on is simply priceless!
These are so precious! And thanks for the tips...if I ever do a newborn session.
Candida, the hat is so, so adorable!
Love them! Can't wait for you to do mine...yeah!!
These are precious! I especially love the last one.
makes me want to hunt down a newborn and start snapping! i love how you aren't afraid to shoot at times that don't look ideal because they are often the cutest/most realistic pics (such as his throaty cry!).
glad the hat worked out so well.
wow those are fabulous! I love the last one so much!
I love the crying one so much too!
absolutely fantastic photos you have to be one of the best photograhers i have seen.
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