My first newborn shoot

gummibear · May 20, 2011

Here are a few photos from my first newborn shoot. It was actually alot harder than I thought it would be. She was hungry alot and was not wanting to pose easily, but we managed to get some shots in there. Comments and critiques are welcome.

1.

2.

3.

4

Derrel · May 20, 2011

#4 is very nice. Turned out pretty well overall.

tirediron · May 20, 2011

Overall, a very nice set. I find the angle in #2 a little strange, but other than that well done. Nice monochromes.

gummibear · May 21, 2011

My husband also thought that the angle was a little off in #2 and one other like it. Should I have just kept/cropped her straight?

Thanks!

j28 · May 21, 2011

I'm seeing a little bit of a green cast on her face in #1 (but I am on an uncalibrated monitor right now, so it might be me). It is slight and near the bridge of her nose. This one is my favorite, I think the parents will love it!
For the angle I would have angled up instead of down if I were angling, but without seeing a straight crop I think I prefer the way you have it.
Overall nice job! You are right, newborns are a lot harder than they look!

gummibear · May 21, 2011

well, i don't see the green cast, It might just be your monitor, I recalibrated mine before I edited these, and now I'm looking on my netbook which I can't see much difference. The parentsliked all of these, that first one was one that I showed them immediately after I took it, I thought they'd like to know that I got a pic of her smiling. I was thrilled, because she wasn't doing much more than fussing, But that was kind of to be expected. I'm looking into doing just newborn and children photography, but this was a little difficult, She was difficult to pose and the photoshoot took way longer than I had planned or expected, about 3 hours. I think that if I have to do another newborn shoot that I will have the mother feed the baby extremely well before I get there and have them ready for a nap. But I guess you just have to work around the unexpected, Overall, I had an ok time doing this I didn't get to do alot of the ideas and poses that I wanted to, but every baby has thier own personality I guess. She just liked to stay all balled up. She had two good 30 minute bursts where she stayed napping, which was good.
I have a question, How long does it normally take to do a newborn shoot? Surely not 3-3.5 hours! She had to feed her twice, to keep her calm, but should I work in alot of extra time for a 3 hour shoot? Seems a little overkill, but if it wasn't going well, would you just say that you should reschedule and try another day for no/some extra charge? Any advice would be appreciated, especially if you have plenty experience with newborn photography. Also, after the 3 hours the mother was still wanting to do more photos!
Also, another question: How much do you charge for a newborn shoot? I've been charging $50 per shoot, but this seems cheap and I feel like I am putting alot of time and energy into this. Of course this was my 1st newborn shoot and these were friends, but ????? What do you do?
Thanks for everything.

mwcfarms · May 21, 2011

A friend of mine does newborn photography and she says to specifically plan for 2.5 to three hours. It won't be that much shooting time of course but time for baby and mom to eat, snuggle etc. She also tries to do 5-9 day olds. She says this is the most successful because they sleep longer initially. Nice set. I really like how number four turned out as well.

mommyphotog · May 21, 2011

Very nice job. These parents have got to be so excited! Great work.

gummibear · May 21, 2011

Ok, thanks for the info. These were taken at 6 days old.

KmH · May 21, 2011

Nice set and good use of the light.

gummibear · May 21, 2011

Thanks! these were actually done in their home using what available window light that I had. I used a tripod and reflector. and my setup was with one of those metal clothes hangers rigged up to be a curtain rod, which I hung the backdrops from with rings with clips so that I could easily change out the back drop, Something kinda like this
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Whitmor-Adjustable-Garment-Rack-Chrome-Black/15104314. And this http://www.curtainworks.com/index.php?page=product&product_id=359&source=cashbackShopping Sounds funny but it worked and looked better than I could probably tell you. I just used what I had around the house but it worked

kp2323 · May 31, 2011

I love them all! They are beautiful <3 I do the same thing...nothing wrong with a makeshift portable studio ;0) As long as the finished product looks great. Also, you should check out this contest by Love By CC! They are giving away tons of stuff that would work for you with your newborn photography. I just thought you might be interested :0) Good luck and keep up the great work <3

Here it is:
@ LoveByCC is having a HUGE appreciation giveaway at Love By CC: HUGE 5k Fan & Appreciation Giveaway

Check it out...or not...whichever you choose :0)

g-fi · May 31, 2011

3 hours is pretty average for a newborn photo shoot. $50 is quite low in my opinion, but you are the only one who can judge how valuable your time is and what you are worth. If I hadn't gotten my range of shots at 4 hours, I would call it quits and reschedule for the next day, but I've never had a session that didn't result in enough usable shots after 4 hours. IMO, newborn shoots are more about getting the shot rather than working in a time frame, which is why I charge accordingly and anticipate being at a clients home for at least 3 hours. If a shoot goes faster, that's just gravy.