Newborn/ baby photographer

SamiJoSchwirtz · Dec 14, 2012

Is anyone on here experienced in this?
Is it as hard as people say?

Awiserbud · Dec 14, 2012

I think it depends what you expect from a shoot, or more so what the parents expect from a shoot, many people have mentioned that trying to get that perfect shot can take a while since you obviously can't direct a newborn child, you just have to wait for the right moment, take into account diaper changes and irregular sleep paterns, you could be there for a few hours, I don't do it professionaly, but i have done a few, I am always very concious of bright lights too so i think its important to take that into account and make use of bounced / reflected light. (maybe someone more qualified might correct me and say its harmless)

STE_0736 by steve watson photos, on Flickr

SamiJoSchwirtz · Dec 14, 2012

That's adorable!! Thanks.

janineh · Dec 14, 2012

I am specialised in newborn, babies and children. Newborn take lots of practise and even more patience. You need to know how to position them right to get the cute curled up newborn shot. This is a photo from saturdays session.

JAC526 · Dec 14, 2012

I'm not a pro like Janineh but I had my first daughter in August and I have practiced a LOT on her. It is definitely an exercise in patience. And then when they do actually stay positioned the way you want them to you have about 15 seconds to shoot like mad before they get pissed.

So yeah its a ton of fun.

SamiJoSchwirtz · Dec 14, 2012

Haha! Sounds fun. that's a great photo by the way.
I need to learn more i see

frommrstomommy · Dec 14, 2012

The photog I hired for my son's newborn shots was here 5 hours and we barely got any pictures. lol He was just not cooperative in the least and peed on like 3 of her blankets. ;\ I'm sure its not always this way, but it can be rough.

allison_dcp · Dec 14, 2012

most important thing, IMO, a little heater. Sleeping babies stay sleeping better if theyre warm

Good luck!

slow231 · Dec 14, 2012

a big +1 on the heater. also a white noise/heartbeat sound machine too. if you're the parent and don't already have one, they're not expensive and are doubly useful for night/naps. IMO doing the newborn sleeping shots on your own kid is a lot easier since you can just wait for a time when the baby's in the right mood. just have all your props/lighting ready. if you're all setup, it literally takes 5 mins to get a shot when baby's in the right mood (food coma). and if he/she starts to fuss, you don't have to fight it since you know you'll have plenty of good opportunities later on. I did all of my own kid's shots. it wasn't too bad as long as i had some ideas and deadlines planed out in advance. it's easy to get so tired and carried away with the everyday baby stuff that you end up putting off doing the formal shots.

now shooting someone else's kid on a set schedule/date is a whole other thing. be ready for a frommrstomommy type experiences. soiling outfits/props, crying, feeding (which is hard enough real early on), etc can really burn through some time. I've heard days 3-10 are a pretty good window. mother's real milk has dropped by then, and your safely dodging the first growth spurt and onset of baby acne. doing this type of thing efficiently and well really takes some experience (not just skill!). i took a newborn photo class from a well known baby photographer in my area. i'm generally decent at figuring out how to approach new things, but this was definitely one of those experiences where i was left feeling thoroughly outclassed. the little tips and nuances she shared were all things you just wouldn't have thought about without having experienced it first. and everything is so situation dependent, you almost need to just develop a feel for it. Lucky i've only had to shoot a few babies, and it was all casual with no tight schedules or heavy demand to produce.

frommrstomommy · Dec 14, 2012

slow231 said:
a big +1 on the heater. also a white noise/heartbeat sound machine too. if you're the parent and don't already have one, they're not expensive and are doubly useful for night/naps. IMO doing the newborn sleeping shots on your own kid is a lot easier since you can just wait for a time when the baby's in the right mood. just have all your props/lighting ready. if you're all setup, it literally takes 5 mins to get a shot when baby's in the right mood (food coma). and if he/she starts to fuss, you don't have to fight it since you know you'll have plenty of good opportunities later on. I did all of my own kid's shots. it wasn't too bad as long as i had some ideas and deadlines planed out in advance. it's easy to get so tired and carried away with the everyday baby stuff that you end up putting off doing the formal shots.

now shooting someone else's kid on a set schedule/date is a whole other thing. be ready for a frommrstomommy type experiences. soiling outfits/props, crying, feeding (which is hard enough real early on), etc can really burn through some time. I've heard days 3-10 are a pretty good window. mother's real milk has dropped by then, and your safely dodging the first growth spurt and onset of baby acne. doing this type of thing efficiently and well really takes some experience (not just skill!). i took a newborn photo class from a well known baby photographer in my area. i'm generally decent at figuring out how to approach new things, but this was definitely one of those experiences where i was left feeling thoroughly outclassed. the little tips and nuances she shared were all things you just wouldn't have thought about without having experienced it first. and everything is so situation dependent, you almost need to just develop a feel for it. Lucky i've only had to shoot a few babies, and it was all casual with no tight schedules or heavy demand to produce.

I believe my sons were shot on day 12 because my photog was out of town visiting family (we are military) and my sons birth and her being out of town just kinda happened that way.. I really think it would have been better if we had shot a few days sooner at least. And yep.. he was already experiencing a growth spurt and decided it would be a fun day to nurse every 20 minutes. He wouldn't sleep anywhere but in my arms and it was quite the disaster. lol

Derrel · Dec 14, 2012

I've never personally seen a newborn baby who was even a half-decent photographer. Usually they just sleep, and pee, and poop, and lay there all swaddled up, and when then DO pick up a camera, they usually just sort of drop it...

Jenneve · Dec 14, 2012

i think there is a free app for white noise that you could just have ready on your phone for the photo session. Also I read somewhere that some newborn photographers use doggie pee-pee pads under the blankets to protect their bean bags.