NewBorn Photography

[412 Burgh]

Any tips? I have an upcoming shoot this February for a family friend. She wants to do a shoot whenever she has her baby sometime in the month. So I was planning on a week or two after because that is the best time frame from my research. However, any tips on posing, dos and don'ts. I been watching a lot of youtube videos and discussions on websites, but would like real world feedback from the actual photographers. I loved this video on youtube.

 

[cgipson1]

God.. that is a HORRID headpiece in that video......

 

[kathyt]

Newborns are the hardest thing to learn. I stopped doing them along time ago because I hated it. Continue watching videos, have a warm environment, make sure the baby is fed and ready for his/hers longest nap of the day when you are ready to start. Also, a bean bag is a really good tool to change the babies position w/o waking them. Try to get the shoot done within the first 10 days after birth. Best of luck.

 

[flow]

Allow more time than you think you'll need. If baby needs to wake up & eat - let them take a break with Mom. They'll go right back to sleep after.

In response to the video specifically - perhaps I am out of date on this, but I tend to feel that the final image should skew decidedly in the direction of BABY > PROPS.

 

[412 Burgh]

Such a good idea! Since she is a good family friend it'll be easy to stay longer or account for problems we may run into. She understands this is my first time but I completely forgot about timing to do it during their big nap time! Hopefully that'll work out and be good!

Ill keep reading and watching videos! Thank you all for the lovely tips. Knew it would be worth starting a new thread over.

 

[412 Burgh]

I also agree on the props comment. So what I did was ordered a nice basket on Amazon for $7. I'm not sure why we place babies in baskets? But I guess that's the thing lol I'm only 20 years old and Don't have a child of my own so whatever the client wants right?!

 

[vtf]

warm up room....85 degrees or so,
baby fed prior.
bean bag or boppy for posing...
puppy traing pads under blanket...
spotter at all times next to baby just off camera.....
patience at all times, it will take time.
cute baskets, hats, onesies...
you'll need a good window facing the sun to let natural light in but you can use off camera flash also....
KISS
Good Luck

 

[SamiJoSchwirtz]

It's a lot harder than you'd think!

Keep baby very warm and just hope he/she isn't fussy!!
I only did one shoot and I hope to never come across one again. would NOT stay asleep. And the mama fed her a whole bottle!!

 

[Vents]

ONE USEFUL TIP - dont make the baby cry, you wont continue the shoot afterwards.

 

[paigew]

You should check out lifestyle newborn photography. No posing and no props!!! Just beautiful photos of new baby + family. It is all I do, plus the photos are so much more meaningful. I did one session where baby was super fussy, but since I do lifestyle we ended up with some gorgeous photos anyway.

 

[412 Burgh]

You should check out lifestyle newborn photography. No posing and no props!!! Just beautiful photos of new baby + family. It is all I do, plus the photos are so much more meaningful. I did one session where baby was super fussy, but since I do lifestyle we ended up with some gorgeous photos anyway.

Thank you Paige. I will have to look into it and see what comes up!

 

[pixmedic]

You should check out lifestyle newborn photography. No posing and no props!!! Just beautiful photos of new baby + family. It is all I do, plus the photos are so much more meaningful. I did one session where baby was super fussy, but since I do lifestyle we ended up with some gorgeous photos anyway.

I must be missing something...I am unfamiliar with lifestyle photography. will have to look it up when I get the chance.
but I dont understand how a random picture of a baby doing whatever it happens to be doing at the time is MORE meaningful than a nicely set up and posed formal-style portrait? its like saying a snapshot of my wife in the yard coming back from checking the mail is better than her getting dressed up, posed nice, and having formal portraits taken for me. personally, im just not seeing the appeal.
when we do portraits for anyone, we have 2-3 speedlights with softboxes/umbrellas set up for lighting control. even for outdoor stuff.
Are we doing too much work for just portraits?

edit: Wikipedia is pretty much mum on the subject. gonna try youtube and see what its all about.

 

[kathyt]

You should check out lifestyle newborn photography. No posing and no props!!! Just beautiful photos of new baby + family. It is all I do, plus the photos are so much more meaningful. I did one session where baby was super fussy, but since I do lifestyle we ended up with some gorgeous photos anyway.

I must be missing something...I am unfamiliar with lifestyle photography. will have to look it up when I get the chance.
but I dont understand how a random picture of a baby doing whatever it happens to be doing at the time is MORE meaningful than a nicely set up and posed formal-style portrait? its like saying a snapshot of my wife in the yard coming back from checking the mail is better than her getting dressed up, posed nice, and having formal portraits taken for me. personally, im just not seeing the appeal.
when we do portraits for anyone, we have 2-3 speedlights with softboxes/umbrellas set up for lighting control. even for outdoor stuff.
Are we doing too much work for just portraits?

edit: Wikipedia is pretty much mum on the subject. gonna try youtube and see what its all about.

It is about capturing the connections between the parents and their new baby with their own surroundings. Like this. photograph newborns with a lifestyle perspective photography tutorial

 

[pixmedic]

You should check out lifestyle newborn photography. No posing and no props!!! Just beautiful photos of new baby + family. It is all I do, plus the photos are so much more meaningful. I did one session where baby was super fussy, but since I do lifestyle we ended up with some gorgeous photos anyway.

I must be missing something...I am unfamiliar with lifestyle photography. will have to look it up when I get the chance.
but I dont understand how a random picture of a baby doing whatever it happens to be doing at the time is MORE meaningful than a nicely set up and posed formal-style portrait? its like saying a snapshot of my wife in the yard coming back from checking the mail is better than her getting dressed up, posed nice, and having formal portraits taken for me. personally, im just not seeing the appeal.
when we do portraits for anyone, we have 2-3 speedlights with softboxes/umbrellas set up for lighting control. even for outdoor stuff.
Are we doing too much work for just portraits?

edit: Wikipedia is pretty much mum on the subject. gonna try youtube and see what its all about.

It is about capturing the connections between the parents and their new baby with their own surroundings. Like this. photograph newborns with a lifestyle perspective photography tutorial

I appreciate the link, and I think I now understand the concept of "lifestyle" photography, but if that is a good sample of what typical lifestyle baby photography looks like, I think we will stick to having proper lighting equipment on hand.
lot of blown highlights from the light coming in from the window, uneven lighting, shadows, and a few that really should have been shot stopped down more, but im guessing that it wasn't possible with just the natural light from the window.

I am a HUGE advocate of people doing whatever works for them, But I think I will personally stick to lugging around several lighting stands, speedlights, triggers, and umbrellas/softboxes so I can use a smaller aperture when I need to, and have control over the lighting. So far, that is what is working for us, and we get good results with it. your mileage, obviously, may vary.

 

[paigew]

pixmedic lifestlye is not for everyone that is for sure. I personally do not like traditional portraits. And certainly if I am paying someone hundreds of dollars to photograph my newborn I want those photographs to bring back sweet memories of a time that passed too quickly. Photographs that document REAL life, real feelings, and photos that invoke real emotions etc. I don't like perfect photos. And I enjoy using light creatively to create mood in my photos. And I enjoy the challenge of creating images totally unique to the family. But that is me, that is MY style.