Spent the morning playing with beautiful 11 day old baby "M" today. I have spent quite a few hours with beautiful babies....But this little guy completely made taking newborn pictures seem like a piece of cake. He was seriously one of the best natured newborns I have ever been around. (lucky for his mommy)...
and now all future newborns I take pictures of have a lot to live up to!
One thing I have found is the higher birth weight babies seem to be a little easier. Easier for a couple of different reasons....
1. They seem to be more content for longer periods of time. (between feedings)... AND
2. They are easier for me to pose when they have a little more chunk...
My advice for newborn photography today involves keeping baby content and posing. I think moms (especially first time moms) have a feeding time frame where they think their baby might be hungry. Every 3 hours, 2 hours, etc...
When doing a session, don't be afraid to ask mom to feed the baby more often than she normally would at home. Making sure the baby's tummy is full is absolutely essential to keeping the baby content enough to get good posing. When posing your baby, don't worry if you can't get it perfect right away. It will take several attempts to get it just right...where certain body parts are hidden and important parts like hands and feet are all showing. There is nothing worse than opening up a perfect image and realizing it isn't usable because private body parts are exposed or a baby that looks like it is missing a hand or foot because of positioning. Take your time positioning the baby and look over and over again to make sure everything is positioned properly. It is worth the time it takes. Never put a time frame on a newborn shoot. I have done shoots in 2 hours and others that took over 4...both producing the same number of usable images. The baby calls the shots and the sooner a photographer learns to play by the baby's rules...the easier it comes.
Today was a fun session and was kind of all over the place in terms of shooting style. I shot the first half with studio lighting (like the image shown)
And the second half using all natural light. It is always fun to try different things and continue learning new things.
Thanks Jen for your help today :) You're the best!
6 comments:
My pleasure! :)
He was a dream. Cutest little guy ever.
Bring on those chubby babes!
I have a question.... studio lighting? nice camera? cs3? nice lens? Shooting clients? knowing how to shoot in raw. those are all things that a professional photographer does. So how are you not a professional? and if your not are you just trying to ruin a career for those who are by offering so many tips?!
Hi April...
Yes, I have all of the things you listed. I do not call myself a professional because I do not charge people or have "clients". All the babies you see on my blog are friends and neighbors. I do live in Utah after all...babies EVERYWHERE! I give my friends that have babies a session as a gift. There are a few times lately people have paid me for my time. I feel like I am getting to the point where my work is worth being paid for...but I was never willing to charge people while I was still learning. There are plenty of photographers out there who do that. I am not a professional because I have little kids. I am not ready to devote my time to a photography career right now. I offer tips because when I first started to learn photography it was so hard to find people willing to share their knowledge. I was just a mom with a camera wanting to take better pictures of my own kids. I couldn't afford professional photography for every moment I wanted documented so I decided to learn it on my own. The tips I share are not meant to ruin anyone's career and honestly if you know a lot about photography, you would know there is nothing on this site that could ruin a real professional's business. There is way more to professional photography than tips on how to pose and sooth a baby, lighting tips, CS3 tutorials, etc.
Simply put...I love to help women learn to take their own pictures of their kids. I wish more than anything I could go back when my kids were little and have the skills I have now. If I can give that to someone else...why not? And, from the look of some of the professional's work out there...some of them could use some tips :) There is always more that we can learn from each other.
Kati, please don't stop sharing your tips and tricks with us! Your blog in no way would harm the career of a professional. You are clearly just offering friendly advice for us "moms" to take better pictures of our kids and learn to work with what we have! You are no different than the many, many blogs/websites out there offering the same kind of information!
Keep up the good work and keep those posts coming.
I do understand I am a bit bias, as I am your friend and all, but I think your blog is superb. ;)
I don't want to start a debate about this because I truly think your work is wonderful. But can you see where I'm coming from? If all "you mom's" take your own pictures, photographers are out of a job. Having said that, you have the right to post any info on your blog that you would like. Best of luck to you.
I'm not much of a debater...but I will admit it is hard for me to see where you are coming from because I don't know anything about you.
Are you a professional photographer? If so, do you feel your business has suffered because more and more moms are learning to use their nice DSLR cameras? I think I have shared a lot of info about my perspective...so what is yours? Why are you concerned about me sharing tips with other moms?
Not to debate...I'm just interested :)
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