Monday, March 24, 2014

Newborn Photography

One of the challenges I had recently was photographing a baby, a really young and cute baby.  Of course I did all the obvious research about lighting conditions, lens selection, backdrop choices and some different poses I could use.  However, all that technical knowledge is not enough to survive a session like this.  Patience is your best allied, besides the baby's mother, of course.
I ended up with very solid images but also with a really good learning experience.  These are some of the points I learned:
  • The baby is the boss and everything will spin around his/her awesome cuteness
  • If you have a Plan A, make sure you have a Plan B, and Plan C, and maybe Plan D
  • You will never have enough backdrop.  Babies will decide when it's time to change it by "marking the zone", if you know what I mean
  • It's always easier to pose babies when they are asleep; that's the reason why this kind of sessions must be done during their first 10 days of age
  • An area heater is always convenient to keep the baby warm and cozy, and avoid "marking the zone"
  • Mom should always be around
  • Have different hats or mittens so you can play with color combinations

Of course, there are many other points to consider but the list will go on and on.  This is just a brief summary of things I will have to consider for my next newborn session.
I must say, I ended up enjoying these sessions more than I expected.  To me, it's always a pleasure capturing their cuteness at such an early stage.
Last but not least, thanks to the happy parents for putting their trust on me capturing the images of their new baby.
Congratulations!!