Let me ask you this question; If you had to evacuate your house in the next 10 mins, what would you take with you (apart from your family & pets)….
….No it wouldn’t be you big screen TV or your playstation. It would be you family heirlooms, such as Grandma’s antique engagement ring, family photos & wedding albums. These are the things you can never replace.
As a Chesterfield Newborn photographer & mum of 2, I would have to say that photos are one of our most important and treasured possessions. How often do you hear someone say, I’ve lost all my photos after a house fire or flood!
With babies growing and changing so fast in the first year, that tiny newborn stage is over in a flash. Honestly, I’ve no idea how my two have gotten to be 3 & 6, I swear they were only babies yesterday.
With that in mind what if badly composed & lit photos were all you had to remember you child’s newborn stage by!
Here is a photo I took of my daughter Freya, back in 207. She was just a week old.
At the time I was a Professional Wedding Photographer, not a newborn photographer. I didn’t really understand the basics of Newborn Photography or the skills needed to produce the cute curled up poses you see on the internet. The posing is terrible, the angle is wrong and she looks very uncomfortable. And just look at that nappy lol. There is no skin editing or colour correction done (she was jaundice). Oh how I wish i’d taken her for Newborn portraits.
Its not just the photo coming out exposed well and in focus (although that is a small part of it). With Newborn Photography it all about the posing of the baby. There is major skill in this, and trust me, its not as easy as we make it look.
This is the pose that I was trying to achieve, known as the bum up pose. As you can see, baby is very comfy, the pose & lighting are perfect. The skin has been expertly retouched to make baby look creamy & perfect. This is just one of my photos I’ve taken as a specialist Newborn Photographer.
Which one would you prefer to hang on your wall? I know which I would, for this reason I don’t have any newborn photos of Freya on display in my home.
Posing needs to be done by a trained professional who will hold your baby’s safety as top priority during the session. Just because someone is a professional photographer doesn’t mean they can pose newborns safely.
Here is a short video of me teaching Newborn posing & business on Engage Live showing how the froggy pose is achieved:
As you can see from the video, baby is fully supported at all times. The images are then taken into photoshop to make the finished image (see below).
I’ve heard horror stories where babies have been left unsupported in the position and they have face planted onto the beanbag. This can cause serious injury if done incorrectly. You can read my previous blog on major safety concerns.
With that in mind, would you put your tiny precious newborn’s safety at risk by going to an untrained newborn photographer or even trying to recreate some of these poses yourself? You would never forgive yourself if anything happened to them.
We’ve all seen this one floating around the internet (not my photo)
As much as we can laugh at the bottom photo, I have seen this kind of image being produced by photographers. Baby always seems to have their face partially buried in the blanket or rug. I don’t know about you but I like to see my bubba’s face in the photos.
So if you were thinking of giving it ago yourself, you might want to re consider. You only get a short window of opportunity to get the sleepy curled up poses. Under 14 days old is usually the best time, although it is possible up to 4 weeks of age but it get more difficult the older they become. So if you get an untrained photographer who doesn’t know how to pose newborns safely, you may not have another opportunity to get them done again.
So when looking for a newborn photographer there is a few things you can check.
1, How long have they been photographing Newborns?
I’ve been a Profession photographer for 11 years but have been photographing newborns for 8 years, with the last 4 1/2 as a specialist.
2, Have they been trained in newborn photography?
I have been fully trained in Newborn photography and still carry on my training as well as training other photographers myself.
3, Can you see a couple of examples of composite images?
This is like the froggy pose above but the same method is used of several different image sot ensure safety. I’m forever putting on my FB page my composite images. You can’t take a look at the album here
4, Check you like their style.
Theres no point in booking with a photographer who produces bright, colourful images when you like dark, neutral images.
5, What does the session fee include.
Some include images, some are just for the session itself & some tie you in to a contract for a minimum order. For me I charge a session fee of £65. This does not include any product and there is no commitment to buy any should you not like you images. However, you’re going to love you images so you will want to buy something.
6, Can you see their price list.
You need to see if they are within you budget, you’re going to be very disappointed if you love the images but can’t afford them. Theres nothing worse as a parent loving your images and not being able to get any.
Once you’ve found the right photographer for you, book them! Don’t leave it until baby is here. Good Newborn photographers are often book Newborn clients in just after they’ve had their 20 week scan. Which means if you leave it too late, you may miss out on having your session with your favourite photographer.
To take a look at my portfolio of newborn image please visit the main website
Or you can check out my Facebook page
