Safety Tips For Comfortable Newborn Baby Photo Sessions In Houston
Newborn photography comes with a lot of responsibility because parents are trusting you with their tiny, new baby. While you want to take pictures that the family will cherish for a lifetime, you also want to be as safe as possible. The baby should also be kept as comfortable as possible during the shoot.
Planning & Practicalities Of Newborn Photography
The babies you will work with when doing newborn shoots will be between 5 and 10 days old. Baby’s of this age will be very sleepy which makes them easier to work with. They are also fairly flexible and willing to be moved as you need. When they get older, they will get more control of their limbs which makes them prone to wiggling out of the pose you have placed them in. This will make it harder to get the pictures that you want.
When you schedule these sessions, you need to be flexible. You should try talking to the parents before the shoot about timing and what they should expect from the session. In the best cases, when the baby arrives, the parents will be calm and know what is going to happen and how to contact you for the final scheduling.
Tasks For The Morning Of The Session
It is best to plan for a sleeping baby. Most photographers will rely on the baby sleeping and being willing to submit to the poses that you want as well as the outfit changes and interactions for the shoot. You should ask the parents to keep the baby awake for at least 2 hours before the session to ensure they will be sleepy.
You also need to ask the parents to feed the baby as much as possible around 15 to 20 minutes before the shoot starts. A baby who is happily full will sleep better than one who is becoming hungry. If you know that you are going to take around 20 minutes to set everything up when you get to the parent’s house, you should ask the parents to wait until you arrive to feed the baby.
Safety During The Shoot
Newborn babies are fragile and you need to be careful when you pose and move them. You also need to sanitize your hands before the session because these babies are delicate. Before you move or touch the baby, you will need to get permission from the parents. If they are nervous about this, ask them to help you with the posing. You have to be prepared to work slowly during the shoot to get the pose or look you want.
A sleeping baby that is curled up will often stay in that position with a steady hand and firm hold. Before you remove your hand, you will need to wait for the baby to settle. Once they have settled, you can take your picture. Swaddling is a good way to keep a baby in one position while you shoot.
It is important to note that some babies will fight the urge to sleep and keep an eye open. To get them to close their eyes, you should use your knuckle to massage the baby’s nose. This will provide you with the sleeping look you will want.
You also need to remember that newborn babies cannot support their heads and lifting the head needs to be done as a composite. This means you take two or more pictures with a parent supporting their head and remove the hands in editing.
You need to plan ahead to get the shots that you and the parents want. Spend some time plotting out the shots and how you can do them without upsetting the baby.
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