Baby photography....first time

[dmann]

Hey!

So I have a shoot coming up and went out tonight to look for props. I found a ton of scarfs on clearance and even scored a couple of the ones that are similar to a sleeve. Now my question, have any of you used scarfs? These are for the most part wider scarfs but I haven't been around a newborn for so long I forget how big they are. Which brings me to my next question, I got a couple hairbands from Claires Baby, they look tiny but anyone know the circumference of a newborn head? A general estimate is all I want.

Now my last question. I have to make a makeshift studio. I will use my kitchen table, hang a curtain rod behind it, and i bought an assortment of curtains for backdrops. I also got some curtain panel that are bamboo that I might try for the flooring. Do you have any tips for this kind of set up?

As far as beanbag chairs go, why are they recommended as opposed to pillow or quilt stuffing? I got the filling today but didn't want to pay another 20$ for the bag so i bought a vaccumm bag instead that I think will work great. Any tips for the beanbag chair? And lastly am I ok will using a pillow in a basket that's about a foot deep? Will I be surprised by anything?


Any other tips would be great, I know a lot of these questions are dumb but I don't want to be caught off guard in front of the parents.

Thanks,
Des

[dmann]

I should tell you guys that I have done some reading and I will also be doing the following:

- have the room warm
- have the clothes/diaper removed prior so I have no lines
- i have allowed for a ton of time (3hrs) and i'm preparing myself for baby not working in my favor
- i have my spots picked with the natural light, at the right time of day

Thanks

[ccting]

Originally Posted by dmann

I should tell you guys that I have done some reading and I will also be doing the following:

- have the room warm ==> How do you warm the room?
- have the clothes/diaper removed prior so I have no lines ==> What if the parents object about this?
- i have allowed for a ton of time (3hrs) and i'm preparing myself for baby not working in my favor Oh my god, 3 hours !! My baby is crying for milik, and I don't want a stranger to stay in my house for more than 5 minutes...LOL
- i have my spots picked with the natural light, at the right time of day What happen if the lighting of the chosen time is not what you planned? May be because of heavy rain, heavy cloud etc etc unexpected things happens?

Thanks

Just ask as a noob.. ? Any mitigation plan or Business Continuity Plan (BCP) for unexpected things?

[dmann]

Originally Posted by dmann
I should tell you guys that I have done some reading and I will also be doing the following:

- have the room warm ==> How do you warm the room?
I have a furnace that I will turn up but you can also use a space heater although I don't have one of those.
- have the clothes/diaper removed prior so I have no lines ==> What if the parents object about this?
Then I have a lot of pp time a head of me.
- i have allowed for a ton of time (3hrs) and i'm preparing myself for baby not working in my favor Oh my god, 3 hours !! My baby is crying for milik, and I don't want a stranger to stay in my house for more than 5 minutes...LOL
Haha
- i have my spots picked with the natural light, at the right time of day What happen if the lighting of the chosen time is not what you planned? May be because of heavy rain, heavy cloud etc etc unexpected things happens?
Even on a cloudy overcast day I get good light in my house. But if by chance I don't get good lighting then I will just be relying on my flash more.

Thanks

[dmann]

No other replies? They must be dumb questions!

[karen_s]

I don't work with babies so I can't help you much but I would just note to make sure everything is as safe as possible ... like make sure the basket is well balanced as to not tip over with movement, make sure the baby can't roll off of anything like a table, no tripping hazards for you ... that kinda thing. The other thing I often read about baby photography is to be patient. Sounds like you have worked in some time for that though. Wish I could help you more.

[ccting]

Hmm.. I think you should consult Susan, I have seen her website, she is really good at babies portrait photography

Post ur experience here later so I can learn from u..
Ty.

[rachb]

I did my first newborn shoot a month ago for a couple (I had also taken their maternity photos). The BIGGEST issue I had was the parents not wanting to pose their 3 week old baby- they are young, first time parents, and had given me a few ideas (baby in basket, on towels...) that they wanted from the session (a free, trade for portfolio thing). Well, when they get to my house, their baby slept for the family photos, but was very awake for the solo shots. Therefore, every time they laid him down, he started crying... and they were very quick to pick him up and try to quiet him. We ended up with NO solo shots of baby... and since I'm not a parent, I didn't want to tell them what to do with their baby. That was my biggest struggle- I spent a while preparing all of the props for their shoot, and we didn't get any photos, so I was pretty disappointed.

I followed all of the rules that newborn photog friends had given me, and it just wasn't working out...if I were being paid, I think I might have been more assertive, but my lack of experience with newborns definitely wasn't in my favor. Hopefully once I have some of my own this will change, and I can get the shots I want. The family shots came out relatively well with natural light. My biggest suggestion would be to do the solo baby shots when the baby is sleeping, because you can do family ones when the baby is awake because the parents will be soothing him or her... I know this doesn't answer many of your questions, but I hope it helped

[dmann]

Thanks everyone for the replys! I will keep everything said in consideration.

I am just going to run with what I have and i'll post some images when i'm done.....

[copelscope]

Looking at the date stamp I'm guessing your session has already taken place? If not a few things I may be able to help with in the newborn potography area:

The scarves will be great-- they work fabulously for baby wraps
Have a firm beanbag you can pose on.
Get baby in before the age of 2 weeks if at all possible
Don't let mom handle the baby unless feeding-- but I ask my nursing moms to bring a bottle of expressed milk so I can do all the baby handling during the session. Babies tend to get agitated and stirr more when they can smell mama (especially when nursing)... and a pacifier can be your best friend.
White noise is going to help keep baby in a deeper sleep for posing
Put hand weights/free weight disc things in the bottoms of baskets or buckets if you plan to use them-- those suckers need to be firmly and solidly weighed down so they won't tip before sticking a baby in them
Composite shots are your friend-- if you are using a prop that's not possible to secure properly or a pose that could put strain on the baby (fists holding up head for example), take a shot with a parent (preferrably dad because of the whole mom-scent thing) supporting one area and then another-- then merge them together in post processing.

Good luck on your newborn session