Find out about six of the most challenging parts of my job.
I’ve been a newborn
photographer for nearly 4 years now, and believe me, I’ve come across some challenges!
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my job and shout about that fact most days. But
sometimes, as we all know, babies can be unpredictable little bundles and they
keep us on our toes!
So, this month’s blog post is
about some of the challenges I’ve come across while taking beautiful keepsake
photographs of your little ones.
What is newborn
photography?
Newborn photography is classed
as shoots done when your little bundle of joy is younger than around three weeks
old. Past that point and I’d call your shoot, simply, baby photography.
The reason for this is
simple. A newborn baby is much more curled up, sleepy and squishy than one that
is, for example, five weeks old. With an older baby, the shoot will be quite
different, featuring a great deal of open eye shots and stretched out arms and
legs.
My aim is to capture some of
your baby’s earliest moments, fresh to the world.
That said, it’s not always
plain sailing!
Challenge #1 – There’s so
much kit!
I’m a mobile newborn photographer, which means I come to
you. I don’t ask you to leave the house to come to my studio because I believe
that a newborn is most comfortable at home where there are familiar smells,
familiar noises and you have everything you need for your baby at hand.
The challenge of that for me is that I have several tonnes
of photography props to carry around with me (regular readers know that I have
a bit of an addiction!). My family despairs. My whole house has been taken over
by tutus, flowers, baskets, baby hats and blankets…
So, if you see me pulling up outside your house with props
hanging out of my car windows, please don’t be alarmed! I will have brought
everything that we could possibly need to make your newborn photography shoot
as unique and memorable as possible (just don’t remind me of the time I drove
90 minutes to a shoot only to realise I’d brought everything except my actual
camera – that will never happen again!).
Challenge #2 – Baby won’t
play ball
We all know that every baby is different. Right from the
word ‘go’ they have their own agenda and their own unique personalities. So,
not all babies are up for playing nicely, staying asleep and letting me do my thing…
Some stay awake and present adorable, sparkling, open eyes.
I never see this as a problem because some of the most beautiful images come
from such moments, and we sometimes catch an ever hopeful yawn! However, I always plan some poses that work best with a
wakeful baby, work around those and then bide my time until the little bundle
decides it’s time to sleep again.
I plan to stay with my newborn families for several hours so
we’re never rushed and, the chances are, we’ll get plenty of opportunity to
capture gorgeous, sleepy shots once the excitement of a new environment is out
of the way.
Challenge #3 – babies get hungry
I mean, who would have thought it? Babies need to be fed?
Of course they do. And they generally don’t adhere to
‘standard’ meal times in these early days. I’ve had shoots where the baby has wanted to feed THE
WHOLE TIME I was there, which presents a challenge! Flexibility is the key with
newborn photography though, so there will always be a plan to fit around a
hungry baby… What we have to remain calm and remember is that if a baby is awake then all it knows is someone generally shoves something in its mouth, and because we are fussing with them they can fall asleep and wake often so we just have to go with their flow and needs. It's all about the patience.
Challenge #4 – illness or a long stay in hospital
Giving birth and navigating the first few days of a child’s
life is rarely straightforward.
I take bookings for newborn photography shoots from the 20-week
scan and, as everybody knows, a due date is hardly a hard and fast rule – your
baby will arrive when he/she is good and ready. I only ask parents to book an
actual date once your little bundle has arrived, and even then, I remain
flexible to allow for hospital visits, sickness and any other inflexibilities
that are characteristic of newborns. I'm very used to midwifes and health visitors popping in on shoot days, they are usually pretty happy to wait a few minutes if we are near to completing a set up.
I recommend newborn photography to take place around 10 days
old but I would never try to organise a shoot if everyone involved wasn’t ready
and comfortable with that. If we have to wait a little longer, so be it.
Challenge #5 – skin problems
Most newborn babies will have skin issues in their first
weeks. I try to organise shoots within the first 10 days to avoid milk rash or
cradle cap, but dry skin or small blemishes are so common straight from birth
that they’re generally a challenge that’s expected during a shoot.
While a shoot takes up to four, I’ll go away and
spend another four hours or so editing your images to remove any blemishes,
soften dry skin and generally make sure the photographs you receive from your
shoot are as perfect as your little one deserves.
Challenge #6 – little accidents - my favourite!!
Newborn babies love to feel the air around their little
bottoms.
It’s very rare that a baby will have his or her nappy taken
off and not feel the need to tinkle in the buff! It happens. All the time. And
sometimes it’s not just a tinkle, if you know what I mean?
That’s just one of the delights of working with newborns.
You never know what’s going to happen next and I’ve learned from experience
that you just have to cope with whatever’s sprinkled at you and make the best
of it.
If it’s caught right, this kind of little accident can make
the most amazing (if hilarious) memory for you to keep…
I’m sure, that in the years to come, I’ll come across a
great many more challenges while photographing newborns – I’ll keep you all
updated!
Tina x
