This darling boy is my nephew Kash, I was overjoyed to capture his newborn portraits in the studio a week or so back. He did so well, and I loved every second of cuddling and posing him!
If there is something I get asked over and over again, it would be .. ” How do you get babies to sleep the entire time?” the very easy answer to this is that I dont! Having worked in labor and delivery prior to going full time into photography sure gave me tons of time being comfortable with handling newborns, and preemies, as well as caring for them, posing them, and I certainly learned a thing or two about getting them calm, and helping them to sleep. While I cannot share all my secrets and quite frankly there are times that even my own tricks and tips dont work because all babies are different… here are a few things to keep in mind!
Prep parents prior to the shoot usually a few days prior as to what your expectations are or are not for the shoot, what the environment will be like and approx how long you think they will be with you as well as anything they should bring or prepare. A well prepared parent is half the secret right there… having a parent show up and not know what is about to happen or not have planned for enough time or not know that you will be wrapping or posing the baby could cause the new mom some frustration or anxiety and babies can sense that just like dogs can sense fear on a human, and you know that age old saying “ If mama aint happy aint nobody gonna be happy” and its so true. Along with this same point would also be proper scheduling, make sure baby hadn’t come straight from the pediatrician and given shots, that mom is well, and baby isn’t having feeding issues that could cause them to be very hungry.
Next thing is how prepared you are, both in your studio/workplace and in your handling of newborns. If you do not feel incredibly comfortable holding, moving, wrapping someone else’s baby, a few practice sessions or portfolio building sessions may be in order to help you perform at your best during the shoot and keep that baby just as safe and comfortable as possible. Once you have gotten experience with a baby in your hands, lots of moving from back to tummy, tucking arms and legs and wrapping, the next thing is to pre-plan out your session and to line it up in a way that will minimize the amount of times you move the baby or wake the baby. For me this means a posing flow that gently eases baby from one pose into the next and so on, with minimal prop changes.
Keep a bottle nearby, sometimes a fussy baby just needs to be topped off a bit and doesn’t require a full feeding right then just enough to make them happy and to feel satisfied and then gently drift back off to sleep again.
Finally maximize the amount of shots you get from one post to limit both newborn movement, and the amount of time you are keeping your client there, when I first started years and years ago I didnt have the same plans and procedures in place that I do now and I can remember some shoots taking almost 4 hours, baby would be crying, mom was stressed and I was exhausted… now as an Annapolis Newborn Photographer my newborn shoots last approx an hour and a half, and again depending on baby generally covered very well with minimal stops to calm baby!
Annapolis Newborn Photographer | Kash Newborn Photography tips
