By Contributing Blogger, Karryne Fox
Ever since I found out I was having a girl, I have been dreaming of all the different ways I can dress her up. Having had a boy first time around, I felt a small void in the area of fashion. Yeah, boys clothes are cute and all, don't get me wrong, but there is just something about a mom having a daughter to dress up that is just so fun! So naturally, newborn pictures were a top priority for me. I mean who doesn't love scrolling through photos of a less than 10-day-old wrinkly baby in mushy poses?
Well, as I was daydreaming about all of the different newborn pictures outfits, headbands and poses, my husband threw me a curveball. He told me that he couldn't justify spending the money on a pricey photographer when we had literally just purchased a brand new Canon camera. I saw his side of the argument but at the same time knew that I am one hundred percent NOT capable of producing the professional quality photos I was envisioning.
But in the end, I saw his side and decided to give it a shot. I mean it couldn't hurt to try right? In preparation, I read dozens of how-to blogs and pinned hundreds of ideas that I saw on Pinterest. Once I gained some confidence, I gathered props, backdrops, outfits (and my baby of course) and began snapping away.
When all was said and done, I was not happy with the final product. The lighting was bad, the backdrop was wrinkled, my baby was impossible to position and the camera angles were off. I don't know what I was thinking when I thought I could pull it off.
When you search "tips on a newborn photo shoot" your results are endless. Here are some of the tips they give you - and my personal experiences/advice to you:
1. Natural light. A bright sunny day, near a window will always work best. Lamps create shadows. This was the biggest issue for me. My baby was born in February and it was gloomy for a solid 2 weeks straight. According the the websites I had read, they tell you that newborn pictures need to be taken within the first 10 days of the baby's life. But since I cannot control the weather, I had no choice but to take them on a gloomy day. And I got exactly what I was told I was going to get - 'shadow-y' pictures.
2. Use a good backdrop. If you choose to use a sheet - make sure it is ironed. I am the worst at ironing. I tried my best to get the wrinkles out but clearly, it didn't work. In the end I've decided that no blanket is probably better than a wrinkled one. But hey, the wrinkles add some character, right?! If you are horrible at ironing like myself, I suggest you use a blanket instead that way it won't even be an issue.
3. Positioning. Don't stress over getting the baby in the "best position". I quickly found out that I will not be able to get pictures like the professionals do so there was no point in stressing over it. In the end your pictures will be adorable because they are pictures of your baby.
4. Angles are everything. Angles are hard to figure out. I ended up taking over 20 pictures of the baby in one position but moving my camera slightly each time. Once I found an angle I liked, I was able to snap a few good shots.
5. Include siblings in your shoot. This was a major fail for me. My 3 year old son is at the stage where he HATES pictures and anything to do with pictures. It was actually more stressful for me to have him in the pictures than not because I was getting so frustrated with him not looking at the camera (and poking his sister in the eyes) So no, I didn't get any of those heart melting sibling photos of your two children gazing into each others eyes. Oh well.
6. Use a space heater to keep the baby as warm as possible. Seriously? Who has a space heater lying around? I certainly don't. And I was not about to go out and purchase one for a 2 hour photo shoot. I ended up cranking the heat in the house. Was it as good as a space heater? Probably not. The point of the heat is the keep them very comfortable so they stay asleep and you can mold them in positions much easier. Yes we could have benefited from one but I didn't want to go out and buy one. And I wasn't about to hunt one down 10 days post-pardum.
What I took away from this frustrating experience was that even though my pictures were not professional quality (or anywhere near it for that matter) they were memories. No they are not edited to perfection and no they don't have that "glow". But what they do have is my baby. My 10-day old, wrinkly, mushy baby and they are just perfect.
Ever since I found out I was having a girl, I have been dreaming of all the different ways I can dress her up. Having had a boy first time around, I felt a small void in the area of fashion. Yeah, boys clothes are cute and all, don't get me wrong, but there is just something about a mom having a daughter to dress up that is just so fun! So naturally, newborn pictures were a top priority for me. I mean who doesn't love scrolling through photos of a less than 10-day-old wrinkly baby in mushy poses?
Well, as I was daydreaming about all of the different newborn pictures outfits, headbands and poses, my husband threw me a curveball. He told me that he couldn't justify spending the money on a pricey photographer when we had literally just purchased a brand new Canon camera. I saw his side of the argument but at the same time knew that I am one hundred percent NOT capable of producing the professional quality photos I was envisioning.
But in the end, I saw his side and decided to give it a shot. I mean it couldn't hurt to try right? In preparation, I read dozens of how-to blogs and pinned hundreds of ideas that I saw on Pinterest. Once I gained some confidence, I gathered props, backdrops, outfits (and my baby of course) and began snapping away.
When all was said and done, I was not happy with the final product. The lighting was bad, the backdrop was wrinkled, my baby was impossible to position and the camera angles were off. I don't know what I was thinking when I thought I could pull it off.
When you search "tips on a newborn photo shoot" your results are endless. Here are some of the tips they give you - and my personal experiences/advice to you:
1. Natural light. A bright sunny day, near a window will always work best. Lamps create shadows. This was the biggest issue for me. My baby was born in February and it was gloomy for a solid 2 weeks straight. According the the websites I had read, they tell you that newborn pictures need to be taken within the first 10 days of the baby's life. But since I cannot control the weather, I had no choice but to take them on a gloomy day. And I got exactly what I was told I was going to get - 'shadow-y' pictures.
2. Use a good backdrop. If you choose to use a sheet - make sure it is ironed. I am the worst at ironing. I tried my best to get the wrinkles out but clearly, it didn't work. In the end I've decided that no blanket is probably better than a wrinkled one. But hey, the wrinkles add some character, right?! If you are horrible at ironing like myself, I suggest you use a blanket instead that way it won't even be an issue.
3. Positioning. Don't stress over getting the baby in the "best position". I quickly found out that I will not be able to get pictures like the professionals do so there was no point in stressing over it. In the end your pictures will be adorable because they are pictures of your baby.
4. Angles are everything. Angles are hard to figure out. I ended up taking over 20 pictures of the baby in one position but moving my camera slightly each time. Once I found an angle I liked, I was able to snap a few good shots.
5. Include siblings in your shoot. This was a major fail for me. My 3 year old son is at the stage where he HATES pictures and anything to do with pictures. It was actually more stressful for me to have him in the pictures than not because I was getting so frustrated with him not looking at the camera (and poking his sister in the eyes) So no, I didn't get any of those heart melting sibling photos of your two children gazing into each others eyes. Oh well.
6. Use a space heater to keep the baby as warm as possible. Seriously? Who has a space heater lying around? I certainly don't. And I was not about to go out and purchase one for a 2 hour photo shoot. I ended up cranking the heat in the house. Was it as good as a space heater? Probably not. The point of the heat is the keep them very comfortable so they stay asleep and you can mold them in positions much easier. Yes we could have benefited from one but I didn't want to go out and buy one. And I wasn't about to hunt one down 10 days post-pardum.
What I took away from this frustrating experience was that even though my pictures were not professional quality (or anywhere near it for that matter) they were memories. No they are not edited to perfection and no they don't have that "glow". But what they do have is my baby. My 10-day old, wrinkly, mushy baby and they are just perfect.
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