The common perception is that all a newborn do is sleep, eat and fill nappies, so therefore taking a photo of a newborn must be the easiest job a photographer do. The reality is that photographing a newborn is one of the most challenging and rewarding jobs I do.
One of the main aspects I focus on during my sessions are the safety and comfort of the baby, ensuring they are in deep sleep to stop them kick and move out of a position. As a result each session last 2-4 hours. Only a fraction of the time in studio is spent photographing the baby, the rest is spent comforting, soothing and feeding. Some babies fall asleep immediately and I can start photographing, whilst other babies I can spend a couple of hours to get to sleep. When working with babies I do recognize that each baby react different, some are deep sleepers and don’t react to being moved from one position to another, whilst some babies are light sleepers and need soothing between certain positions
I have photographed over 30 babies now and gained a lot of experience doing so, yet in any profession you never stop learning and you always wonder what can be improved. One of the aspects of my newborn photography that I wanted to improve was the posing flow to reduce the amount of movement from one position to the other. I have admired a photographer in the UK for a while and have gotten to know this person online. This summer I was honouring 3 weddings in the UK that I had booked prior to moving to Norway. As a result I knew I was holidaying in UK and decided to book a 1:1 mentoring session with Elli Cassidy of Mini Memories Photography.
I travelled with my family from Aberdeen to Stoke on Trent. My husband was taking the kids to Alton Towers whilst I drove from Stoke on Trent to Louth to meet with Elli. I was not aware how far this drive was. I left at 7am and I arrived 3.5 hours later. Elli looked at some of my portfolio images and gave me feedback on areas that I could improve but mainly we were discussing what I want out of my mentoring session. After our discussion two adorable babies arrived at her absolutely amazing studio. Elli started to talk through poses and things to look out for, we both photographed each pose and she proceeded through the flow of poses. When we started to work with baby number two I took the lead posing the baby with some input from Elli. It was good to attend newborn mentoring where I was allowed to handle the baby. I had so much fun and got some great images from the day. Sadly the parents of the first baby did not allow me to share any images online however I am delighted to share some images of this adorable baby girl. The day just flew by and I loved photographing with a fellow photographer who I also regard as a friend. By the time I arrived back in Stoke on Trent it was 8pm. I had been on the go for 13 hours but it was worth it.
Once back in Norway I was looking forward to my next session and to try and implement as much as possible from what I learnt to improve my own posing flow. The job I do is priceless and I feel so honoured for every mum and dad who trusts me with their new arrival. There are many highlighes in a newborn session, it is the cuddles I get when rocking them to sleep, when I photographing and hear mum behind me go awww and last but not least, it is the proud faces on mum and dad that get me every time. After only a few days you can see that this little bundle of you has changed their life forever, you can tell how loved and precious each baby is. These families welcome me into this special moment in time, one moment I remember so well from when I had my baby girls.
I love photographing this snapshot in time, because that is what it is a little snapshot. Our children grow and change too fast and the newborn stage marks the beginning of the amazing journey that is ahead of you.
