Five Key Items To Ensure Success During Your Newborn Shoot!
As a newborn photographer, there are five must have’s for a successful newborn shoot! After several years of experience I do have to say confidence is key. Believe in yourself and trust yourself. A newborn will feel if you are unsure when handling them. They can also feel any tension and pick up on little things (believe it or not). And our main goal is to keep them happy, content and hopefully sleeping. Talk with the parents and let them know their baby is in safe hands. It is totally okay if baby cries, after all, babies do six things mainly, eat, sleep, cry, pee, poop and spit up! Remember you are a photographer, not a magician. Babies will cry and knowing how to sooth them really does help. Unfortunately, not all babies are soothable and take a little longer than others to get back to a calm place.
Let’s talk about soothing for a moment! Although not a key item to have its certainly a key quality to have. Again comes the confidence, be calm, babies cry, your all good! I have found that rubbing the babies forehead in small circular motions can be soothing to them. Personally, I like to hum to them, no particular song, just the sound of you humming can be of a comfort to them. The room doesn’t have to be quiet and no one really needs to whisper. Of course, we don’t really want siblings running around and being wild as this can be both a distraction and dangerous. I often suggest siblings come at the end of the shoot as most don’t do well enduring the time of a shoot or the heat in the room! Ok! Here are five of my own “must have items” for a newborn shoot.
Key Items For a Newborn Shoot
The Baby Shusher
(Image Courtesy of Amazon)
The baby shusher is one of my favorite things to have in the studio. It is available through Amazon and other retail places for baby and infant items. It ranges in the $30 price zone and to me has been worth every penny. I use this right beside the newborn to keep a flow of sound going. A white noise machine can also be used, both are just as good. I was gifted this shusher so it is what I currently use in my studio at every newborn session.
Space Heater
(Image Courtesy of Amazon)
The space heater! Firstly, I have my studio about 80 degrees. There is a very large fan that I have facing parents so they don’t get overly heated. Just for their comfort. Newborn babies like to be warm and a lot of time we are taking their pictures semi-nude. It is so important for them to feel warm. I do send out a newborn prep guide to let parents know ahead of time that the studio will be very warm and to dress accordingly. With experience, I have found that a warm and toasty baby is a happy baby! I like to place the space heater just so the newborn can feel the warm air blowing. I am always checking to make sure it is not too close to them. This is where your common sense comes in and clearly, you don’t want the heater too close to the baby. No one wants a burn on the baby. So definitely keep the baby safe and make sure its just the flow of warm air they are receiving in an already warm studio.
Newborn Posing Bean Bag
(Image Courtesy of Amazon)
The newborn bean bag! Most every newborn photographer has one! This is where you will be taking most of the pictures. The ones that are not in props or baskets on the floor. My beanbag is filled to the brim with beans. Yes, those lovely tricky, sticky, polystyrene beans. The ones that go everywhere, so be careful when you are filing your bean bag. I personally cut a water bottle at both ends and I duct tape one end to the bag of beans and use it as a funnel to get it inside the beanbag. (Honestly, you may want help for this – and a camera) It is quite hilarious when filling this beast of a thing! I always use about 4 blankets over it and a backdrop stand. This gives you a nice soft area that you can easily pose your newborn and also safely. There are many posing tutorials on sites like youtube if you want to use them to help with posing suggestions. As always keep it safe and make sure you are comfortable with what you are doing, before bending babies and trying out poses that look easy. Trust me, they are not that easy! It takes time and training to get most of the poses you see with professional newborn photographers.
Baskets, Buckets and More
Buckets and baskets are great! When you don’t want to use the bean bag you have these items to use. And who doesn’t love a baby wrapped up and placed gently and properly posed in a basket! Oh so sweet! And you can always use variations of these and use different colors and basket stuffers for different looks. Shop around and use your imagination. Try to be unique and try out different things that are safe. Use the length of your forearm when purchasing these because that is normally the size you need (from elbow to wrist). This really helps when you are placing a baby in a prop. You can even make your own. Just be safe, make sure at all times there is no way a baby can fall out or over a prop. I use weights in my baskets to make sure they are stable. And never ever leave a newborn alone in any pose. Especially in a basket. Always make sure you have someone spotting the baby for you!
Newborn Wraps, Bonnets, Headbands
Newborn wraps, bonnets, and headbands can bring so much color and fun into your newborn shoot. The newborn wrap is essential to a newborn shoot. Especially when the baby is awake! Babies tend to have little arms that flail away like crazy and that never makes for a pretty picture. You can have beautiful shots of a newborn wrapped up when asleep, just like the image above. However, when a newborn is awake a wrap can be a lifesaver. Sure, the baby may cry like crazy as you are wrapping them but once contained they will usually become very content. Wraps have saved so many of my shoots with fussy babies. The trick is learning how to wrap. You can look on youtube and you can also purchase videos on wrapping techniques. I can not express how important it is to wrap the baby tightly but safely. The wraps I use are usually 20″ wide by 60″ long. There are just so so many ways you can wrap a newborn. Maybe I will do another post on that topic alone because there are just too many ways to mention them all in this post!
There you have it!! My five must have’s for a successful newborn shoot! Of course, beside the wraps, you can have the bonnets and headbands. I always say to get creative! Have fun and be original. You can easily make your own and Etsy is full of great prop vendors. Props Of Love by Linda is one of my personal favorites! Her work and sewing skills are beautiful. I truly hope you have found some help and inspiration in this blog post. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I really think all of these things together help with your newborn session.