The Truth Behind Newborn Portraits
Newborn pictures are some of the sweetest and most sentimental images you will ever have. Not only are they your little baby or babies, but they are so cute with all the little props and outfits and posing we have today.
The truth behind these sweet and beautiful images is, there is a ton of work that goes into them. I’m not just talking about the actual session, I’m talking about the never-ending hours learning how to handle newborns beforehand… The classes, the mentoring, the practice, some of us photographers have taken YEARS to really understand what it takes and just how to be a newborn photographer.
As you may or may not know I am a proud member of the Motherhood Society, and just recently the issue of safety came up, and I started to look around and saw there are numerous amounts of video and you tube tutorials from so called “professional photographers” that are being SO unsafe with these newbies that come to them. And I am writing this to tell the truth about newborn sessions when it comes to safety and just newborn sessions in general.
THE TRUTH IS : While yes these little ones seem to be tugged and pulled around in the delivery room, (if you have never seen it, I promise you the first couple of times I was like SHEESH lady… be nice to her HAHA! But really for the most part they know exactly what they are doing and how to do it.) they are still VERY fragile. They still very much so need support in certain areas.
THE TRUTH IS : When you see these precious poses where their hands are under their chin, and they seem to be holding themselves up also known as the (froggy pose.. I’m using this pose because this was what I saw most of, but there are countless others)… They are composites. A composite is where you take more than one image to make one whole image. For example when you see a big stunning wedding cake you know there are several layers that make it. It’s the same for composites. So behind the scenes of these cute posed babies, there is a parent or assistant holding the back of the baby’s head or wrists or really anything that needs support. Now the truth of the matter is there are way TOO MANY photographers that are trying these poses who are simply trying to create a cute image without understanding the safe way to do so. This is scary and disturbing to me for many reasons. One of which is mainly, it takes a split second for one of these poses to go absolutely wrong. Is that certain pose or image really worth your child’s safety? Absolutely not.
What you don’t see here is the family member standing right behind dad supporting little one.
THE TRUTH IS : Newborn sessions don’t always go as planned. In fact you might as well expect that so that you are pleasantly surprised if it DOES go according to plan HA! Newborn sessions can be messy, you may or may not be peed, pooped and/or spit up on. You may or may not spend 45 minutes (not an exaggeration) getting a baby to settle in a pose…. ONE POSE, not even a difficult one. You may or may not get leg cramps from staying in a certain position so you don’t disturb baby. You may or may not have every idea in your head shot down because the baby just is not in the mood. BUT THE TRUTH IS… THAT IS OK! I can tell you with complete honesty that I can count on ONE HAND how many times I have done difficult poses that required compositing. I can also tell you with complete honesty that those images still do not compare with the more natural images. (In my opinion) I can also tell you that regardless of what pose I am trying to do, I never force or push a newborn to do it. I 100% rely on the newborn to let me know how they feel about it, and if they aren’t feeling it… I change!
THE TRUTH IS : When you are hiring your Newborn Photographer you are paying for years of knowledge on how to handle your sweet little one. Please be careful in who you allow to handle your precious new baby, especially if you are wanting very specific posing done. Newborn images are some of the most beautiful, but also most delicate images you can ever have. Always make sure your photographer is as delicate in getting those images as the images are themselves.
