a little puppy named kayden.

If you want to get technical about it, technically Kayden cried on and off (mostly on) through his entire session. And only fell asleep at the very end. Can you tell?? Exactly.

little miss claire.

Newborn sessions are probably my favorite thing to do in all the land. There is nothing like a sweet little baby peeing all over your props to make you feel alive. But really, I just love little bitty babies, and I have to wash my blankets after every shoot anyway. The little girl I met today was so adorable and tiny, she couldn't even fit into my newborn headbands so we had to do some finagling, but we made it work. Here are the highlights.

 

Miss Claire made her entrance a bit early, and not exactly gracefully so these first time parents wanted to get some photos of her coming home outfit as the whole giving birth to a baby aftermath is kind of stressful.

 

 

I am all for baby posing, I think it's super cute. But I enjoy when the mom doesn't really have a preference and we can just let the baby do what they want. It's so much more natural and sometimes even more precious than one of the popular poses right now.

 

 

 

It took us pretty much the entire session to get her to fall asleep, but when she finally gave in, her face was just the sweetest thing.

newborn photography props.

I have been slowly collecting props for newborn photography, and officially have enough to show off. I do like the lifestyle aspect of newborn photography, where the babies are wrapped in their own blankets, in their rooms, with their own stuff, but I want to be able to give both experiences to clients, and etsy pretty much saved the day. Today I did a photo shoot with just props so those of you who want to try to create your own newborn photography can see how to set up and where to get your props. I am also waiting impatiently for a few babies to be born so I can test out my new loot, and this helped give me a little fix.

 

If I were to be setting up for a real shoot with a baby inside my basket, I would try to find a nicely lit, hardwood floor area of the house with neutral colored walls. That's not always going to happen, but you can make the best of any situation. I do have hardwood floors, but my bedroom was just the easiest place to take these photos, as I didn't want to move any furniture, so I just snapped them there. If I were to edit these photos to black and white, they would look amazing even though my walls are a crazy mint color. If you don't have hardwood floors or a neutral carpet, you could also place a blanket under the basket when you do your aerial shots.

The adorable knit hats were purchased from an etsy store called Carolina Hats.



 

I bought this pink furry blanket from Walmart.

 

This rose blanket (and also the furry tan one) came from Leighton Heritage on etsy, I would absolutely buy from there again. The blankets are wonderful. 

 

Both baskets used in these photos came from Michael's, and I had a 50% off coupon so they were super cheap.

 

Both stretch wraps came from MomnPopPhotoProp also on etsy. You can lay the wrap over the naked baby or swaddle them in it.

 



These newborn headbands came from Madison Bows on etsy, super affordable.

 

I purchased this white furry blanket from Amazon. I can't find a good one anywhere, and honestly this one isn't amazing, but it does the trick.

 

 

There is obviously much more that goes into newborn photography if you want to make it look professional. How to set your camera, what lens to use, editing, posing... but you can still shoot some great photos with the right lighting and a kit lens. Once some babies are born I will do a post on posing.

rhowen the reindeer.

Rhowen's mom wanted to do a Christmas themed birth announcement as part of her Christmas cards. Her little peanut was pretty adorable.

 

 

She chose the festive light backdrop for her announcement and they came out amazing.

 

 

the wonder of digital backdrops.

Some people think digital backdrops are crazy. And they are. Using Photoshop, I can literally put your baby or you anywhere. It's an acquired taste, but isn't all that different than being in a studio if you want my opinion. Everything looks perfect because it isn't real life, neither is a studio. I took some photos from my first gig and practiced placing her in digital backdrops.

 

If you could get studio looking photos in your living room for a fraction of the price, why wouldn't you?

merry christmas from camryn.

During my first gig I took a few photos of Camryn with her Christmas stocking. I added a festive digital backdrop and this is the final product.

 

My favorite one yet.

my first gig.

I've always wanted to get into professional photography, I've just been wary about it because anyone with an DSLR camera seems to think they are a professional photographer these days. I have always taken good pictures, I have "the eye" as my friends and I like to call it, but I wasn't confident enough to really put myself out there. I didn't want to look silly. In November one of my besties called me to ask if I could take some newborn pictures for a friend because her little one cried through her whole first attempt at a session. My first instinct was to tell her absolutely not, I have never taken pictures of a newborn baby before, and I am not trying to make people think that I think I'm a professional photographer at this point. But my friend made me feel so good about myself, like I could do anything. Like I was already a professional to her. So I googled how to use my Rebel for newborn photos and accepted the challenge. This is how it went.

 

I had already received Photoshop Elements 12 for my birthday, and I needed a good reason to start teaching myself how to use it, this beautiful baby was it. I still don't think I'm ready for the big leagues yet, but getting such a wonderful response from my very first photo shoot made me feel confident enough to take on other gigs over the holiday season.