Hey Baby! San Francisco Bay Area Newborn and Infant Photography
A business head shot client (and marketing expert!) recently asked us where we saw the most growth in the business during the past year. Our answer without any hesitation was babies, and honestly, we would not have had nearly as much fun in 2012 without these sweet cuddle bugs as clients!
Clayton is a bit of a “baby whisperer” and we wanted to share a few of our all time favorite babies with you!
A few tips for a smooth sailing infant session:
1) We like to shoot newborns mid-morning. We try to schedule these sessions early in the day, and ask moms and dads to keep baby awake until the session, with a feeding right before we start shooting. This helps baby be a good sleeper during the session and allows us to more easily pose them into those sweet, all curled up and super cute poses like this:
2) Allow plenty of time for your infant’s session! We recommend booking a one hour session for infants – newborns up to the toddler stage. Keep in mind that this one hour session could take 2-3 hours, as we are not counting the time needed for diaper changes, feedings, and the much needed “mommy comfort time”! Each baby is different and we let them dictate the flow of the session. If we wrap up in an hour, great, but if baby needs a break or two (or twelve!), we have built time for that into our appointment book, and encourage you to do the same!
3) Let us take the lead. This is important, so I’ll say it again: Let us take the lead! A lot of times parents get nervous when they feel like baby is not cooperating with us for the shoot. They fret, apologize to us for all the crying, and try so hard to get everything back on schedule. The best advise we have for parents during these sessions is sit back, relax and TRUST US! We’ll let you know when we need help to calm your little bundle of joy down. Most of the time we’re able to swaddle them up, spend a few minutes walking with them and they’re calm, happy and ready to get back to the shoot! Your baby can tell if you are anxious and will feed into that nervous energy. Sit back, put your feet up and know that baby’s in good hands. Did we mention that Clayton’s a baby whisperer?
4) Come prepared! What this really means depends on the age and personality of your child but bare minimum please bring enough diapers and your supplies for feedings for at least 3 hours. Bring a few different changes of clothes in case of spit ups or diaper explosions. And please, bring things to personalize the shoot to make it 100% unique to you! We have our own props we’ll be using but it really is the things you bring that help make these photos special. If you’re into funny hats, or girly headbands bring them with you and we’ll definitely incorporate it into the shoot. Is there a special blanket from auntie, or something special that has been passed down through your family? Bring it along! While we may not be able to use every cute hat or outfit that you bring with you during the session we will absolutely incorporate anything of personal significance. Our goal for the session is to create beautiful images of your bundle of joy that you will cherish for a lifetime.
Want to see more? Please click to visit our online baby portfolio gallery!