New-Born Baby Photo-Shoot, Pre-Shoot info for parents

Info for parents to help make the shoot a success.

The day is looming upon us for your little new-born baby to hog the limelight and have what is more than likely their first photo-shoot.

I have set out a helpful list below which is quite important to new-born photography, both for the parents, the photographer (me) and more importantly the little one, he/she should be comfortable and warm at all times throughout the shoot which could take up to 2 hours.

1) Have Baby cleaned with sponge bath approx. 1 hour before the shoot.

2) It is important (in order to get those dreamy posed shots) to keep Baby awake for as long as possible before the shoot and then let him/her sleep after they are fed & burped, this way Baby will be snuggly asleep and can be posed whilst in dreamland.

No one wants hungry/grumpy Baby photo's!

Image courtesy of Awkward Family Photo's

3) Keep clothing & nappy loose after the bath in order to keep Babies skin free from line marks.

4) Feed & burp Baby approx. 30-45 minutes before the shoot.

5) Have the house temperature slightly higher than normal for the shoot. Baby will/might be naked for some of the shoot and they need to be as snug and warm as possible, on that note, it may be a great idea also to have a small fan heater set up near to and pointing at the shoot area.

6) Have cleaning essentials on stand bye for the shoot, nappies, wipes, spare clothes, it may also be wise to have a dummy at hand.

7) It would be very helpful if the parents could provide a couple of blankets that Baby already knows and also a Bean Bag would benefit the shoot, it is also important to keep noise levels down to a minimum.

8) Patience is important. The shoot can seem like it's taking forever, especially when there is no background noise like t.v. or radio. It's important not to rush the shoot. Also if Baby does wake up, it's no biggy, a wide awake baby during shoots can be just as great as dreamy sleepy ones, so we would urge you to chill and go with the flow and not try and feed or rock baby back to sleep which could result in a grumpy baby and the above image.

9) And Finally.. Relax, you're in good hands!. Myself & Kala have 7 kids between us so we are extremely competent in handling your precious one, although it would be good for you to lend a hand during the shoot anyway.

For new-born's it is natural for them to have a wee or a poo without prior warning, even when sleeping, so don't stress and just make sure you are prepared for this to happen.  Just don't stress if Baby decides to use our own blankets or even us as his/her personal potty, it is natural and we expect it! All our baby blankets & props are washed after every session.

Oh and one last pointer for Mum & Dad, please look smart and it would be great if even for a couple of shots if you could both wear a Black top/t-shirt.

We look forward to seeing you all and your bundle of joy on the day and help to create some amazing memories for your family to enjoy for years to come.

Stuart & Kala