On the 6th of December Katie and Raul welcomed their new baby girl into the world, and last week I got to spend the morning capturing this sweet little girl.
Katie is a 2nd grade teacher in Oklahoma city, and Raul is an insurance adjustor, they have been together “like for as long as I can remember” a friend of the family told me. Katie has bright blue eyes and Raul is from Mexico giving him a great tan all year ; ), as we snapped photos of little Lili Katie and I joked about how wonderful it would be if Lili somehow adopted both of those features.
We got some “magic shots” as I like to call them, the one above where she is waving, and one below where she is smiling!
Here are the lessons for this shoot ( my friend Bryce says I should type little lessons to grow my blog following, so here goes nothing : ) )
Lessons for baby photo shoots.
1. Always plan shoots to last at least 3 hours.
2. If your comfortable enough, offer you do the shoot in their home. No one wants to bring their newborn to the park…. or a field of flowers…. Let them be where they are most at ease. ( I promise, with enough window light, or even inside their garage you can make magic happen!)
3. Ask the mom if her, her husband or the baby have any allergies to the laundry detergents you use to wash your blankets.
4. Be patient patient patient. The more at ease you are, the more at ease the mom will be, the more at ease the baby will be. Plan for spit up, crankiness, maybe some poopies, and lots of silly crazy baby eyes before they fall asleep.
5. Be gentle, but in control. Learn baby poses, and know how to get the baby into them. My first baby shoot the mom told me ” If you’re going to be a baby photographer, you’re going to have to get comfortable and pick them up and move them” So I got brave with the tiny little sugars and did!
6. Big trick for posing, if you want their hand somewhere, and they are being wiggly, just gently hold their hand there until they give up and fall asleep. Like you’re gluing something! Haha. But really, this is another area the 3 hour time slot comes in, waiiiiit and waiiiiiiit.
7. Never shoot the mom anywhere but waist up. They won’t want the image, they won’t feel pretty, and your job is to make pretty things even more pretty. I mean come on, a baby just came out of that tummy, people get it, but that does not mean she wants to show off her kangaroo pouch.
8. Don’t come to a house sick. I don’t care how soon they want the photos after the baby is born, they want him or her healthy a lot more.
9. Wear pants that stay on your bottom, you are laying on the ground, in a squat, or bending over the whole shoot. ( trust me on this one ! )
10. Get the App “white noise” or play soft music. It helps with all the quiet in between time and makes baby and mom more comfortable. Also, small talk doesn’t hurt : )
Ten rules to baby shoots : )
Enjoy the photos : )
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Simply beautiful and adorable!!!