Newborn photography Safety.

We might harp on about Newborn photography safety and it’s importance, but trust me, that’s what you want to hear from a baby photographer! We have no issues telling you, who we have trained with, how long we have been doing this for, our unique working practise and even, awful mistakes we have made and learnt from. 

Baby safety, in Newborn photography

Why is all this important? Well, it might surprise you to find out, that Newborn photography is not a regulated field. Anyone with a camera, can claim they are a baby specialist and have no professional training. This isn’t being written to make anyone look, or feel bad. We just want to educate, especially, if you’re new to hiring a newborn photographer. Baby safety probably hadn’t occurred to you as one of the things you should consider.

We hope, after reading this, you’ll understand why baby safety in newborn photography is so important.

Things to consider when hiring a newborn photographer

When you’re looking to hire a newborn photographer, reassurance should be a key part of that research. Can they confidently reassure you, that they have the knowledge and understanding of safely posing newborn babies? 

You’ll be puuting 100% of your trust in them, as from the start of the session, all soothing, handling, posing & sometimes even feeding (if bottle fed) will be done by your photographer.  We like to make your session an experience, giving you the chance to watch on and enjoy it. Taking some time to actually see the experience and enjoy it. 

Our experience in Newborn Photography

When hiring us, we guaranteed to care for your child as if he or she were our own. We promise you that we only create photos in a way that is 100% safe for your baby. We have invested heavily in safety & posing training, over the last 8 years. We’ve had hands on 1-2-1 training, with the UK’s leading Newborn Photographer. Ensuring, we correctly learnt the more complicated poses, that although look easy, really aren’t. We also made sure, we got proper hands-on experience, you can’t learn that from a book or a Youtube video. This also led us to get more knowledge than we bargained for and still use in all our sessions.  

 

Our expertise in newborn photography

• We understand the signs – Not all babies go into every pose. Even the simplest ones can be uncomfortable for some. By knowing what to look & listen out for, we will know if  your baby’s in a position that makes him/her uncomfortable or that limits their blood flow circulation. 
• Your baby will be undressed for most of the session, so it’s really important that they are warm, as newborns can’t regulate their own temperature very well. We keep the studio nice and toasty for them, advising parents to wear light layers, as it can get a little warm for you. 
• Debbie and I have a unique working practice. We work as a duo, so your baby always has a trained and experienced spotter. We find that it’s odd, to ask parents to hold babies in ways that seem unnatural to them, so we don’t. Debbie has all the experience with posing and Ruth takes the photos and does all the editing to make them perfect for you. 

For more information on newborn photographers, you can read our Top 5 tips for finding a newborn photographer 

Achieving those more complex poses

I think what most people don’t realise it exactly how some of the more complex images are created. Most of these are a series of images composted together in Photoshop.  In some shots, babies haven’t been in the prop in the final image, like the example below.

When we use props, such as baskets & bowls, we always put something heavy in the base to keep it weighted down.  We line edges with soft padding & use additional posing aids. Most importantly, we always have a spotter next to baby, supporting head & neck. 

When we pose babies on their arms, we like to keep their head supported by a finger or a hand. We then take a series of images & will use photoshop to create the final image.

This is the “froggy” pose. It’s my favorite pose, but it’s also the hardest & the most dangerous if not done safely. For us, it was YEARS of doing newborns, even after our training, before we even attempted this pose! We don’t do it with all babies,  Debbie now knows which babies will froggy & which won’t. Babies need to be super sleepy and really relaxed for this. I’m really hesitant to post how this is done as a composite, that’s just due to seeing so many people posting awful versions, that aren’t safely posed & even ones who don’t seem to know the basics, wanting to walk before they can run. We are always happy to show composite images we have used to achieve that final shot. That really should be a key question you ask ANY Newborn photographer. 

 

Visit BANPAS for more information on newborn photography safety.