Outfits, Themes and Ideas For Your Newborn, Toddler and Young Child Photography Portrait Session

How should I dress the kids for the photo shoot?

Simple answer: However you want. Just kidding, but serious too. Every parent and every family is different. Some people like to dress their children in "serious" clothes, while others like to be less formal. Some like to play "Dress-up" and be creative. Here are some photographs which represent some of my favorites from playful to serious.

"Should they match? Is White o.k.? Are dark colors o.k.? Are bright colors o.k.? Do you have props? "

Matching can be good, but you don't have to. You have to trust your own sense of style... after all... it is part of who you are. It all works. Dressing your children, if you have more than one, in similar fashion can create a sense of unity in the portrait. Dressing children completely independent of one another can create a sense of individuality... so it is all good. Whatever you want. Be who you are and trust what you like. Have fun! Bring your own "props"... especially ones you and/or your children love. It will help to solidify these times as well as bring meaning and emotion to you when you look upon the photographs for years to come. Dad's or Grandpa's hat for boys (and girls), or maybe one of Dad's ties. Hats, bows and jewelry can add that unique look to your photographs and may even be a keepsake in the years to come.
White is fine in most situations, but some situations may require a different shade or color. I can let you know. Same would be true for especially dark colors - it is usually fine except for certain types of portrait sessions. Neutral shades and colors can be good for any time a year portraits. Earth tones and colors are generally great for outdoor portrait sessions in fall, spring and summer.

Indoors? Outdoors? How about the Zoo?"

I generally discourage the zoo. Children tend to look at the animals instead of the camera! It is hard to get them from the front.

I think some of the most rewarding photography sessions are the ones where their is a combination of both indoor (home) and outdoor (yard, park, etc...). The reason I like this combinations so much is because children tend to feel much more comfortable in the comfort of their own home which in turn brings about natural looking photographs. Having an activity can be good as well, since it helps to focus the child on something. Combining both natural in-home environment with outdoor is a great combination and yields wonderful photographs. With that said, studio sessions are a nice way to capture artistic and creative photographs, with use of light and shadow.

To learn more and to see some examples, please visit;

http://johncarnessali.com/

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Tips How To Take Your Own Pregnancy Newborn and Family Photos - Shoot Your Own Damn Baby!

Having a baby is a wonderful and happy time for every woman and it's definitely worth capturing it for long memory of you and your off-springs. But should you really pay for the pregnancy and newborn photos or perhaps your friend/cousin or hubby could do it with a few tricks and a camera from Best Buy?? Here are a few of things you'll need:

Your artistic expectationYour patienceYour determination to read till the end of this article

This is obvious but you should decide on what kind of pictures you would like to have as some are pretty easy to pull off and some take quite a bit of skill, special lighting and equipment. I would suggest to Google things like "artistic pregnancy photos" or "best newborn photographers" and check out the photos you find to be most appealing. Some things you could easily copy with your own point and shoot camera! Here are the tips on how to take good pregnancy photos on a budget:

JUST SHOOT IT. If shooting at home try to use a camera on a Portrait mode (or Manual if you are more technically inclined and your camera allows it) and without on-camera flash. Just play with available table lamps or window lights. You may drape a black or any other solid fabric in the back to focus more on you then your interior. Ask your friend or husband to take close up shots of you, your belly. Play with props, such as memorabilia that will belong to your kid, cute items, flowers - be creative!
LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION. Go out - beach, park or an interesting dramatic location does half the job of creating an image,
LIGHT. Take pictures at sunset time - that's when the lights are best of all.
LOOSE THE CLOTHES. If weather and your self confidence permit, try to loose the clothes - use fabric wraps and simple button up shirts or light dresses to accentuate your belly (and perhaps hide some unwanted spots:)).
PHOTOSHOP IT. When you are all done and happy with the results, I would recommend to do some editing on a few of your favorite pictures. But BE CAREFUL not to overdo it - a little bit of Photoshop is great to remove unwanted things, like: blemishes, stretch marks, dark circles under your eyes, and convert photos into nice black and whites. However, a lot of "airbrushing" and over-processing can ruin any image by making it look look "soapy" and fake. Most malls have inexpensive photo-editing services that would do basic editing for around $15 a photo. I would recommend to shop around and find people who do very natural looking photo editing with examples of the look that you'd want to go for. This step is critical, as nowadays good Photoshop work separates snap-shots from professional looking photos.
PRINT IT FOR LONG YEARS TO COME. Try to print your photos on the best possible papers and inks. Although this can get expensive it will pay off in a long run by staying vibrant for many decades (some claim that certain types of canvas images can keep their colors for centuries) - that's handy if you want to keep your photos for the rest of your life and then give them to your kids and grand-kids. I would recommend searching for "archival printing" labs. It used to be available mostly to professional photographers and artists but is getting more popular among individuals wishing to preserve their photos. With this said, archival framing is also recommended to finish up your work of art.

SO WHAT ABOUT BABY PHOTOS?!

Not to worry, you can do it, too. Of course professional photographers who specialize in newborn and baby photos are always the first choice in this case, because they have all the props, best photography gear and lenses that create that soft looking background which makes all the difference in the world and also because they simply know what they are doing. But it's not always the case with inexperienced photographers and the pros are always more expensive. Thus, in some cases you can take just as good of pictures with your own camera at home then taking it to another "cheesy" photographer.

Things you'll need:

A BABY;) AND PLENTY OF PATIENCE. Babies are best to be photographed on the first week of their life because they sleep a lot and are easy to pose without waking them up. The 6th day of life is considered to be perfect but the first 2-3 weeks will work as well. After that it's gonna get harder and harder to keep them asleep - but on the other hand it's YOUR baby, you'll have all the time to take pictures of it.
MAKE IT SIMPLE. Take that diaper OFF!!! Some people like to put a lot of props and distracting elements into baby photos. I say keep it about the baby. Unless you are the next Anne Geddes I doubt you can pull off a good photo of your baby hanging off a tree branch looking serene (that's difficult and dangerous too!!!). Use fabrics and earthy tones. Experiment with locations, put the baby into baskets and cute things. Take that ugly diaper off!!! Use the props and poses to shoot implied nudes of your little one - they always look more artsy.
MAKE IT SAFE!!! You are not Anne Geddes... It's THE most important part of the process. You should make sure that whatever you do your most precious possession doesn't get harmed in the process. Crank up the heat, make sure the baby is comfy and laying on surfaces that won't scratch or get into eyes, nose etc. Don't put babies on edges or try to duplicate those cool shots where they are handing off things - that's Photoshop. No photographer in the right mind would put their clients' baby in jeopardy so most of the images are composites (where the baby is laying in the stork and then Photoshopped into another stork hanging off a branch or whatnot otherwise the Photographer is either taking every precaution or taking a risk). If you do try to shoot stork images I suggest to practice common sense and have people helping you.
SHOOT UP CLOSE. Come and take images from different angles other then side images of your laying on a side baby - although it may look adorable to you, in all reality that's boring. Experiment, try to be creative. Shoot those little toes and fingers, hair line and butt. Also you may put a baby on your husband's shoulder and take a photo from the back, or put the baby's head into his hands and capture how small the baby is in comparison with large adult hands. I'm sure you get the point.
PHOTOSHOP. PRINT. HANG. POST. I have the same exact suggestions as the aforementioned editing and printing methods. I could also advise you to invest into a slide-show making software - a nice slide-show with music will make your photos look great. Go to download.com and search for some, you may even find them for free. You could then proudly show if off on YouTube or any other social media.

OK, even if you decide to skip all the pain of doing things yourself and looking for editing services or worse yet trying to conquer Photoshop yourself (!) I still hope you will find these tips useful for your everyday photography. For some samples of what you could try doing please see my photography work at www.littlebabee.com

Best wishes,

Diana Konrad

Diana Konrad Photography. I'm a San Diego based photographer specializing in creative photos of children, artistic pregnancy and family portraits. My studio is located in Carlsbad 92011. For more information about my work please visit http://www.littlebabee.com/

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Newborn Photography - 4 Tips on How To Take Baby Photos

There are few photos more precious to parents than those of their newborn. These will be the pictures that they and their child will look back on while reminiscing about those early years. However, to capture these moments is not easy. Newborns, unlike toddlers and other "older" babies, are not as accessible to coaching. If you're hired by parents to take pictures of their new addition, here are four tips to keep in mind:

Wait 10-12 days
It's great to have photos of the child right after the birth, but this doesn't work in a professional environment. Encourage the parents to wait until their son or daughter turns 10-12 days old, as the baby is less stressed and more likely to remain still during the shoot.

Snap while they're asleep
The best time to get photos of a newborn? When they're asleep, which is what they mostly do during these early days. When a parent requests your services, ask them for a rough estimate of when their child will be napping. They might not know exact times, but a good guess will help in scheduling the shoot. Inform the parents you'll be shooting during those sleepy times.

Another way to ensure baby stays asleep is to shoot in a warm environment. If you're doing the session in your studio, let it warm up an hour or so before the scheduled session time, and have on hand a few extra heaters in case it's still too cold for the young one, who will most likely be bare skinned.

One last tip for getting them to sleep: ask the mother and father if they use music or toys, like a mobile, to help expedite the child to sleep. The shoot will go much easier when you do all you can to recreate the child's natural sleeping environment.

Adhere to their schedule
A newborn has its own timetable, and when it's hungry, it'll make it known. Don't try to interrupt the parents and baby when they need time. If they need a break to change or feed their little one, let them have it. You'll avoid a fussy baby, and angry parents who might be upset about their fussy child. However, snapping a few photos during these times might make for some great shots.

In order to avoid interruptions, however, encourage the parents to feed the baby right before the sessions. This will not only make the child happy, but will keep them asleep, pleasant and not crying.

Pose them
Since the subject is going to be asleep for most of the shoot, you're going to have to do the posing. Make sure your hands are warm when putting the child in the position you want. Don't put them in a stance that could cause them to wake up, or alert them to the fact they're being moved.

For additional information on the topic of newborn photography, a great website to visit is http://www.jillyansawyerphotography.com/.

Thom Casey independently author's articles for WebDrafter.com, Inc. ( http://www.webdrafter.com/ ) for SEM clients. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those solely of the author, and not of any other person, company, or organization. No guarantee or warranty, express or implied, is made regarding the accuracy, fitness, or use of the content herein.

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