I am going to start with what I think is the most important, safety.
I understand that choosing the right photographer is a big decision. Not only do you want the perfect memories captured of your baby, you want to put trust in your photographer and know that your baby is in perfectly safe hands. This is where my skills and knowledge come in.
Firstly, I am an active member of various associations, which enables me to operate using my best practices and keep fully up-to-date with training and techniques. Being a part of The British Association of Newborn Photographers (BANPAS), the only UK Association for Newborn Photographers that promotes safe posing, has allowed me to develop knowledge which now comes naturally when carrying out a session. I trained with an Award Winning photographer in Newborn and Safety posing, learning every essential skill. Safety is paramount to me, which is why updating myself with training is always at the top of my 'To Do' list. Alongside my training, knowledge and experience, I have worked in childcare for 9 years as a Nursery Educator, which is why this job is all the more rewarding for me as it feels so natural and I am so lucky to have had the experience I have, working with a varied age of children.
Safety During Sessions
During my sessions, safety starts right at the beginning whilst I am setting up for the shoot - equipment, room temperature, comfort. Room temperature is so important, especially as baby goes from being wrapped in layers to laying on the posing bed uncovered. If my session is mobile, a preparation sheet is sent to all parents to ensure the room temperature is managed for a session. My motto is, if we are sweating, baby is comfortable!
I have a work flow which allows baby to be placed into posed positions in a natural way, where with my magic touch they usually stay fast asleep and feels natural to them. Obviously each baby is different and this is exactly why with over my years of experience, it is so important to learn and understand baby as soon as I meet them, so I know how to handle them during my session. This happens right at the start, when baby is first handed to me. I prepare them to be wrapped/swaddled and have a feel of how flexible their arms/legs are, understand how they react when placing them inside the wrap and depending on how 'milk drunk' they are, determines how my flow of the session will go.
Babies are not props, they are people.
I have lots of experience when placing babies into posed positions; chin on hands, head on hands, bum up pose, taco pose and froggy position. Babies are never 'balanced'. You will notice throughout my sessions I am constantly hands on with baby at all times! I ensure I have every single prop and accessory in reach right from the beginning so baby is never left unattended. Some of the poses you may have seen in images are what we call composites. This is carried out when doing the 'froggy pose'. Parents are on hand to be my spotters for this one, with hand on head or supporting arms at all times. (Then the magic happens in the editing process).
Baby is never 'forced' into a position. I will always ask the parents if there are any specific images or poses they would like to achieve. I will always try my upmost best to produce these for parents, but if baby shows any sign of distress then we compromise with different poses.
To achieve any of these posed sleepy positions, these must be captured in the babies first 2 weeks. At this stage babies do not mind being curled up, as this replicates them being in the womb. This is why it is so important to plan ahead and get your sessions booked in before little one is here. I do offer a 25% discount if your Newborn Session is booked at least 12 weeks in advance. After the 2 week stage, babies go through their growth spurt and you will already begin to notice changes, becoming fussier and may not cooperate with posing as well.
After the session, the safety still continues. CLEANING! Each backdrop, wrap, headband, sleepy hat or basket wool filler that is used during your session is washed/ hand-washed or sterilised. This is mandatory to me as again for the babies safety, it is so important to keep each and every individual item used clean and sterile, ready for the next use.
I hope this blog has given a little insight to my sessions and the safety that comes with it. If you have any more questions about my Newborn Sessions, please do not hesitate to ask.
minimemsphotography@outlook.com
Thank you x
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