Difficult newborn shoot

This was my 2nd time doing a newborn shoot, and although the model was being a fussy crankypants, it was a fun afternoon. He was 8 days old and despite feeding a few times during the shoot, he just wouldn't settle. We'd get him into what we thought was a comfortable pose, hold him there until he seemed relaxed, but then as soon as we moved, he would stretch out, open his eyes and start fussing. So I definitely need to work on my posing abilities.

What do you folks do when the baby is getting really fussy and mom is saying "Maybe we should just call it a day"? Do you keep taking breaks to let the baby calm down and settle, or is there a point where you just know it's not going to happen?

As far as lighting goes, mom didn't want to take baby out of the house, so we shot in the little nursery. Natural lighting was ok, but there wasn't any room for light stands or modifiers.

So overall it was a difficult shoot and I learned a lot, but mom is still very pleased with the results (I'm sure anyone with a photog's eye can see areas of improvement). His skin was blotchy and was flaking a lot, so I used the frequency separation technique to smooth things out in PS. I've never used that technique before, but I liked it, though I do need some more practice at it.

PS - this was a free shoot for a friend, I'm not sure if I'm at the 'saleable' level just yet.

C&C is definitely welcome!

This first shot is the best expression we got out of him, but I think focus might be off a bit, and his arm is flailing around.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …76068277@N04/12​893054134/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …76068277@N04/12​892636575/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …76068277@N04/12​892615215/

From my limited newborn experience, he looks cold. Was the room warm? If you're shooting at the parents' home, always take at least one space heater (if you weren't sweating quite a bit, it was too cold for baby) and a heating pad to keep the space warm - but remove it just before laying baby down. And swaddle. Newborns love to be wrapped up tight.

Great work ! these are really fantastic photographs .Newborn photography can come with many surprises, especially if you aren’t a parent.

kacebelle wrote in post #16738984
From my limited newborn experience, he looks cold. Was the room warm? If you're shooting at the parents' home, always take at least one space heater (if you weren't sweating quite a bit, it was too cold for baby) and a heating pad to keep the space warm - but remove it just before laying baby down. And swaddle. Newborns love to be wrapped up tight.

Thanks for the help! We actually did have a space heater and heating pad, I was sweating like crazy in that little room. Maybe we could have done more to keep him warm, can't think of another reason why he'd be so fussy.

David547 wrote in post #16740711
Great work ! these are really fantastic photographs .Newborn photography can come with many surprises, especially if you aren’t a parent.

Thank you! I couldn't imagine doing this kind of photography as a non-parent. Actually I never thought of any kind of photography until my daughter was born a year ago. I bought my first camera a month before her birth. Never had a desire to capture moments until she came around.

Number two is excellent!

Really warm room, have some kind of noise generator and another trick I was told is that for really problem children have the mom lie down on the floor drape the blanket/whatever over the mother and use her as the bean bag. They are hard to capture for sure, you have to be ready to snap the instant you hand moves.

#2 is superb! If that was the only image momma had of her new boy she'd be ecstatic and pleased with effort.

Frequency separation works well in maintaing natural tone . I like the way you used it here. it invisible!

I haven't shot newborns but at this age I conjecture that they best photos would be of them cuddled as in #2. Cuddled in something ward and fuzzy.

FarmerTed1971 wrote in post #16741127
Number two is excellent!

ShadowTones wrote in post #16742804
#2 is superb! If that was the only image momma had of her new boy she'd be ecstatic and pleased with effort.

Frequency separation works well in maintaing natural tone . I like the way you used it here. it invisible!

I haven't shot newborns but at this age I conjecture that they best photos would be of them cuddled as in #2. Cuddled in something ward and fuzzy.

Thanks guys! I definitely need more practice with the freq separation, but I can see how it's a good technique, especially for baby skin. This one turned out well in B&W, I like the textures in the furry blanket.

toolman21 wrote in post #16741903
Really warm room, have some kind of noise generator and another trick I was told is that for really problem children have the mom lie down on the floor drape the blanket/whatever over the mother and use her as the bean bag. They are hard to capture for sure, you have to be ready to snap the instant you hand moves.

We actually tried this as a last resort, we put the furry blanket over mom so she could hold the baby as camouflage. The baby was not having it though, I think he was pretty exhausted by this point and not tolerating my shenanigans any longer.

Nicely clicked....
i understand it becomes difficult to work with newborns...

What i do is... try to create the perfect environment... also the photographs to be taken with no or minimal clothing to get the best out of it...

Love #2

Yes...some babies can be much fussier. But also make sure they are fed and time the shoot so it falls around their nap time; at least with newborn it should be right after their tummy is full and happy. Room I always keep it around 80°F.

And lots of patience for sure. I'd have an assistant if you can...it was a huge help having my wife there the last time.

I find that wrapping fussy babies tight helps, a warm room and some white noise too.

Thanks so much for the great advice folks! Mom was concerned about leaving the house with baby, so I made a house call for this shoot. I don't think I'll do that again unless I know exactly what to expect.

I agree that the baby was likely cold. Even though I had a space heater going (plus a white noise machine), this was such a cold winter, more heat/blankets/wraps could have been used. Lots of lessons learned here!

I'll be posting shots from my latest newborn shoot soon, this one went a lot smoother and I'm much happier with the images.

Seona, a lot of what I've learned has come from reading your big thread over and over, it's been a great resource. Thanks so much for creating that!

Also, this might help for setting up, this is how I set my studio up for newborns photographed on a bean bag :

(by the way, thats a doll, not a real baby!)

Thanks again Seona! That's similar to my setup at home, hence why I'd rather not do another house call. I've seen the pics of your new studio, it looks beautiful!

Seona, thanks for the setup shots of your studio. It makes a lot more sense when you show it like this. I have a few friends that have given me the chance to take photos of their babies and the backgrounds are always horrible? This gives me some ideas on how to take the backgrounds and get good backgrounds setup.