# infant posing



## wyogirl (Apr 6, 2014)

To start with... YES I have Googled it.  I have watched tons of helpful videos, but none of them seem to cover what to do when baby is not cooperative.  
I had a baby yesterday that just refused to do much more than lay on her back.  We tried to get her to sleep but she startled so very easily.  She refused any pose on her tummy.  

I'm not super happy with the results, although mom seems to be.  There are a lot of pictures and I was working with a new prop in one of them (the mermaid outfit) which I want to work out a better "scene" for that outfit.  

Anyway since I think that the series will give you a better idea of the shoot as a whole, you can see the photos at www.amandamcclurephotography.com/faith if you are so inclined.  

If you don't want to follow the link then that is ok too and any posing suggestions with fussy babies is welcome.

PS: I know I have a lot to learn still, so feel free to tell me so.


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## Holly26 (Apr 6, 2014)

I too shot my first newborn session last weekend, and it didn't go anywhere near as planned either. The baby would not fall asleep no matter what we did, and wouldn't let me pose her. The family had also forgot to bring a space heater, which I had stressed was pretty important. (They told me they thought they had one, which is why I didn't bring one.) The pictures came out pretty bad in my opinion, and I haven't delivered them to her yet. The good (and smart) thing was that I didn't charge for this session, obviously as it was my first time. 

What did you do to help the baby get to sleep? Did you use loud white noise, and lots of warmth? I am thinking of trying to take more control during my next session, and try to get the mom to allow me to attempt to sooth the baby all by myself. 

I've also learned that for these first several newborn shoots I do, it'll be important for me to have the moms & babies come to me... this last mom had me drive there, since she was recovering from a c-section. Understandable, but that just makes it all that much harder for me. I had to arrive with nothing set up, and no idea what lighting I was going into...whereas if she had come to me, I could have prepared and set up for hours! Just one less thing, that's all. 

You pictures are good - at least she fell asleep for you!! Hah


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## wyogirl (Apr 6, 2014)

The room was 80 degrees, we had white noise and we tried classical music.  We swaddled, rocked, shushed, pacifier, nursing......the whole nine yards.  She went to sleep but just never settled enough to not startle.  Mom said she even starteled easily in-utero at loud noises or sudden movements.  

The best shots were when mom had to run down the street to pick up another kid and it was just me and grandma.  I've done several sessions with small babies, but she was not about to let me do anything on her belly, she wasn't in the mood to smile and would not for anything in the world put her hands where I wanted them.  I know that part of it was because she is a month old and not a newborn.  I did explain to her mom, that between 6 and 10 days old is the best for getting babies into squishy poses that are so popular.

I was just hoping there was some posing suggestions for babies who don't wanna cooperate.


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## wyogirl (Apr 6, 2014)

@Holly26... sometimes it is best if you soothe baby instead of mom.  Babies can smell momma milk and they may not let you do anything as long as they think mom is nearby.  Some babies are opposite though so it is just a case by case kind of thing.


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## thedogsdanglers (Apr 9, 2014)

Amanda, I think you're being too self critical of yourself, but I like your enthusiasm for improvement and advance. Your pictures of Faith look great (maybe a little retouching to remove the dry skin on the eyelids, that's a personal thing on my part) Not the advice you were looking for I know, and I don't have a lot of advice on posing babies because I've not done it yet, however, what I can say is, some babies are just very jumpy and jittery, my little boy (now 17 months) was always jumpy and would never be happy on his front, EVER! 

Put it down to an awkward customer, very cute and pretty but awkward customer. 

Carl


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## paigew (Apr 9, 2014)

Hey Amanda! First off, you have way too many images. For a twin shoot, I gave around 50 photos, for one baby I would give probably 20-30, and that includes mom,dad,sibling, and family images. So many of your images look the same, and the really cute ones get lost. I would process the image your favorite way, and not include several different processing styles per image. If they want a color one turned b/w, they will ask. 

Usually, I only use the beanbag when the babies are really sleepy. If they are awake, I do what baby wants. I tell the mom to do whatever she needs to make baby happy, and I photograph that. I do think there are some cute shots in there mom + dad will love.


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