Artistic Baby Photography: Mason
Meet Mason, a beautiful 8 day old newborn who came to our very hot studio today for some lovely artistic baby photography. The studio is always heated for our newborn shoots. With glorious sunshine streaming through the skylights coupled with our studio lights today, it was boiling!
Mason arrived very sleepy, and pretty much stayed that way with the help of milk feeds and the heat. He had a short burst of wakefulness which allowed us to get some alert shots; which were pleasing as early newborn shots with baby’s eyes open are precious.
On a personal note, I was particularly pleased to welcome a fellow ginge to the studio, as he has a gorgeous crop of tetian hair we don’t see very often. He is also a special baby as he is one of 5% (according to the NCT) that came on his due date, well, as good as because that’s when his labour started.
(Please click on an image to see it bigger)
We followed our usual flow posing routine with opportunity for a few extra poses as unbeknown to him he was very generous with himself as he modelled, allowing us to get a lovely range of images.
People often marvel at their newborn going into poses that seem impossible when they’ve been unsettled the previous night or refuse to sleep for any lengthy period. Mason succumbed to our failsafe recipe of cuddles, milk, warmth, fluffy blankets and patience. The art is in the timing and patience. We read the newborns comfort at each and every step, sometimes some light soothing is required but if they really aren’t happy then we move the pose on to something else.
It often takes two pairs of hands to keep newborns calm, a reassuring hand resting on them so they feel safe when being positioned, but practically, everyone’s favourite, the Taco (head on hands) often needs us both in order to support the head whilst positioning the arms and hands… the results well worth it. We remove the supporting hand later during editing, or if they are strong enough to hold a position, one of us acts as spotter just out of shot ready to move in at the slightest flinch to ensure safety as the number one priority.
We had the privilege of having mum, dad and nan at the shoot today, and Mason is the first boy in family generations. Huge thanks to Mason, mum, dad and nan for a great shoot with some powerful results.