Baby Photography Northampton, Darcy
Introducing baby Darcy from Northampton, who we welcomed into the studio with mum and dad for her newborn photo shoot earlier this week.
From our experience, newborns are best photographed within the first 14 days of birth. Darcy at 11 days old reminded us that she isn’t just a baby, but a tiny little emerging personality which showed itself in her inquisitiveness and occasionally playful expressions.
Her dinky newborn features were strikingly feminine and she seemed to enjoy our textured blanket and wrap, with a dazzling smile for the camera within the first few minutes.
(Please click on an image to see it bigger)
Whilst Darcy was still wide awake we offered mum and dad the opportunity of capturing a handful of family portraits. We’re thrilled they jumped at the chance as we think it’s so lovely to have a record of a new family together, as well as the more classic sleepy newborn photographs.
Darcy was a wakeful newborn, curious about her environment and knew her own mind when it came to being handled when sleepy. You cant blame her for the odd protest when she drifted into sleep, she definitely knew she wanted to be left alone and preferred not to be handled which made us giggle as she pulled slightly annoyed faces at the gentlest of touch!
When a baby protests, we follow their cue and move on when they tell us something isn’t right, we don’t persue a position when they express it is uncomfortable for them as is respectful and ethical. Sometimes they just need to be left for a few minutes to snooze between moves while being positioned, and sometimes it’s just not for them.
Our photographs are shot with baby safety at the forefront of our minds, but more than this we are baby led and are mindful of factors influencing their comfort. This could be the fabric used and the ‘tickle factor ‘against babys skin, alongside the angle they are resting at with their full belly as many babies have reflux due to the immaturity of their digestive system.
We always keep a check on tiny fingers and toes to check there are no pressure points forming and ensure safety from wider equipment, temperature and loud noises (which could startle). We prefer our photography to be real – poses that are believeable and possible outside of the editing suite so we very rarely shoot complicated composite poses which require joining images together in post production.
We believe that when babies look comfortable, the final image speaks it in volumes and parents like to be there to share the moment.
A big thank you to Darcy plus mum and dad for their patience and down to earth sense of humour, especially when Darcy decided to wee on mum’s lap and later follow up with something a little more solid on our bean bag… Brilliant!