Meet gorgeous, sleepy Daniel who visited us earlier for his black and white baby photography. At just 8 days old, he was absolutely gorgeous and the picture of newborn bliss. When photographers advise that a newborn shoot should take place early, its for the very reasons that you can see with Daniel’s images, as he was still very foetal and snuggly.
Surprisingly though, this little fella was as strong as an ox! He wins the strongest baby ever award during a newborn shoot with us. Whenever we moved his arms, his upper strength was evident and a couple of times he managed to completely lift up his upper body, which was quite something in a baby so tiny. We stay next to our newborns for this very reason, they can move in surges and fling themselves as described. They lack the finesse to lower their heads carefully so we catch them in their natural movements to ensure they stay safe at all times. Despite his moving around, Daniel slept and slept, barely waking to feed, and kept his eyes shut throughout the whole photo shoot.
He settled on his tummy briefly after his feed for our favourite head on hands shot, but we had to respect that he instinctively knew his own comfort range, moving him on swiftly on to something more comfortable. This is where reading a newborn baby’s body language is important as he didn’t cry and he didn’t complain, but kept adjusting himself trying to tuck his arms back down close to his tummy letting us know this wasn’t his favourite position. The shot itself shows he didn’t overly object – proof of the pudding! Even so, we never push to get these more posed photographs too hard, most babies will do a version of this pose and if its not right for them, we simply move on.
Daniel just wanted to sleep, and overall didn’t seem to mind being gently posed. He fulfils his job as a sleeping newborn beautifully! (If only newborns allowed mum and dad the same privilege of sleep!)
The added bonus with this shoot was surprisingly, no ‘accidents’ on the blankets or on myself – never a problem but, naturally, I prefer to stay dry! We had a near miss at the end when I’d just covered him over, and even a split second later I’d have been in for a soaking so top marks to Daniel for being so polite! (Disappointment for Andy though as he loves a good laugh at my expense during these candid moments and they’re a real leveller with our clients- that’s 24 years together for you)
Huge thanks to mum for sharing this special time and choosing us for her black and white newborn photography. Here’s a taster, we hope you like them!