first baby shoot

goldilocksandmy3bears

I did my very first baby (3 month old) shoot today. Even though I have 3 boys of my own I could not remember what 3 month old babies do. I had planned all these really cute shots.. like playing with her feet laying on her tummy etc. and none of them worked out because well... she's only 3 months old and doesn't do much of anything except spit up and head falling lol. I thought these were pretty cute.. C&C me please!!

kidzmom

I like the idea of the 2nd shot...and the colors in the 2nd shot are so pretty! Really cute! So vibrant and fresh. I'm a total novice myself but it looks like you missed the focus on the eyes in the first. It is SO hard to get those eyes when the baby is constantly moving, and you are operating w/o a flash. Great job though...it is so hard to take pictures of babies and young kids (unless they are asleep!). At 3 months it is hard to get them sleeping anymore for poses. I'd love to see any other shots if you want to post. Thanks for sharing.

goldilocksandmy3bears

kidzmom wrote:

I like the idea of the 2nd shot...and the colors in the 2nd shot are so pretty! Really cute! So vibrant and fresh. I'm a total novice myself but it looks like you missed the focus on the eyes in the first. It is SO hard to get those eyes when the baby is constantly moving, and you are operating w/o a flash. Great job though...it is so hard to take pictures of babies and young kids (unless they are asleep!). At 3 months it is hard to get them sleeping anymore for poses. I'd love to see any other shots if you want to post. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you! you are right it was so hard to focus with her moving SOOO much! I will post some more today.

My3Sons

That is a tough age. I like the colors in the 2nd picture. If baby can't hold her head up very well yet, you can try elevating her even higher, if you want the shot on the belly. Try using a beanbag, with most of the stuffing/beans (whatever's inside) mostly pushed towards the front, which will cause the front to be higher. In this scenario, you will get baby's arms and head. Have mom/dad lay on the floor, and hold a hand under baby's bottom, if needed, so baby doesn't sag/slide back down into the beanbag, and if there is not enough stuffing under baby's bottom you can also prop extra blankets under it. If the little one is not wiggling too much, you can also use her hands to prop her head up... just fold them under the chin. This is a great pose if you can get the baby a sleep too.

The beanbag also works great for the baby when lying on her back as well. You can use the beanbag to elevate her into more of a sitting position.

I also like to use different textures and props, such as baskets, and soft fur.

Hope that helps. I would love to see more of your shoot.

-Melissa
www.naturalphotography.smugmug.com
www.naturalphotographydesign.blogspot.com

goldilocksandmy3bears

My3Sons wrote:

That is a tough age. I like the colors in the 2nd picture. If baby can't hold her head up very well yet, you can try elevating her even higher, if you want the shot on the belly. Try using a beanbag, with most of the stuffing/beans (whatever's inside) mostly pushed towards the front, which will cause the front to be higher. In this scenario, you will get baby's arms and head. Have mom/dad lay on the floor, and hold a hand under baby's bottom, if needed, so baby doesn't sag/slide back down into the beanbag, and if there is not enough stuffing under baby's bottom you can also prop extra blankets under it. If the little one is not wiggling too much, you can also use her hands to prop her head up... just fold them under the chin. This is a great pose if you can get the baby a sleep too.

The beanbag also works great for the baby when lying on her back as well. You can use the beanbag to elevate her into more of a sitting position.

I also like to use different textures and props, such as baskets, and soft fur.

Hope that helps. I would love to see more of your shoot.

-Melissa
www.naturalphotography.smugmug.com
www.naturalphotographydesign.blogspot.com

Thank you! in fact I went looking for a bean bag but they do not sell them in any of the stores here .. weird I guess I will order one online because that is a great idea! I just posted a few more I look forward to your C&C Thanks!
Court

WingsOfLovePhoto

goldilocksandmy3bears wrote:

Thank you! in fact I went looking for a bean bag but they do not sell them in any of the stores here .. weird I guess I will order one online because that is a great idea! I just posted a few more I look forward to your C&C Thanks!
Court

I use a poser from www.wickerbydesign.com for all my little ones. Lots of ways to use it. Or you could just pick up a boppy (breastfeeding pillow) and use that. Feel free to look through the children's galleries on my site. I do alot of 3 month olds...though I usually ask the moms to wait until the are about 15 weeks. Those few extra weeks make a huge difference in posing ability and their smiling more readily. The feet stuff usually comes 6-7months I love the colors in your images. Both seem a little soft to me. Maybe some sharpening would help?

goldilocksandmy3bears

WingsOfLovePhoto wrote:

I use a poser from www.wickerbydesign.com for all my little ones. Lots of ways to use it. Or you could just pick up a boppy (breastfeeding pillow) and use that. Feel free to look through the children's galleries on my site. I do alot of 3 month olds...though I usually ask the moms to wait until the are about 15 weeks. Those few extra weeks make a huge difference in posing ability and their smiling more readily. The feet stuff usually comes 6-7months I love the colors in your images. Both seem a little soft to me. Maybe some sharpening would help?

the boppy pillow worked out great.. I used it in some of the shots. Thank God I didnt' sell my son's I will take it along when I have other baby shots. Thank you for your C&C I'm going to take a look at your galleries thanks!!

ivar

I prefer the second one out of the two, I think. Although a nice shot, the angle doesn't work for me on the first shot for some reason. I like the second one, nice comp, nice colors!

Babies are just hard to photograph, by definition. I personally really like having at least one of the parents closeby to have him/her draw the baby's attention (behind me, close to me) so that I can get a shot of the baby looking towards the lens (-ish). Different pillow-type things can work pretty well, also

My3Sons

I just posted 4 mo. old pictures to my blog, if you need any more ideas.

-Melissa
www.naturalphotographydesign.blogspot.com