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>>> Discussion: info to give/preparation before baby/toddler/child shoot
What information do you give your clients/the parents before a shoot of their kids? How do you have them prepare, if at all? What do you tell them about things like clothing?
If you have any topics/questions that you would like discussed, please let me know :thumb
If you have any topics/questions that you would like discussed, please let me know :thumb
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I'm trying to put together a list of things that can be useful. I've come up with a few things, and some people have given me some ideas. Some of which I'm not sure are useful/I should use but I'm hoping to get a reaction here on those.
As far as clothing, what do you think about things like:
-bring an extra set of clothes for babies
-bring a change of (different type of) clothes
-red may not be the best color for babies/toddlers
-black may make a person look pale
-try to avoid big, obnoxious, attention grabbing logos/images on clothing
-shooting multiple people (brothers/sisters, etc) make sure that clothing goes together
specifics to babies
-best time to shoot?
-feed before shoot?
props
-bring props, yay or nay?
-what kind of props?
www.ivarborst.nl & smugmug
Clothing:
I usually shoot them naked, or with a diaper and a diaper cover on. Clothing bunches up and gets wrinkly and just gets on my nerves. Besides, it's a baby, nobody wants to see their clothes, they want to see the *baby* - if Aunt Sue bought an outfit just for the baby, great, take that picture on your own time. Hate to be bitter, but I don't like clothes on babies in pictures.
If the baby is old enough to sit up, sure, clothes are great. Just like adults, nothing busy or over the top.
Props:
Blankets, blankets and more blankets. I use them for backgrounds, for wrapping the baby in, all sorts of stuff. And they fold up to take up no space at all (I have a big Rubbermaid container I keep about half a dozen in).
Of course, I have loads of other props, too -- baskets, hats, bowls, etc. Hats are my love, so I have probably a dozen of those at any given shoot. I'll even make one just with the baby or parents in mind if I have the time.
Remember that children poop and spit up, don't bring anything you can't wash or afford to throw away. I had a mom apologize over and over and over and over when her baby boy pee'd on a tie he was wearing - I spent $.47 on the tie, if he would have ruined it (which he didn't) I wouldn't have cared. That same mom said that during her newborn session, her two week old son spit up on the photog's blanket and the photog fussed at *her* -- because a two week old spit up? Seriously?
Best time of day:
Baby's naptime. I like to get there when they've been down for a bit, so they're good and sleepy and don't really care if I mess with them. The younger the baby, the better they sleep.
OR
Just after a good, long feeding. Most moms nurse their babies, which can take up to 45 minutes if the baby is still fresh and hasn't figured it out yet. Be prepared to wait through a feeding, don't let Mom rush, the more she rushes and stresses, the worse off everybody will be.
Have patience, and lots of it. Especially if there's big siblings around, they'll want to get in on the action and they'll probably be a little bit wilder than usual begging for attention.
I haven't gotten a space heater yet, but it's what Kelley (Ryden -www.kelleyryden) and Tracy (Raver - www.tracyraver.com) use on their babies... they even use noise machines, too - but I have an app for that!
--- And PLEASE for the love of all that is good and holy do NOT shoot with a flash on a baby (especially a pop-up) unless you absolutely have to!! I don't know how many photographers I've found (both locally and nationally) with tons of positive comments on their blog/Facebook/whatever that have flashed the shot. Drives me up the wall. There's a time to use it and there's a time not to - find a window or some studio lights, please. Just my $.02 ---
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Knitted hats and blankets with texture work great, sometimes moms will have knitted stuff from family, somethin to ask.