Any advice for a mother/baby shoot?

[jwhite31]

I have a session with a mother and her newborn son this Tuesday. This

is the first mother/baby shoot I will have done.

I am wondering if any of you more experienced photographers could

give me some tips to make the shoot a success and what I can do to

get some great shots.

Most of the shots will be taken on a black or white background.

The baby is 4 weeks old.

 

Thanks in advance.

[kim long- cincinnati, ohio]

I like to encourage Mom to just play and interact with baby the way she normally does, and then I just shoot away. I also recommend matching Mom's clothing to the background and stripping baby down to his/her birthday suit for some shots... some examples are floating about in my gallery:

 

http://www.kimlongphotography.com/Gallery/Children/

 

Also, close-up shots comparing Mom and baby's hands, feet, cheek-to-cheek shots... anything to emphasize the size difference. Baby's tiny days are so fleeting and these photos are so precious. Best wishes! Have fun!<div></div>

[michaelhills]

Jamie, I know I am too late for the shoot, but thought I'd mention that I second Kim's suggestions. Overall, there is nothing better then allowing the mother and child to naturally interact together, with a little direction from you. By all means, 'pose' them in the sense of trying to get a good background or angle etc, but I would suggest you leave the rest up to them. I say this because I am not a big fan of 'posed' images of children. I feel that a child's inate sense of movement/exploration is stifled - even when they are newborns :) It would be good to see how you went, Jamie. Regards. M :)