By Jenn Gidman
Images by Stewart Powers
When new parents come into Stewart Powers' studio in Gainesville, Florida, for a newborn session, he makes sure the whole family is comfortable, there's an assistant on hand to help him with posing, and that the family leaves with emotion-filled photos that showcase their precious new addition.
Helping him document this special time are the Tamron SP 70-200mm VC and SP 90mm VC Macro lenses. "The 70-200 allows me to capture the baby's face pretty close up, then back up and photograph the full body while throwing the background out of focus by shooting at F/2.8 or F/4," he says. "With the 90mm Macro lens, I can get really close up for detail images, like a baby's toes with his mom and dad's wedding rings on it, which is a popular option."
Stewart also appreciates the Vibration Compensation (VC) feature on both lenses. "I rarely use a tripod in my newborn sessions," he says. "I try to stay at 1/125th second as I shoot handheld, but the VC is extra insurance against camera shake."
Read on for Stewart's tips for capturing elegant, intimate newborn photos that can help create a client for life.
Hold a pre-session meeting.
It's prudent to have a consult with the parents before the session. That's where we show them the 61-inch projection TV on which they'll eventually see images from the session and make their selections. At that meeting, we also discuss prop and pose options, the style they're looking for, and whether they want themselves or siblings to be in the photos with the newborn. You need to go in with a game plan or the session may take a lot longer than you'd anticipated.
It's also preferable to schedule the session within 10 days of the baby's birth. In many cases, once a newborn is 10 days old, it starts to develop baby acne, which involves more retouching.
Allot yourself adequate time.
We block two hours for newborn sessions—when you work with these little ones, you're on baby time. They nurse, need diaper changes, and sleep as they choose.
We also want the parents to know there's no pressure, which puts their minds at ease. We have a dedicated client dressing room and bathroom, as well as temperature-controlled studio—babies like to be warm. We also let our clients see we use hand sanitizer so that they know we maintain a clean, healthy environment.
Keep the poses simple and the lighting unobtrusive.
You'll see poses where the baby has his hands propped up under his head and he's looking up, but babies don't really do that—that's likely two shots blended together in Photoshop. At www.ppa.com, videos of Julia Kelleher, whose business acumen and photography I greatly admire, are a helpful resource for business and newborn posing ideas.
In terms of lighting, flash from strobes is disconcerting to newborns. I like to use a continuous light source with CFL bulbs. My main light is a Spiderlite with five bulbs and a 24x36 Westcott softbox attached. I use two ProMaster 10-inch reflector lights with CFL bulbs as background lights, with a silver reflector or another Spiderlite as a fill light if needed. My typical exposure is 1/125th second at F/5, ISO 1600. I use F/3 and F/4 the most for single subjects, F/4.5 or F/5 for several subjects; I'll photograph at F/2.8 for special images. My ISO varies from as high as 2000 to as low as 800.
It takes two to pull off a newborn session.
I always have an assistant (usually my wife, Susan) in the studio to help out; this is a two-person endeavor. I also prefer my assistant to be female, because I'm not as in touch with the birthing process and the challenges of being a mom as someone like Susan would be.
If you recruit an assistant for your newborn photography, that helper should be professional, nurturing, and aware of the needs of both the mom and the baby. She should wear fuzzy, soft gloves, for example, so if she has naturally cold hands it won't startle the baby. One place Julia Kelleher suggests finding an assistant is at a local nursing school. You might find a nursing major who's good at handling babies and looking to make some extra money.
Highlight the newborn's relationship with the parents.
When you talk to a mom on the phone about newborn images, you want to stress that these will be some of the most intimate photos she'll ever have taken. There's a real intensity to the relationship you can portray just by photographing them close together, with the baby looking at the mom or the mom nuzzling the baby. We've captured many images with the father holding the baby on his bare chest, too. You want to emphasize how unique and personal this new love affair between the family and the newborn is, and any way you can personalize it helps.
Make an effort to get Dad in the big picture.
We do a lot of custom birth announcements, and we'll often highlight what the father does for a living on these. One of the dads we worked with was an author, so we photographed the baby "sitting" on a book with books on either side of him. One of our fathers was a police sheriff, so we posed the baby on the dad's uniform with all of his awards and his hat—when you flip it over, it looks like the newborn's mug shot for the crime of stealing their hearts.
Make sure the mom is comfortable with being photographed.
Some moms are hesitant to be in the photos because they're self-conscious of the way they look after having a baby. We emphasize that we crop really close, or we'll have the mom hold her baby close to her if she doesn't want her body in the picture. We can also creatively pose Dad or one of the other children in front of her if she doesn't want the focus on her. And we offer vanity retouching, which isn't a lot of retouching—we'll just take off a couple of those extra pounds the camera always adds, remove a blemish, or brighten up shadows under her eyes from the lack of sleep that comes with every newborn.
Include siblings in the session.
With the first child, newborn photos are usually delicate and tender, but if it's the second child or beyond, parents are usually willing to go to great lengths to get the other children into the picture, even if those other kids probably shouldn't be handling the baby. We work as a team to keep everything safe: We'll put the newborn in a baby crib or baby nest, for instance, and have the sibling lean over the baby or stand next to it. We're prepared for everything.
Be ready for when the baby's eyes open.
All the other photos are working up to the money image: a picture with the baby's eyes open. Babies at this age sleep most of the time, though we've had newborn sessions where they were awake and alert the whole time. We often try to take a picture in which the mom is holding the baby on her shoulder while I take the picture from the other side. It's a beautiful way to show the baby's face as it's cuddling with its mother.
To see more of Stewart Powers' work, go to www.powersphotography.com.