charlotte-newborn-photography | little miss b makes her debut!

I loved loved loved this little munchkin!!! She was so precious and her little face was just divine! We even managed to get big brother in on a few shots and up the cuteness factor into overload! Seriously, this family was just gorgeous all together and I could feel the absolute adoration that both mom and dad felt when they held that sweet little miss and just took a moment to breath her in. Congratulations on your sweet baby girl and may you all be blessed with in joy and love!!!

charlotte-newborn-photographer-baby safety and compositing

One of the first things I always go over with my newborn parents are my rules for safety. Every baby's comfort and safety are my top priorities in a shoot - as it should be. 

With a bazillion options in newborn and baby photographers, not just here in Charlotte, but everywhere across North Carolina and around the country, I think it's so important to know that the photographer you choose for your session understands all of the aspects of how to keep your precious little one safe while achieving those perfect shots. It requires an understanding of newborn and baby development and physiology as well as an expertise in the use of editing software. There are so many people advertising as newborn photographers that it's easy to forget that many of them may not understand all of the things that go into keeping a newborn safe during a session.

There are two main areas of safety concern when it comes to photographing babies for me; one when they are placed on my large shooting bag which is about 3 1/2' wide and second when they are placed in any prop (basket, bin, bucket, moon, etc.) 

I generally shoot newborns with a 35mm lens when I am working. This allows me to be within arms reach of baby at all times after I have perfected a pose on my beanbag and if baby starts to stir it's simply a matter of placing my hands on them to make sure that they continue to be stable and safe from going anywhere. If for any reason I have to step away from my bag to grab an item I always have mom or dad step in to replace me and keep a hand on baby. While they seem small and you can't imagine them moving that much, newborns can be surprisingly strong with their legs and can very much move themselves forward by "frogging" or pushing their feet behind them into the surface and scooting forward. The other time I ask parents to help me with newborns on the bag is when I have them positioned so that they are facing forward with their head supported by their arms or wrists. Those heads are wobbly and I would never expect a baby to be able to maintain that position without gentle support or else they could easily flop to the side. Photoshop allows me to remove helpers hands and arms in editing.

Here Mom is holding baby's head from behind with her fingers applying very gentle support at the back of the head. Prior to this shot I had her holding baby's forehead as well and asked her to move that arm up out of the frame for 3 seconds and then replace it. The final image is below.

These same rules apply when baby is in a prop of any kind as well as a few other basic rules for safety. Generally mom or dad is sitting directly to the side with a hand on baby the whole time. I also will only attempt prop shots when baby is in a nice deep sleep. Babies that are awake or fussy can easily throw their arms and feet out causing props to become unbalanced. I add weights to the bottom of all of my props regardless and make sure never to put baby in anything that has sharp or rough edges. 

As you can see, these rules should extend all the way up to older babies and toddlers. Many babies celebrating their 6 month and 12 month milestone sessions still require support and close adult supervision in order to feel safe, stable and comfortable.

So while you will obviously have lots of decisions to make when it comes to choosing a photographer for your newborn or baby, I think one of the most important is how they will safely handle your little one when working to get you those perfect moments. As a mother myself, more than style, price or anything else, that would be the most important thing you could know!

Charlotte-Newborn-Photographer -Preparing Siblings for a Newborn Photo Shoot

I get a lot of parents who are not only preparing for the whirlwind of having a new baby, but a lot of them are worried about how their older child is going to handle the transition into big brother or big sister. I know everyone wants that perfect picture of their new baby being held and snuggled by their older sibling and I do everything within my power to achieve that! As you can imagine, it's not always easy, but there are some things that parents can do ahead of time to help make the most of the sibling time during our newborn shoot.

1. Siblings, especially very little ones, may not want to have anything to do with the new baby, and that is TOTALLY NORMAL! This is probably the most important point. In their mind, a tiny baby has invaded your family life, turning your world is upside down. Big brothers/sisters often feel insecure and neglected during those first days of having a newborn at home so if they think that this session is all about the baby (again!!) they may be resentful and uncooperative. I encourage parents to make them feel that the session is about THEM, first and foremost. I always make sure that I talk to big brother/sister first, introduce myself, chat a bit about the time we will be spending together…all  before I even lay eyes on the baby. Once they've had a chance to tell me about themselves, I will always ask big brother/sister if they would show me THEIR baby. Some of them are pleased to do so while others refuse, but I always give them the opportunity to introduce me. If they chose not to, that's totally fine too - I will go meet the baby on my own but I never force them.
2. During the session, when siblings are around I try to engage them in what I’m doing, explaining what I'm doing, or asking advice.  “Do you think your baby would like it if we sang her a song? What's her favorite sone you sing her?”  “Oh, she is crying! What do you think she is trying to tell us?”
3. Let them be. The key point to having siblings to cooperate in a newborn session is to always give them the choice. If they feel forced to do anything, they will probably do the opposite of what you want them to do. I know that parents fret over not being able to get the shot or worrying that their toddler is misbehaving or acting up - TAKE A BREATH, CALM DOWN AND DO NOT WORRY:) I don't give up that easily and you'll see as I continue to pull tricks out of my bag that there are lots of options to get what we need!
4. I usually start with the siblings shots first, because big brothers/sisters are usually more cooperative at the beginning, but also because as I said previously I want them to feel that the session is about them. I always ask that we do siblings and family shots first so that Dad or Grandma or another adult can take the older sibling once we are done. That means that we aren't forcing them to sit around for hours on end and Mom can just relax.
5. With that being said, I'm always prepared to break my own rules. If at the moment I thought I would do the siblings shots, big brother isn’t into it, I make sure that I don’t put any pressure on him. “No problem. You can go and play in the other room, and come back when you’re ready. In the meantime, I will take a few pictures of your sister”. Most of the time the option to be left aside while you’re focusing your attention on the baby is the best motivation to finally be in the picture. But it will be HIS choice, not yours.
6. After a few pics, especially if the sibling is a young kid or a toddler, he will probably be done. Again, no pressure – let him leave the room, do his thing, and come back a bit later when he wants attention again. Having another adult available at that moment to play with him in another room is invaluable. It will be the perfect moment to do pictures of Mom or Dad (depending on who is playing with big brother at that moment) with the baby, or pictures of the baby alone.
7. Safety first! When doing those siblings pictures, I always have baby’s security in mind. I will always position parents close by and many times with hands in the actual picture. I would much rather spend an hour cloning a hand out in Photoshop than ever put baby or sibling at risk. I also generally find that swaddling the baby for these shots is much safer because they are easier for little hands to hold.
8. If a sibling absolutely refuses to have anything to do with the baby, and it has certainly happened to me, I find that years of Photoshop training are invaluable:) I have had to composite images together where toddler was by an empty basket and then baby was placed in the image digitally later. There are many ways to get the image without putting siblings or babies in precarious positions or through a massive temper tantrum. Worst case scenario, older siblings almost always cooperate if it's a whole family photo and they are able to be held by Mom or Dad along with the new baby.
9. Bribing. I don't like to do it but I will sometimes resort to a bribe with a treat (non chocolate or sticky:) if we just need to get one more shot. I always ask parents approval beforehand. I don't think that bribes work very well unless they are immediately gratifying. I know sometimes parents like to promise an activity or a toy "later if you cooperate now", but I don't find that little minds are able to hold onto those promises when they are unhappy about cooperating in the moment. 
10. Be Flexible! A newborn shoot is always a team effort and while working with toddlers and siblings is sometimes challenging, I've found that the key to success is to be flexible in how we work and also in our expectations. These little people are exactly that; small human beings who have feelings, wants, needs, good days, bad days, moods and emotions. I always want to treat them with care and respect for the space that they are occupying at any given moment. 

charlotte nc newborn photographer | hey, I saw you on buzzfeed!

Here he is! This little guy made his way around the world (not quite the galaxy yet:) these last few weeks courtesy of Star Wars fans everywhere and Buzzfeed!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/melissaharrison/gloriously-geeky-newborns

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Like you, I always see those Buzzfeed articles in my Facebook newsfeed; "23 Dog Best Friends Who Love Each Other A Lot", "25 Pictures That Will Make You Believe In True Love", "7 Things Only Sisters Will Understand." More often than not if it's applicable or catches my attention I'll click on it for a quick laugh or pick me up on a day and peruse the images and captions just for fun. 

I'm not gonna lie - when I got an email from a Buzzfeed editor asking to use one of my images in an article I was a little bit flabbergasted - did I just age myself with that word? I'm totally not a hip twenty something - oh well.... "Where in the world had they found my images?" Let's face it, I'm pretty small time here in Harrisburg NC and while I have been photographing for the last 7 years I don't have a giant following and stay pretty low key. I'm thrilled when people outside of "the 'Burg" drive to me to do a newborn or baby session but most of the time I'm focused on networking in and around Harrisburg Concord and Charlotte just because it's convenient for people that I'm here in their area. So how in the world had Buzzfeed found my little Jedi baby?

Pinterest! I had done little Luke's session (yes, that's his real name and he was absolutely a perfect doll for his session:) in November of last year. Earlier this year I had gone through and created a few Pinterest boards for clients, what to wear, ideas for family, newborn, baby stuff, etc. and while I was doing that I thought, "Oh what the heck, I should do a few boards of my own work so people can see ideas for what they might want to do when they book." You can check out my newborn Pinterest Board  HERE. 

A few weeks went by and I noticed that this particular image was getting pinned and repinned. It should have occurred to me that on top of the fact that Star Wars is just as popular today as it was when I was a kid, that with the new movie coming out and the first trailer being released that there might be a bit of renewed interest and that includes people looking for ideas on how to incorporate it into their newborn sessions. 

The Buzzfeed editor was perusing Pinterest for themed newborn shoots and that's how she found me. A few emails later her article was out, Luke was featured and then I started getting emails from other media outlets in Australia, London, Portugal, the Netherlands, etc. asking for permission to feature the image in their online articles as well. 

So in just the span of a few weeks, millions of people saw this image and I continue to see it pop up in my newsfeed every now and then. Pretty cool stuff for little old me in Harrisburg NC:)

If you would like information on booking a newborn session and creating amazing artwork of your own, please visit me HERE and fill out your contact information. I can't wait to design a custom portrait experience just for you!