New parents are so excited to bring home their precious bundle of joy. A new baby is so beautiful and parents just want to soak in every moment of their sweet baby’s life. With so many stunning pictures of newborns floating around online, moms can’t help but dream of having those images reproduced with their baby as the subject. However, inexperienced photographers or parents who try to recreate poses that they have seen may be putting babies at risk.
Illusionary photography is a very popular trend in contemporary infant photography. The danger is that new parents and amateur photographers are unaware of the compositing techniques used by more experienced photographers to create an illusion while never putting the child at risk. Composite images—multiple photos combined to create a single photo—should always be used for upright or hanging poses.1
Several photographers in online photographer groups report seeing dangerous videos where a baby topples over during the newborn session. Some parents or novice photographers have done unsafe things with newborns such as balancing them on chairs or baskets alone, putting their baby in a bucket in a river, or doing poses requiring composite images without the needed support.2 In the past, I saw several of these videos, but they may have been taken down because I cannot locate evidence of these videos now. If an image or video showing an unsafe technique is posted, the outrage from the photography community typically causes the person to feel embarrassed and take it down once they realize they were unsafe.
Just last month, I saw a Facebook post from another photographer about a mom proudly showing how she got an image of her baby in a “hammock pose” by tying fabric to the crib and placing the baby in the hanging fabric. Looking at the image, the baby looked very close to falling. Thankfully this baby wasn’t harmed, but the risk was very real, and this mom should never have attempted the pose. This mother was ignorant of the professional techniques being used which make an illusion possible without any risk to the child. More experienced photographers commented on the unsafe practice in the video, and the mother ended up taking the images down. The point is, this baby had been in danger, and this never should have happened.
This mom didn’t realize that the baby should never leave the ground. One of the easiest and safest variations of the “hammock pose” creates the illusion that the baby is suspended, when in fact the baby is laying down and the image is taken from above.
Some photographers are still doing this pose with the baby hanging inches above a beanbag and using spotters. The shot can be accomplished safely this way with hands on the baby at all times and some composite work, but the safest and easiest way should not require the baby to be taken off the posing surface. Here are some examples below showing how I set up this shot safely.
Many parents request to recreate a photograph that they have seen while preparing for their newborn session. Sometimes, though, the pose they like involves sophisticated photography techniques like forced perspective or composite imagery. Just by looking at an image of a posed newborn you may not be seeing the full picture. For example, a simple bucket shot just looks like a baby in a bucket, but oftentimes it involves help from an extra person and additional post-processing work.3 Multiple images may have been pieced together to create the final image; photographers call this a “composite”. Newer photographers may be putting babies in unsafe positions trying to replicate an image that took several photos to create, or they may not realize the importance of using a spotter.
Newborns should never be balanced in positions while photographing. An example of how composites protect the baby is “froggy pose”, where the newborn appears to be supporting its own head. However, newborn wrists are not meant to hold the weight of the head and such an image can only be achieved safely using compositing.4 “Froggy pose” requires at least two images; one with a hand supporting the baby’s head from under the chin, and another supporting the top or back of the head as seen below.
Ana Brandt, a well-known newborn photography educator, explains that often when parents come in and she is photographing for a composite image, such as baby hanging from a branch, parents are surprised and had no idea how the image was created.4 Just by looking at the final image you might not see the full process involved in creating the shot. It takes a level of skill and training to accomplish these advanced poses safely.
Sadly, no credentials are required to become a newborn photographer. Anyone can buy a camera, decide they want to photograph newborns, and they are not required to do any safety training.
Please be sure to hire someone with newborn photography experience. There are many different styles of photography out there, but there are special safety techniques and many different elements to a newborn session that are not self-evident. You are putting the life of your new fragile child in their hands. Be sure it is someone you trust, and always speak up if your photographer is doing anything with which you are not comfortable with.
Newborns are fragile and it is certainly not worth risking their health for an image. You don’t want an inexperienced photographer to practice with your baby. Yes, every photographer starts somewhere, but safety precautions should always be followed, and the photographer should start with basic poses and sets.
So how can you determine the experience level of your photographer? In the next blog, I will be sharing things you should consider when looking for a newborn photographer and questions you should be asking them before booking. Be sure to check it out!
Sources
- Brandt, A. (2017, July 05). Retrieved July 28, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLn5InfFb0U
- Matrangos, C. (2018, January 5). The newborn photography industry is NOT yet safety regulated and that is SCARY! Retrieved from https://www.imagesbychristinem.com/single-post/2018/01/03/The-newborn-photography-industry-is-NOT-yet-safety-regulated-and-that-is-SCARY
- Squires, M. (2018, April 20). The Secret To Adorable And Safe Newborn Photos, Composites. Retrieved from https://www.clickinmoms.com/blog/composites/
- Squires, M. (2018, April 20). How to keep baby safe during a newborn session. Retrieved from https://www.clickinmoms.com/blog/safety-considerations-for-newborn-photography/
