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Start to Finsh Newborn Shoot: Mauve Cloth and Basket

when you're shopping we're going to show you another color palette because we really wanted teo drive this point home and so we we weren't sure if we were going to cheat or not last night like do we just go in a window we have the parents pick it out what do we dio and then we decided that lets let's pick it out let's planet we've had some amazing vendors send this beautiful things we have pissy props have sent us thing custom photo perhaps mr and mrs cho we've have baby lee baby cradle with him crafted crowns gorgeous we have gorgeous items here and I know that we're gonna be doing a resource guide that will show you in the research side we're going to show you the image we're going to tell you the source from each of the elements in the image so don't stress about I have no idea where she got that from because we're going to give that to you but I wanted to tell you that when we're shopping I'm I'm a simpleton girl you have to go by your style right some photographers love color and ...

love flowers and you know I think that the client is going to come to you for you right if you put ten newborn photographers on a block they're all gonna be completely different they all dress different they look different you wantto first of all no that there's enough babies for everybody to photograph okay so let's take the competition out number two your client is going to be drawn to your style if you don't have a style now would be the time to start getting one I feel like I'm pretty boring I'm actually look what I'm wearing it's all the same color so I because I feel like I'm very monotone in my life I look for textures I love texture so in this palace you can see that there's only a couple of colors here but look how many different textures are here this was sent to us by a vendor this was made by our seamstress this was a different vender this I think was in l a trip this is an l a trip so it's just but I keep the color in my mind and when amount shopping I'll say ok I have a cream wrong I need a cream rapini that cream outside I need a cream headband I need like everything cream notice that we separate everything my color everything is hung by color everything is color coordinated here because I don't want anyone confused if I mix it all up what's gonna happen yes thank you the parents are gonna be overwhelmed they're gonna be confused and if I just start very basic and very simple then we can transition from there we just stretch yeah so I'm gonna change right in here you can ask me where questions alright wear cluster because it's all ready to go and a creative photography would like to know do you ever use a wait inside your props to prevent tipping I'm sorry one more time I wait you use weights yes ok so we were actually talking about weights with my producer the other day because I wanted to bring waits here and I forgot them I really don't yes and no I will say that the majority of the time no because of a couple of reasons the props a lot of the props that I use are just big enough for baby and so I like to use things that are low and cozy most of my baskets and I'll tell you how I shopped for baskets there's actually a theory behind it but most of all you want that from me have it most of my props are literally just big enough for baby I'm gonna have dad come on down and key if you if she wants her thumb if you want to put her thumb in go ahead or use your finger it's fine just stay by her for a minute if I have a very big property I really don't think the biggest I have is something like that not even that that brown one without one there so I have these pails that I used that are similar to that size that we fill with blankets and that are so sturdy they won't tip over now with that in mind you know a baby's head is a third of their bodyweight there very top heavy so when a baby is in a basket leaning over if if there is not enough weight with blankets then yes await needs to go in there if you think it's any moment anything is shaky and you can't get a weight in there or something to support it then I have an assistant hold it if I have any doubt I would say more times out of ten and assistance holding a prop wouldn't you say that you're usually just holding them I just don't want to take that risk we're going to talk about safety later but babies especially when they're doing this they will lift up their head and jerk up and like jump out of with their in and I feel like even if you have a weight in there and you pull away they can still jump out so I usually ninety percent on that assistant is right here look at you you're good you're a good soothing sort um the assistants right there holding it so with that being said the answer the question is have weights handy for sure and we also keep sandbags in our studio and have heavy blankets and don't get too big on the props I mean these babies were so little I feel like sometimes we get a little crazy on the props I like small props I don't like things that are too big so anna no question while you're wrapping tiffany I have a feeling that you're going to get a lot of compliments in the next three days but jen dixon said your assistant is amazing how do you choose the right assistant and what do you do to train them on soothing and posing that's another show way be getting more into that way we can talk about that day three I've had a lot of a system like usually these days we start with interns yes that come in they have to put in a certain amount of hours and then we kind of test him out that way and you know not everybody is a perfect fit let's be honest on dh some some are great so I feel like that's a man yeah I agree tiffany is a rare find she walked in off the three literally walked in off the street and my old assistant who was leaving that I never thought I could leave without jennifer watching you know I love you I seriously didn't think jenna was a tiffany I was like I cannot not have jenna and jenna was moving and I'm like no I think we need a thing on here I I can't work without you I get so I need my assistance more so much more than they need me and in walked tiffany off the street and jenna said there is your new assistant that's how tiffany came stephanie who's amazing you know I love you if you're listening she came in as an intern she worked herb but off as an intern I gotta tell you if you're ever in turning in turns out there if you're an intern you're looking for an intern to me if you have somebody who's working unpaid interns are unpaid and they're working they're bama for you hire them because stephanie three o'clock in the morning four o'clock in the morning my camera would be low she'd hand me a loaded camera if I was going to the beach my car was loaded she would finish my word I would be like she's like I know you need bhola and you just can't train that and I really feel that it is personal I'm not saying I'm a perfect personal work with I'm a perfectionist I'm a virgo I expect the best I expect people to work very hard I work very hard and so you have to understand what you need and we can talk about it on day three I think that would be a good subject to talk about because I really think you need to find out at the end of the day what do you need I remember I had hired someone when I had eva and I remember in the interview saying can you do like newborns because I am having a baby yeah I love newborns everything's great okay good cause my baby's coming to work with me like a week later eva my third came to work with me and I'm gonna be shooting and she's gonna be at the studio and it's very important to me that I have someone that can watch my baby if I'm shooting I'll never forget and she walked in the room and like my babies dangling off of her arm like dangling like like a doll hanging off of an arm like michael jackson with the baby over the ledge rest in peace I'm sorry but that's no example I could think of and I froze I was like oh like speechless and she said well you asked if I liked babies you didn't ask if I ever held a baby and I was like oh let me add that to the list of interview questions have you ever held a newborn baby and she'd never held a baby and I said I'm really sorry but we can't work together I'm sorry but I work with newborns and he need to know that I can trust you holding baby especially when that's not mine it may take you ten assistance to find the right assistant you have to go with your gut my husband tells me I'm too nice but if I like you over a cup of coffee I'll hire you and then it'll go south from there so it's got to be about business it's got to be this is what I need and you know I'm a mom tiffany's and mom it's like if you're gonna work for me f y you're gonna get a call it any moment to pick up a child from school you know it's good I've got to be able to trust you to get in the car and pick up my child from school and then you've got to be okay if the baby vomits on you and you have to be okay being at the beach making monkey noises to get a toddler to look atyou nicely no doubt there's snow it's like there's no job description but there is a job for me and you're comfortable with all those things and you're willing to work blood sweat and tears let's work let's work I have friends coming up I'm in town I want to come visit on my great can you work a shoot let's go do you have a tender isabella just well I'm thinking just on top we're just going to do a very quick transition and we're going to move to the next set up so this is second set up we're going to do maybe two to three transitions I we would well we're gonna put her on her tummy in the cram so we're going to do one more kind of we're going to just give it a try and get her curled up a little bit more now a lot of times the feet people are like the feet are going to kick out we're gonna put a little bean back underneath these these feet and help her stay in her feet stay on her feet are you guys doing so quiet you can ask me anything I will tell you nothing is held back so you guys have a question for you what's what's your challenge what's what's the deal what's what what do you find that you're like I just need thio fix this anyone I think my biggest challenge is posing and even already with you sing like work with the babies posing like I'm like why didn't I think of that before so that already just going with the big going with babies naturally not forcing like I had a newborn session last week and I felt like I was forcing thiss pose and the baby was not at all working and I wish I would have just taking a second to step back a little and waited to see what that baby naturally did exactly like right now what are we doing way I have a question for you sure do you have like a checklist like a mental checklist you go through to make sure there are certain things you get I think that's what I sometimes I'm like oh do they get all the things that the parents gonna want yes it's a very good question so initially initially I'm looking for an overall cozy shot you know that uh okay my head here and just fix that hat when I say cozy overall shot the it doesn't necessarily have to be the money shot although I feel like I get at least one each time and I'm I'm only looking for one money that I don't need ten I need one that more that kinds like that's it because honestly when I have ten the clients like which one do I choose I can't choose I can't choose when I got that one money shot the parents like done I need that shot and then the rest is bonus materials look at her see she's just going in her own little group she's she's looking her she's young so I will say that I need an overall full baby shot it could be on the back it doesn't need to be on the tummy but one where I feel like it's a complete set up all the elements the colors are there but honestly nine times out of ten I get that shot the first fifteen minutes I'm like done ok got that it's warm it's cozy we have the right colors done then I do ask the clients is there anything in particular I actually asked this the beginning I say have you seen my work yes or no sometimes it's random but if they say I've if I ask him have you seen my work and they say yes and I say where have you seen my work that's very important to me because it tells me what they've seen and what they like I have a big displayed an obe office so most people are like the obi office or if they say a friend then I know what I shot for that friend I don't know if I love the way the blanket is but I'm gonna shoot it and then we'll perfect it so just hold those feet and so all say she's going to eat those feet I'll say um is there anything that you've seen of mine that you like now mind you I'm gonna just jump off the subject we usually use floors I have a dark wood for my studio we use blankets but this is just fabric I'm like I said I love texture so if I can do it so it's wrinkle free I'll do it um so where are we we're talking oh yeah so they'll say to the parent is there anything in particular that you like and we'll go oh you really want the froggy pose I knowyou d'oh let me tell you about that shot I get it ten percent of the time and they go really you don't get it with every baby no sometimes they go through a dry spell in it's like months and then I've actually forgotten about the pose until someone mentioned it and I'm like oh yeah how do we do that again it's gonna get that somehow or you know uh baby hanging posters so mentioned that post and I go well I don't I can't promise you I'm going to save anything tricky towards the end why because the end of a photo shoot that baby is so done with me like I love you you love me I've been in your arms for two hours I'm naked I spit up I've burped okay I'm whatever you want to do I do and they're just like putty in my hands so usually anything like that I say for the very end and I tell parents testing I'm going to save it for the very end um okay let's try that one more time uh so and they'll say ok then I'll say I'm going to make sure I get the hands the feet the close up baby faced the close up baby parts I do try to aim for a naked each time so um I should say that a cozy basket shot baby parts something on the beanbag could be anything that's it mom maybe dad baby family and then the rest is just like like I don't leave going gosh should I get everything because I'm only going to go through two or three setups and I'm gonna transition each of those set ups and the parents talking with me the whole way I'm like do you like this do you like that sometimes they get inspired sometimes I get inspired it depends how the baby's doing if the babies great like this baby we're just rocking and rolling let's just keep going you know I've had newborn sessions I'm done in an hour and sometimes we've gone three hours it's not a two hour hard fast rule and I really believe that the energy of you and the baby is really important I don't stress I asked the parents over and over and over again is there something I didn't get that you want to get tummy now don't tell me when we're walking out the door because that happens to you I don't like that don't tell me the next day try and tell me what we're here to get you know when you're pulling let's pull hand first because I can shoot close up and then you're gonna pull feet away but when you pull feet away let's do a lot of fishing and enjoyment that reflector in there I do that hand is kind of bugging me so when they're startling like thiss what we had what I will tell my assistant to dio is hold the feet thief evil comma baby head and feet will always come a baby so I say instead of like trying to put everything away and you'll see later when we use some pacifiers with the baby if they're holding the feet and the baby is a passive I'll be like first pull the past where you're still holding the feet then let me shoot a close a baby face then pull the feet like just gentle I've even kept a finger on the feet and down the shot and then retouched finger out later oh I want to move ahead but let's shoot it in the little perfected way e think we need to put that weight was just a little higher got buried under playing yeah yeah let's just go a little higher on that and then uh you know what I love you I love you let me keep this so keep your hand there one of you put your other hand there although it looks awkward now doing with that hand she's a question very see now she's putting her hand over here I like that too you're a natural baby poser way I think we have to take away our own wants and desires from a photo session if you want a particular thing as a photographer because you love babies and really want to get x the froggy pose the chin whatever you want to do that's when you get a baby model I don't do my experimenting with my client if I want to experiment trying to prop try something fun I just get a baby models and then I can experiment and play and then I can use the images of my website and it's a bonus yeah I'm actually going to change it to calvin and warm it up a little bit okay that shadow jonah's killing me is killing me okay here we go one two three top do you normally uh adjuster why balance I mean do you normally so with the question I am on so I'm on the mark three and I love the mark three's auto white balance I think it's really good I do have a color checker in my bag that in extreme situations I've used when I especially when I'm on location um I've I've used it I find that she's it's a very cold environment right now I could pull out my color checker and do it but I also love just switching to calvin temperature and I haven't even changed the color temperature I can look it up and tell you what it is but I literally just put it on cave for calvin and you'll see the picture it just warmed it up just a little bit and I find that sometimes that's all I need I will say it does matter on your camera I have used some cameras where you have to color balance you have to white balance you're just the auto is not going to do it I love cannon I've been a big cannon user and I I just love their white balance ninety percent of the time I hardly do any adjusting to my images as faras skin you know would you like to talk about how your meeting at this point sure thank you so I am connection can you talk about look how pretty that isthe can I talk about focusing points sure I'm on a twenty four to seventy I'm not on the fifty as you see and the reason I'm not on a fifty okay my obsessive personality this is where it comes out okay I'm over it when you together fix it okay so I'm out of twenty four to seventy not on fifty um and I use all focusing points every time I work with a friend of mine she she knows who she is zan she always has her focusing points like here and here and here and here and I go to take a picture and I can't do it I like all focusing points because I can see all my little dots I want everything and focus and I don't wanna have to worry about it I am yes I am gonna adjust my aperture because I feel like things were just soft and I don't like things too soft I feel like when we go wide open sometimes they're just really soft and I just don't want that I'm actually gonna bump up my isis she's going to smile you're going to do it were you going to do it wow I'm pulling it in twenty five hundred too high too high make a back down I'm I'm going up to three point five felt like two point eight was bugging me this felt like sometimes when you're just so wide open it's a little little too soft I'm a fast mover and shaker as you can see and so I feel like I'm feeling like she's just she's just soft we need to pull some light we lost the tether could have okay see she's looking soft can we pull we need to just pull light in here um I am using a usm to lens it's a pretty sharp lines sure missed an afghanistan afghanistan yeah when they're starting she's she's getting ready to be done with this segment I can tell already you can tell when they're just I need a break we're going to try and just finish this shot and we're going to give her a little break she's doing amazing look at her how she's bundling do you see this so when you're doing this okay now we talk about the bum rap give me that so we're talking about the bum rap later when they curl this well and you have to feel it with your hands you know we got off settings but we could go back to talking about settings later um I just call it a little bum rap because I'll literally go in just rapper bomb and keep those feet in and this a lot of times we're not going to do naked for the sake of the internet but if she was naked just imagine she's all curled up her baby parts are hidden and she's naturally doing this position I am not forcing it and that is so important because there are a lot of babies that will not curl like this but if you're holding him in all this and you're like oh they're cold in my hands let's do it if I was in my studio right now she'd be like naked and three sec things like this should be wrapped up in a cocoon it would be like done because yeah she's very happy all wrapped up right oh my so young girl good baby today thank you for coming now I don't know if I like it over with the hat so can we just just let it go like this and pull it out from behind the hat I think if we just I like it up until here you mean you don't want I don't think I like that okay we're almost done mamma and I say we just go like this beautiful oh come on good staff is it looked pretty we think fun having a good time let's get a little thing in here we're doing great we're gonna wrap this set and we're going to go to the crown and then it's family we're done yes see how easy that soon oh beanbag oh uh we should be back I think you forgot about being well that's gonna take two minutes to get to that chump so very closer hat cricket from your angle uh it's okay I can shoot it and perfect it testing one two three that arm left arm in lighting looks good it's not my shot so that its mission okay let's just bring it on her chest she does not like those arms there she's okay that's where you want him that's further staying so that let's just turn her head and she's like I want this okay studio better now we'll get this shot we will give you a two minute break so we're going to get this shot and then we're gonna um change her while we pull out the win that mom and dad holder from a quick minute give her some love doing great room is done oh that's my own she was so close to smiling before okay I really want to move the hands but does that bother you that little middle hoping that with whom but she really wants she really wants her hands they're so I say we just keep him there we'll flatten that hand on her face there let's do that move and if we can try and flatten this hand so hold there there there we go so what we do this last setup who else what is your biggest challenge one now for me it would be the flow because I kind of tried both ways of doing the bean bag and then props and props in the beanbag and and I find that I don't get everything but I see that maybe trying too many items yeah okay so I do have my standard flow my standard flow ninety percent of the time is a basket of some sort first always then a prop I want to fix that but then a prop then a beanbag then family when two three she just wants what she wants she wants that head there and those that rise up okay let's tread a swimmer well here let me see if I can fix her feet okay so flow write it down you know I used to write it down because I used to get so nervous when I used to go to clients homes before I had a session before the studio so I wrote it down on a piece of paper and I would be like okay baby hands baby feet baby tummy because I used to do a lot of back in the day nine part collages were so popular and I remember in the nine park lodges like a hat have a belly button had to have a face fi hands top of the head so I used to write it down mom and dad I used to have three transitions for each mom kissing baby mom cheek to cheek mom looking at camera so looking at camera looking a baby kissing maybe same with dad then when the moms doing it at the dad then when the dad's doing an ad the mom it's with two different family set ups and toddler kissing baby looking baby looking camera like I always think of things in twos and threes always if I could do a set of three and everything I'm doing I'm good and I just get in the groove and you know what reputation is repetition is key if you find that you need there times where I'm doing the same round of setups with each baby going to the rico um then that's okay it's not gonna be the same picture you're going to change the same look um you're gonna be set the same picture you're going to change the look but I could literally take five newborns and go basket prop beanbag basket problem beanbag basket popping back and they will all look completely different I think it's okay to plan to write things down to do things over and over and over again until you know it with your eyes closed and if it takes shooting twenty babies in a month and practicing and bringing in baby models and asking friends and getting assistant if you want to be a newborn photographer it should take every core of your being to perfect your work and it's going to be a lifetime it's not gonna be one baby two babies I've shot hundreds of babies over fourteen years every baby is different every single baby no two babies on this earth are the same and so you have to understand that if you want to be a newborn photographer you will spend the rest of your life in that business perfecting your work there is no secret there is no quick answer there is nothing I'm going to tell you today that is going to make you perfect forever I'm not perfect I know that I know babies I know babies I know how to love them care for them keep them safe that's it the rest of the bonus I'm not going to guarantee the perfect shot I'm not going to guarantee the perfect exposure I'm not going to guarantee the perfect sale I'm going to tell you when you have me you have every ounce of my being to make sure that I take care of your baby in a safe manner to get the best images that I could get it may not look like your friends images it may not look like the images on the wall it may not look like the images in the doctor's office but this is your baby and we're gonna do everything we can and if you have that trust and that confidence then everything else is gravy so quick question anna uh kat stone wanted to know what is the oldest you can photograph as a newborn baby newborns technically our newborns for six weeks that is some cultures say newborns are newborn still three months others say newborns air till six weeks I think that you can photograph you're going to smile uh a baby at any age if you know what you're doing I have photographed babies at six weeks I've photographed babies at eight weeks if you have the proper way to shoot them wrap them keep them warm and cozy you can shoot any age ideally we tell clients we love the ten day mark we tell them we would like eight to ten days she's going to smile emma I am oh what you doing him you gonna smile down there so we ideally will tell the maid to ten days sometimes ten to twelve days it does depend on the recovery of the mom I do feel like you can photograph a baby that's too young you want to wait so the milk comes in you take a two day old baby they're not gonna be happy the reason I'm waiting is because she looks like she's going to get ready to smile she's doing the breathing she's doing the eye fluttering she gonna lose it we almost had it good job