Pretend we're in the nursery. A really common things for kids to do is to peek in on their baby brother or sister. Just be careful about the cords. Okay, so what I'm gonna have you guys do is just peek in on the baby. Can you guys come on this side for me? Right here? Yeah, just right there, just peak in on in there for me. Here's the deal. I want to be able to see the baby, and if I were to shoot it this way, I couldn't see the baby's face. So I'm positioning myself on where in the world can I see the baby. It's over here, but look, she's kinda looking at her, like at the tooshie, so I'm gonna bring the baby closer to siblings. And when you're doing these, there's not really, this isn't like rocket science, pretty much what we're trying to do is just create connection. So what I'm gonna do is try to connect the siblings with the baby. Okay, here we go. All these cords, I know. Okay, right there, okay. Do you see, oh look it, he's looking right at you. Okay. (camera clicking) Aha, ...

okay. So do you see how it looks like the baby is looking at them, we've connected them. It's a little bit different here, because we've got stuff going on, but I love this so much. Right now I'm at 2.2, so I'm probably, if we want to get everybody in focus, I'm gonna have to close my lens up a little bit, and that's gonna put me, I'm gonna go ahead and go to 3.5, or five actually, which is still fine, because it's still, you guys see my shutter speed? I've given myself enough wiggle room with my ISO in order to do that. (camera clicking) And that's about, let's see if it's under exposed a little bit, put the next one up, there we go. So you guys need to make sure, this goes back to wiggle room. You guys want to try and touch the baby a little bit? Instead of doing this, here, I'm gonna pull him over there for you. Can you do it? Can you guys reach? I can reach. You can? Okay, right there for me. Okay, yeah, just put your hands, can you both peek through here for me? Yeah. Okay, you could even go down there and peek through the slat if you want. Put that hand in there. You guys are holding hands. There we go. I'm gonna show you guys what I'm gonna do now. You guys look at the baby. (camera clicking) You guys see the story I'm telling now? So you see the story? So I'm trying to create a story. What's happening, the pull back, they're looking at each other, the baby's looking at the siblings, and then you want to do the close up because, and then when we edit this in Photoshop or in Lightroom, it'll bring some oomph to it versus just a regular picture off of the camera, right? It just makes it a little pizzazzy-ish, for lack of another word. So I'm going to change my, pizzazzy-ish, I totally just made a dictionary word. I'm going to come from here, keep changing perspective. Take one activity, walk around and do as many things as you possibly can. Go ahead, you're doing good, guys. (camera clicking) Can you guys give each other like, can you hug your brother, sweetie? Put your heads together for me? (camera clicking) See how this looks. And then we're going to change composition. Now, I want you guys to know it is okay if you don't see the baby's face in every picture. People are probably wondering this, but we can't see the baby's face. It's okay, because you know what? Later in the class we're going to go over our shot list, and this is going to be part of our shot list. Baby is going to have so many pictures by himself or by herself that these are more about the intimate moments and the connection versus about seeing the baby's face. You know, if we were in a home, we would have them sitting on the bed and snuggling baby that way, and that's going to be really important to see too. I'm going to come up around here. I know we have like a little bit of a dead zone, so I'm trying, am I okay? Okay. Alright, one more this way, I'm just going to try to get all... Okay, alright, can you see up over this, sweetie? How about if you peek through here? Peek through there. There we go, and then I'm going to come this way. Cribs are tricky. Oh my gosh, that's so cute, they're adorable, they're really good kids, which definitely helps. Okay, thank you guys. You know what, one more. Can you peek over the back of the crib for me? Just come back over here and go on your tiptoes. Think about playful and fun, kids like to go on tiptoes, so let's be playful. Yep, just peek over there for me. I'm going to move peanut, let's try and get rid of those hiccups. Hi, are you okay? Hiccupping and this is normal, a newborn, right? He has hiccups a lot. Yeah and he's trying to go potty too, so it's normal, right? Okay, you guys ready? You know what, can you two switch places for me because your brother's a little bit shorter? (shushing) And there we go, yep, just up on your tiptoes, okay, there we go. Now I'm going to put him down right there and he's going to look up at you. I'm moving his head over here a little bit so that way, we have a little bit of light on him. I just like to create connection and cute moments as possible as you can. So this is directing, but I'm not guiding. Go ahead and peek up over your tiptoes for me. Okay, so what I'm doing, I am literally a full stop over exposed, why? Back lighting. I know my camera, and I can't see what's going on here, but I know my camera. I know that I'm okay with blowing out the highlights when I'm back lighting. I want to make sure that we can see their faces, so I'm up a full stop because I know my camera well enough. Every camera will handle exposure a little bit differently. Okay, can you guys tell each other a secret and giggle? (camera clicking) Can you guys give each other a quick nose kiss? (chuckling) Okay, stay there for me. Storytelling, okay? Hold on, wait for the other ones, you guys are good. Let me show you this last one. (laughing) Can you guys see? That's a storytelling shot. Do you see where I'm going with this? You don't need much. The baby's there, and that's what's important. We are infusing the baby into lifestyle. Are we good? Okay, yes. Hold on, he's being really cute now. Who's got a mic over there? Thanks. Shall we stand? He's sticking his tongue out, so I wanted to... Is your focus on the kids? I change it, and that's a really good question. Okay. There are times where I'm going to make the decision based on composition and based on the story. Who's the most important part of the story for part of it? When they started whispering in the background, I concentrated on the baby. When they started nose kissing and giggling, I concentrated on them. In situations like this, what I'll do is I'll probably selectively focus. I move my focal points, that's how I focus. I will selectively focus on the children or I'll selectively focus on the baby, totally different story, and I'll include both images. It's kind of like those beach shots where the kid's running to the dad and you focus on the child because you see his excitement with dad. Or you selectively focus on dad because you see his anticipation waiting for his child. Two totally different stories, include both.

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Example Client Email

Newborn Questionnaire

Shot List

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Emily Lucarz

Emily Lucarz is a newborn and family photographer located in St. Louis Missouri. She began her career, like many photographers, after the birth of her first child in 2009. Known for her happy personality and extreme patience with children, she has quickly become the most sought after family photographer in her area, booking consistently almost a year in advance. Emily credits her love of people and outgoing personality to help her business grow the way it has.

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topics covered in this class

Family & Lifestyle Newborn Photography Portrait Photography Digital Photography

Ratings and Reviews

JennMercille

Oh my goodness!!! This was such a wonderful class. Not only is Emily a very gifted pro, she is the personable mentor that makes learning simple and the fun big sis you want to be around. She is a wealth of information and a total open book about it all. Being in her studio audience was so much fun, and the time flew by way too fast. I highly recommend this class not only to newbies trying to find their style and refine their technique, but also to seasoned pros looking to tweak their art with a creatively authentic perspective. As a newborn photographer with an established studio business model, I cannot wait to infuse what I have learned into my style and incorporate her business genius into my session and pricing structure. Thank you Emily Lucarz for sharing your creativity, knowledge and uplifting energy with us both in the class and behind the scenes! You are awesome!

Jessie Fultz

Buy this course! If you are at all interested offering lifestyle newborn sessions, whether you are a new photographer or you have been in business for years, buy it! It's 100% worth your time and money and you won't regret it. Emily is so fun and genuine which makes learning from her such a joy! Not only does this course go over troubleshooting different scenarios that are bound to happen during some sessions, but Emily also gives all sorts of other tips that you wouldn't even know you needed to know until she offers up the advice. It's fun to watch her interact with her clients to ensure that she is able to make beautiful pictures in such a natural setting. Thank you Emily and CreativeLive for coming together to make this course happen! I am beyond thrilled that I was able to watch these last two days and learn SO much!!

Hiba Alvi

Emily is amazing! I love how detailed she is and tells you how it is. It is nice she shares her personal journey and what she does - which is great! Love it and would highly recommend this course! I don't have a studio, and normally travel to clients home to do photoshoots - so all the tips here are more than helpful! I am so excited to do my upcoming photo session this weekend - can't wait to put these tips to use!

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Live Shoot: Siblings and Newborn

Live Shoot: Siblings and Newborn

Lesson Info

21. Live Shoot: Siblings and Newborn

Lessons

Class Introduction

What is Lifestyle Newborn Photography?

Why Are You a Photographer?

Why Shoot Lifestyle Photography?

Integrating Lifestyle Photography into Newborn Sessions

Strategies to Gain Lifestyle Clients

Utilizing Your Website to Book the Right Clients

Booking and Prepping Your Client in IRIS

Integrating IRIS to Your Business

Pricing Guide & Client Questionnaire

Ways to Contact Your Clients

Step One: Plan Your Session

Step Two: Plan for Your Client, Not Yourself

Step Three: Guide Your Client

Step Four: Use the Available Light & Rooms

Step Five: Trouble Shoot Problems

Setting Up the Crib Shot

Live Shoot: Crib Shot

Live Shoot: Mom Holding Newborn

Live Shoot: Swaddle Newborn for Crib Shot