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Lesson Info

Live Shoot: Newborn Posing In Clients Home

We're going to do a couple of inches baby on that good job you guys okay? He is toasty so what I would do let's can we talk about real quick and then we'll go into questions while we're getting baby ready let's talk about work flow because I do keep opposing workflow it's in my brain and there's probably five a thousand different types of work flows I have depending upon where we start okay, so you're like well that's not helping at all I know so I'm going to kind of give you an idea is going in the parent's home so I found the place that I want to be in their home and I'll say you know what? Give me a minute I'm just gonna wrap baby really quick baby is fully fed has a diaper on babies wrapped and I'll take a picture of the baby on the bed or so if I could be a sofa okay, so there is a first shot and then it'll be baby close up and I'll be the whole baby wrapped and sometimes I play with around with different angles now next in that flow is going to be mom and baby okay no no parents ...

either yeah weii well yeah we did but now with family for the baby alone on the bed baby alone in the bed well that's a good one that's a good one because usually it kind of depends because baby alone if baby's doing so great then while baby's rappel at a hat so that is a good point I would probably do that then I'd go into family now did I say family? I first said mom let's let's focus family so we're doing family and it sets of three so they're looking at jamie they're looking at me they're looking at each other maybe they'll kiss and sometimes you just kind of let him be in their space I photographed sherry som who's in people magazine on the jfk issue and there's a picture of them on the bed and what I loved about them and I love about working with celebrities is they kind of just do their thing right? They're used to it and so when they were on the bad they have this post with the twins and they're on the bed doing that exact same posts but what happened was when they started looking any cover the heat two started nuzzling her and just started kissing her and looking at her and she was looking at me so I am in a rush now because we're alive and we're on limited time but if I was in their client's home I do kind of take a step back and let them have their space for a minute and right didn't we shoot like fifteen minutes of them just nuzzling? They were just nuzzling and in love and just doing their thing so I would do that and I did a whole series and there was pressure because I knew it was going in people magazine. But then there was also a part of it. Did you think that they were just really connected as a couple and with the twins? And you want to tap into that they've been through a lot together, this couple all couples, whether their celebrity or not, there's something that connects them when you go through that baby delivery process. And so if you can, you're in ther space, right? So it's one thing when they come to his studio and there in your space, it's a little bit different, but when you enter somebody's home, their sacred place where they live and breathe and sleep, you need to kind of take a step back and honor that space and let them have their moment so many times I will back up, you'll it'll be quiet on the set. You won't say a word. We could have three assistants in the room, but no one is talking and we're just clicking and they're giving them permission to do their thing, and many times those are the best, most coveted images. And then we get dad away was ok dad take a break usually give dad a break first because they usually the knees in the back it's all like they need to get out of there so again mom is looking a baby she's kissing maybe she's resting her head on baby it's that those three transitions are the same now I could do looking at baby looking at me kissing baby laying on baby that's actually four and with twenty different women and it's different for all the women right it'll look different every person so you do a quick transition with mom arms out to you that you saw that let me switch to something masculine so you can switch to something more masculine and then when I did that what it shifted everything and if you notice I went back to the same poses did you notice that mom's going in baby alone but now we have their hands they're looking at baby they're looking at each other they're looking so they didn't look at me that's the one that's the one I didn't know they looked down and they looked at each other and then kissed they didn't look at me but that's okay I already have them looking at me and another post if that was my only posed that I would question it and then you're done and you're out and the great thing is parents are like that's it I was only like fifteen, twenty minutes and I get and that was I say all the time we can get the best shots in the first fifteen minutes and now we're on break and then now we're gonna work on baby okay yes are you ready for yeah I'm going to make the bed ready for few prepping questions about the prep so all about the crap please talk a little bit about how you ask the parents to prep the baby hey wise and sleep lies a little bit commander we talked a little bit like to reiterate and please talk a little bit more about prepping the parents my shoots end up not working because I get a fussy baby and you know so yes a little bit about that okay and know that I do snail now a baby guide to clients I believe in snail mail I'm not an e mail person because not everybody gets email and I'm telling you I don't get half my email that people say they sent me so I really hate e mail I swam out the information I'm about to tell you tiffany you should probably talk about if you do all the client prep phone calls I'll tell you my food situation and then I'm gonna have why get baby ready? I'm going tiffany tell you what she would tell a client you should even pretend like your uncle okay, wait. You have two phones right up here. A pie and a photography, the nativity. But anyway, here's the deal and I have been raped their coals what I'm about to tell you and I'm gonna tell you anyway, I am a mom of three children. I have a caesarean after twenty three hours of emergency labour with my son the one thing I wanted on the way home with a cheese steak sandwich and there was a little weak live in huntington beach is a little corny. No hole in the wall. I want a cheesesteak biggest when they have, I'm going to eat it all because I hadn't eaten in five days. Okay. Hi, my lovely cheesesteak sandwich and I think I hate him for four straight days. Okay? And course you get the baby home. My son's grown grunting he's fussy were literally sleeping with him in a bouncy seat in the middle of our bed bouncing him going what is wrong with our baby? He was fine in the hospital. What is going on within sleep? We go to the pediatrician two weeks later and I'm crying in the corner true story I'm sitting there in the corner crying and my husband's like doing a man thinking I got it, baby, you know he's on it she's like are you okay? I'm not okay I'm not okay my babies not sleeping by caesarean hurts I've been cut. I'm not ok she says, what are you eating? What like no anyone ever asked me that would mean I mean meaning had a cheese steak sandwich, that's what I'm eating and like every day and she's like okay and you need to stop and she gave me a list of foods to avoid while nursing and this list evan is thirteen years old and he's five foot nine now and I have passed this list around the world and it is on my belly baby love website if you go to my blogged and go into articles, the list is their belly baby love dot com click bob and arctic blogged and articles and it's basically things like caffeine, soda, gassy vegetables, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, tomato based products, citrus berries and I would test it over and over and I would like the spicy things would be great for like a week. I'm like, I'm fine with slice of pizza and have a slice of pizza and I would be up all night again, so as a mom I tested it through all three of my babies and they all it was if I had pizza, I was going to pay for it for two days and what would happen was moms would come and I would. When I was first starting out, he was the same thing fussy, crying babies, what's going on, what's going on, and it was years before I would pass got the courage to pass this list of my clients years like five, six years and even a couple years ago with no his twins, she's, like shouldn't have the cabbage. I'm like cabbage was on the list like I know I love cabbage. I cheated and she the mom even said, I'm sorry I had cabbage and it was funny because we had twins and the girl hated cabbage boy was fine with cabbage. The girl did not like cabbage, one with bottle fed formula and one was always that one. Oh, this whole time I thought it was just girl boy, I'm there you go. So wait. Now we tell our clients you know this e talk to your doctor, talk to your pediatrician. Some babies can eat anything. Tiffany tried it with all three for babies and had a completely different experience doesn't really matter which he she had colicky babies and it took you a while. Like you say you had colicky babies, and so we do. We want a proper clients, we want to talk to them, we want to prep them as much as we can, so all it tiffany tell you what she told. Well, I usually tell them that this is our recommended list and and you know, it may work, it may not, but if it if it gives us a better chance of having the best possible outcome for the sessions and just give it a try, it's like a day or two days twenty, forty, forty eight hours, twenty four, forty eight hours just try and have a bland diet, keep it as simple as possible, and then that way we can have the best possible outcome in session. The other thing that we tell parents is if you have an afternoon session, try and keep him awake a little bit before the session, so maybe give them a bath or try and give him a little face time beforehand so that when they come in, they've already had their alert time and they already asleep. We'll also have them feed the babies at the studio that really helps. So we don't starve the babies, but if you can maybe hold them off just a little bit if they're due for a feeding, say, at eleven and your appointment at, you know, ten forty five you come early that's? Fine. And then we'll have you pick out your first couple outfits, get them dressed, we'll talk about, you know, the first set. We'll get them dressed in the first out of the diaper cover, whatever it may be, and then you know, and then feed him, and then that way they're ready to go already dressed. And then we'll start from there, and then they can start off nice and sleepy. Yeah, no that's good way. We also will say for a parent prep clothing should be solid and simple. You want to like it in thirty years, and we tell the women that if they have nothing to where we will dress them, we're known to make dresses on the fly were known to use material, were known to use maternity dresses. We promised them will make them look good, and so many women are, like, good, because I have nothing to wear, and I say, okay, well, you can also wear your maternity dresses, there's nothing wrong with wearing your maternity dress, and he just needs a pillow underneath here. Let's do that, and then you don't have to worry about it we don't want them to stress we do use a makeup artist by request that they pay and so if they want here we do sweet do suggest come here and make up ready does that mean full blown I mean it's different for everybody if you wanted that natural look still do hair and makeup because you still conduce a natural clean look and fake eyelashes man I mean, come on now you could be like if you do nothing but that it like looks good and it doesn't have to be all god and fake but I just say just take some time to do your hair and makeup just try and take some time and that's it and we snail mail them uh brochure I know the pacifier that's a big one. Yeah, we haven't bring a past or even if the baby doesn't take one or or a lot of course away from the light john so we need morning, john, go with collector so the other thing is here's the deal I was one of those moms I could turn him more to the light. I was one of those moms who was, like know, my baby is not taking a pacifier at all ever and people would give me pacifiers and I would put him in a drawer like it's not gonna happen and then I remember that evan screamed bloody murder for about six straight hours and then I called the baby line and she's like you have a pacifier? Yes give it to him know what I want to do that she's like it's going to be fine and it was fine and he took a pacifier and all three of my babies did and they don't have them anymore and so you know what I tell people to do is just going to switch lenses I'm not going toe make your child have a pacifier I'm not going to do that babies like to suck it's a natural tendencies that they want to suck and it's a soothing neck egotism it's a known fact. So what I would say is there's a couple things when you say bring a pacifier they say we don't want to use a pacifier I say no problem is the baby bottle fed? Yes, perfect because we can take the nipple often use that as a pacifier or are you okay with using a finger? Because if the baby wants to suck, you're either going to be nursing twenty four seven or it's going to be a finger and I do have moms that are nursing the whole session it's like nurse take a photo nurse you know so and then I have moms say I'd love for maybe take a passive are but the baby won't I can get anything you want to take a baby, take a bath and I could get anyone pregnant those are my two claims to paint man, so I'm like bring the pacifier because they're not going to take it from mom because she's a feeding source especially if they're nursing but if you really want your baby to take a pacifier bringing as a back up and I'll help you but I will never force anyone to use it. I have many probably thirty percent of my clients will not use them that's okay? We'll make it work is that answers all the prep last quickie what's your optimal temperature you know I get asked that all the time here's my situation, I'm in an old building and have no heat, no air, nor do I have any temperature reading in my walls, so I can't answer that right can tell you that it's hot and steamy and I call it beef from yoga for babies because it is hot. Well, how do you have a much temperature? Do you think it's in the eighties and dad's usually wait in the front lobby area because they get too hot and then they come back in when it's their turn like sweating? We're patting them down during the session it's warm, but you know the babies, they're happy they sleep I mean, you want a baby's face here typical quick question for you sometimes I see you holding the reflector at a certain angle and you bent it are you you're just trying I'm just trying to find the light I'm just looking at where the light is trying to see where it catches and hits his face right here you know I got it I'm gonna bring parents back in real quick so all I'm doing is saying in between parents I'm going teo just go ahead and take some quick pictures of baby you can see the different angles thank you john saying I'm prepping pairing our bottle fed we always encourage them to bring extra milk because the babies will think oh, they always just eat you know every two hours or every once every three hours they will always meet maurine the session it seems so way always tell them to be sure to bring extra milk so that they have it on perfect so here's another simple suppose this is a simple scarf ok, you saw I slipped the rap out from underneath and we gotta fix that I fixed that foot did I shoot it again? So I fixed that and you can see what I'm shooting at here and it's just such a simple pose many times people think oh it's got to be so much but with the baby with the family on the bed this is what it is it's very simple, very basic