Baby Cameron Photo Shoot - Part 1

After taking my son's newborn pictures and years and years of informal family photography, my mom and I were approached by a friend to do a photo shoot of her soon-to-be baby boy!  We were extremely excited about this opportunity, but also a bit nervous as now our work needed to be liked by our client, not just us.  Although long, the photo shoot went very well and we learned a lot.  Check out the details below.

 

Cameron's Birth Announcement

 

Cameron's mother, Christy, created the Birth Announcement shown above.  She is a talented graphic designer.  Her invitations, announcements, and other printed products can be found on her website, Baby Bride and Bungalow.  

 

Planning

My friend gave us a lot of props that she wanted to use for the photo shoot.  I got those props in advance and set up and planned out each of the photos.  This helped the session progress smoothly and made us look more professional and like we knew what we were doing! :)  Baby Cameron was so sweet, laid back, and easy to work with.  He had a full feeding just prior to the start of the session to help with his sleepiness.

Bean Bag

 

We started the photo shoot with the bean bag as the first set-up.  We draped a gray and ivory blanket over the bean bag and up the back of the scene.  We got some cute pictures of Cameron lying on the bean bag with his head slightly elevated. 

We attempted to take a picture of Cameron propped on his hands.  This shot is very tricky because the baby's hands need to be placed perfectly, and someone has to support the baby's head.  After some editing to remove my arms, this is the final picture.  You can see the original photograph is taken using a landscape orientation.  I also cropped it to show a closer, portrait orientation.

What we learned from this experience is that we need to save these more difficult positions and photos until later in or at the end of the photo shoot when the baby is truly asleep and more easy to position.  Attempting to place the baby's hands and to prop the baby's face on the hands can be very difficult.  

Baby Doll Bed

 

The backdrop for this photograph is a shower curtain.  Draped across the backdrop is a tassel banner that my friend made for her gender reveal party.  We used a vinyl white wooden floor and a white baby doll bed.  We placed Cameron on the doll bed on his belly then turned his head toward the camera.  Tuck the baby's legs under the belly then place his hand under his cheek.  The important thing to remember is that the baby should be slightly angled so that his behind is pointed away from the camera so that his "crack" is not visible.  We placed a large letter "C" as a prop in a few of the pictures.

Use this opportunity when the baby is sleeping peacefully to get some close-ups or other creative shots, as shown below.

 

Bucket

We placed a shaggy white rug in a large tin bucket then placed Cameron on top.  Cameron was sleeping so pleasantly that we were able to do some of the photos with a hat and some without.  For some variety we used a chalkboard, a tractor, and/or a string of pennants as props in a few of the photos.  When the baby is sleeping it is easy to change setups to create a totally different look for a photograph.  Additionally, we were able to slide a brown stable door in for the backdrop on some of the pictures.

 

Low Basket

This picture is taken using a low basket.  I found this really cool shaggy lime green pillow at Home Goods, from which I removed the pillow and was left with only the case.  I placed the green pillowcase in the basket.  I wrapped Cameron in a piece of white cheesecloth than laid him in the basket.  It is best to take this picture by shooting directly down on the baby.  

For more pictures from this photo shoot, please visit Baby Cameron Photo Shoot - Part 2