Normally a blog would feature one family at a time but not in this case, this is a story more so about a process than anything else. I cannot even tell you how many sessions I have shot, how many different types of sessions and how many different events etc, in 2011 I shot over 250 sessions for example and I have been at this photo game for many many years. I have a vast portfolio, when people want a job done for free they come to me and say this will be a great addition to your portfolio, well chances are, it wont be, because I have done so many types of things that my portfolio is actually too big, but that is great in reality. 
You put a child in front of me and i can make magic happen, you give me a grown man that hates to smiles and is known to be combative in photos, no problem at all. Give me someone who cannot read and just bought a DSLR camera and I can have them have it mastered in a few sessions. Try to hand me a newborn child and I won't even hold it. I will cower and try and run the other way. Now, don't get me wrong I love them, they are precious little babies and they have the cutest little feet and fingers. They are beautiful beginning of life reminders of how life is an amazing thing. I have shot a handful of newborn images that have turned out pretty ok but they have taken hours to shoot and I personally am not really happy with them. Some of which I have asked to re-shoot for my own self esteem lol I have been unhappy even though my clients have been satisfied. Newborns are my weakest link. I have brainstormed, I have read books and articles I have consulted other photographer friends. So, instead of just accepting that I am not good at something and that it does happen and all that jazz. I have launched a huge effort to fix this problem. This includes heavily discounted newborn sessions, these sessions are an investment any session is but especially newborn sessions. So I have marked them down to under $100 and they are still that same prince now. 
I believe you cannot have a successful newborn session with out a Mom that is on board and willing to help at the session in more than one way. And being that there are times that the baby needs attention and you cannot be constantly taking pictures during the session I have graciously thrown in lifestyle images to these sessions too. Whether I have children or don't, whether I want children or not, this doesn't mean that I do not like them. Quite the opposite I think kids are great, there are some kids I value more than adults and some that are smarter too. I am not afraid of kids at all but I was scared to death of newborns. At a recent shoot I was holding a four month old baby for my client when the little girl tried to catapult out of my arms to get back to her mom, apparently kids do that!?!?! I was so scared I have yet to pick up a child since then. 
A child safety is more important to me than my own and that is one of the reasons that mom must be on board. There are many pictures of newborns you look at and think awww but you don't realize that a hand or finger has been removed from them because a few day old baby cant hold up their head on their own and things like that, or that there is a heating pad under the blanket they are on to keep them warm and comfortable. If your photographer does not practice safe photographer, they shouldn't be in business. So when I decided to make this effort to investigate and improve my newborn photography, I looked into every safety precaution I would need and implemented it. So then I moved on to props....
Props are expensive no matter what you are shooting but newborn props blankets hats and headbands can go off the charts. So, to cute some of the cost down, I am making my own with in reason, if I can do it I will if I can't I will buy it. My mother used to crochet when I was a kid and she taught me some stuff so I am using what I know to learn more and practice and then I can make a few hats and a few blankets. So many newborn sessions are about variety, never using the same prop in the same year that I have a hard time paying 50 bucks for a one time use blanket or hat. If I can make some myself I can save a little money. And this is also one of the reason s that newborn photography is normally about 300 plus dollars.
Thus far I have completed one hat and I am halfway through a blanket custom made for newborns.So basically I have begun embarking on a journey to perfect an area of photography that scares me and I am far from done, newborn sessions will continue to be discounted until I feel I am comfortable enough to whip one out in under 5 hours. I cannot thank these parents for the patience they have shown me as we trial and error through this process together and keep in mind that if you know anyone that is having a baby and looking for newborn images, Unobstructed Studios has newborn sessions under $100.
It was a hard step to admit that I needed to improve on newborn sessions but once I did I felt better about taking on the job to improve them. I have already learned alot and I can already see a change in the image outcomes. Aside from obvious developments about temperature etc and things I have studied to get better, I have learned a few things that you won't find in a book at all.
No matter what two always follows one. And if you don't know what I mean by this you probably have no kids. Boys, pee a lot more than girls and two always follows one.
If there is an animal in the house at the time of the newborn shoot, they need to go outside or in another room where they cannot be near the newborn, that is a no brainer, but the lesson I learned was, if you are going ot limit or cut off their access to the room the baby is in, you should make sure that the animal cannot even see in the room you are in with the newborn, especially in the event that the baby cries, because that dog will flip the crap out and he doesn't know he is being loud and keeping the baby up he thinks he is protecting the baby and he or she is, they are being great protectors, but they don't realize I am not doing anything wrong. The beautiful boxer mix to your left is such a sweet little dog named Annie, and she was my friend before and after the session but during the session, this was Annie staring in the window at me and the baby. And when that baby cried because she wsa hungry, Annie didn't like me anymore and Annie tried to get in the door herself, with out the courtesy of using the door knob. I am thankful dogs have no thumbs :)
Newborns are beautiful little reminders of how precious and magical life is. Buuuuuuuut sometimes those beautiful little reminders need something to help us remind us if it is a beautiful boy or girl. And that my friends, is where all those adorable and expensive hats and headbands come in. But, I am getting alot better at those hats!! Sometimes it is as easy as the color of the blanket you are putting them on. But, I did realize very fast that green blankets are always going to be a no no because they produce the worst color skin tone on a newborn, There are just so many things to learn and in 10 years I am still going to be learning them I am sure. But I did learn some good things too, as much as the whole picture is amazing, sometimes the details are just as beautiful and important, especially those little toes!
Whether awake or asleep, a baby is precious and sometimes they wont sleep no matter what you try, no matter what you feed them, no matter how warm you keep them or how quiet the room is, and if you choose to take images with them open you are still going to get amazing images that you will love forever and get to look back on and remember and smile.
And alot of times some of the best images are not the posed ones, and this has been part of my mission statement since day one, life is candid and crazy, it happens fast and its dramatic, every single time I do a newborn session I cannot leave with just posed images, I cannot do it, it goes against everything I am as a photographer and person. There are always wonderful posed images of course and those will look amazing over your mantle, but there are also the moments of mom rocking her baby back to sleep or a little girl that is so caught up and captivated by her little sister that she just sits there and stares at her. Those moments are more important than posed ones, they always will be and they will always be there too. You wont see me turn my camera off until I am walking out the door because I do not want to miss those candid moments, and I am sure y'all don't want me to either. If anyone you know is having a baby in the near future and would like to take advantage of the newborn special rates like these two families did, please email me at contact@unobstructedstudios.com
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