Anna's Blog

Newborn Portraits - Mom and Baby

When I photograph newborns I recommend the best time as 7 to 14 days of age for the optimal pictures of the baby. The baby is less fussy at this time, and also will have better skin as the baby acne has usually not set in yet. But! New Mom's can be less certain that is an ideal time for them to have a photography session as they just gave birth! Not to worry - I focus on showing the best features of the mom at that point - which is usually not the mid-section. Being that I am a mom myself, I have some experience as to how it feels (and looks!) to have just had a baby. However, my clients trust in my experience as a mom and  photographer to photograph them - and the results are beautiful. By focusing on capturing the closeness between mom and baby, and creating an environment where the mom can relax with her newborn - the beauty of the new mom just shines.  Here are some recent favorite mom and newborn baby portraits. 

Newborn Triplets

I was so excited when Kristy called me for a home session with her triplets - my first set of newborn triplets!  I have photographed many sets of twins, but this was my first opportunity for a baby triplet photo session!  They were actually very good - considering - and we only had one incident of one baby wetting on another. That is quite amazing considering there were three naked newborn bodies for an hour plus!

Here is one of my favorites of the three together...

Newborn Portraits - Baby Botanicals

I have been inspired by plant life lately - spending as much time as I can outdoors enjoying the summer. And I have brought some of the outdoors in to some newborn home studies - using plants and botanicals with the one week old babies.  Here are some of my favorites...

 

Newborn Portrait - 9 days old

Meet Miss Chloe - 9 days old and already a diva! We had so much fun with this little newborn girl, even though she did poop right as we took this image...

Tattoo Maternity Follow-up - the babies are here!

Here are a couple of pics to follow up from my maternity tattoo session with the newborn sessions...

One from a newborn photography session in the studio...Meet Trulee

And this one done as a natural light newborn session in the home - Meet Carter and Isiah

Newborn Twins and Big Sister - Photography Session Celebrating 100 days

Celebrating a baby's 100 day birthday (Baek-il) is a tradition in Korean culture, and Mimi had me come to the house to photograph her beautiful twin girls along with her spunky 4 year old daughter. The twins were actually 103 days, but having everyone available for the newborn family photography session was more important in the long run than the 3 extra days.  The baby's are fraternal twins (can you tell which is which?) and I was actually able to tell them apart after just a few minutes.  These darling girls were very smiley, even though it was a sweltering hot day in San Francisco.  Their big sister is an enchanting child with a wonderful imagination.  She is very proud of her baby's. Mimi loves black&whites, so we planned the session to create great black&white prints to add on to their existing body of black and white fine art family prints.  Here are some of my favorites from the session...
 

 

Best Ages for Professional Baby and Infant Photography

This is an article I wrote recently on baby photography and the best ages in the first year...

Photography is an important tool for documenting the milestones in a baby's development.  Many families choose professional photography for these times to create artistic images as professional archival prints that will last for generations.  Knowing the importance of this task, many parents wonder, what is the best time for baby photography?   Here is a guide for what you can expect at the different stages of the first year or so related to professional infant and baby photography.

Newborn -  Newborn photography session should ideally be done in the first three weeks - particularly the first 10 days. In the first 10 days, the babies are easier to work with as they are less fussy and they will not have their baby acne yet which usually sets in around day 16.  Beautiful images of naked newborns laying down or in their families arms are an incredible beginning to documenting a person's life, and should not be missed.


2 to 3 months - This time is still considered newborn, but the babies can be harder to work with at this age as they tend to be very fussy at this age.  They will have better head control than in the first month, and they usually can smile at this point, but do not count on getting a smiling portrait at this age.  Most posing will involve the baby laying down on back or stomach, being propped up, and being held in arms. If you missed the newborn window of 5 to 10 days, you can still get great newborn photos at this age, it just take patience.  Oh! they also tend to be much plumper by this age than 5 to 10 days.

 

4 to 5 months - Most infants are quite chubby by this time, and are much better at smiling and making faces.  These babies are still not able to sit up, but they are more able to interact with people and toys. This is a perfect time for infant portraits of capture chubby arms and legs, and bare bottoms - and you may even be able to get them to smile on camera.

6 to 7 months - Around this age the infant is able to sit up, and there are many more options for photography posing. Outdoor sessions are now possible for six month old portraits, but remember that babies at this age love to put everything in their mouth, so choose the outdoor location carefully. This is a great age for portraits with pets, and siblings as the infant is usually not mobile yet - just able to sit up, laugh and smile!

8 to 10 months - Often by this age, the baby is crawling and the sessions get very active! Consider a white background session in studio for a clean, classic look - but be ready to bring toys to distract the baby to stay in the area of light and continually reset the baby to the right spot. For very active babies a better choice for professional baby photography may be at the home if these is plenty of natural light so that the baby can roam and the photographer can follow.

11 to 14 months - Pulling up, standing and then walking - these all are typical of these ages and should be documented as a major milestone in the infants development.  Now the baby is really able to move in their environment which would make it a great time for a location session, including other family members as well.

So given these ages for professional baby photography, which ones are the best?  As a photographer and a parent, I would recommend having the baby professionally photographed as a newborn (around 5 to 10  days old), then at 4  months (chubby baby bottoms), followed by 6 or 7 months (sitting), 9 months (crawling), then 12 to 13 months (standing).  If you can only do three - make sure to get newborn, 6 to 7 month portraits, and the One Year milestone. When purchasing prints, order professional archival prints that will last for generations, as these photos should be around for this babies great grand-babies.

This is the gift of professional photography.

About the Author
Anna Myers is a modern lifestyle  Portrait Photographer in San Francisco who specializes in artistic baby photography.

Natural Light Newborn Photography - Meet Ginger, I Mean Carson.

When Connie contacted me about a newborn session as a present for her husband Jon (great idea-huh?), she was still pregnant. When we planned the session we talked in detail about their 3 year old son, and the up-and-coming new baby sister, Ginger.  The session was all set for me to come out to their home for a natural light photography session when Ginger would be around 7 days old.  Well, Ginger turned out to be a boy - Surprise! So, instead of photographing Ginger, I had the pleasure of documenting baby Carson with his big brother and family at their home in Pleasant Hill.  Here are some favorites from our newborn family portrait session...





 

Things to Consider for a Professional Pregnancy Portrait

This is an article I wrote for a series on maternity and newborn photography....

Professional pregnancy portraits have become very popular in the last ten years.  Women want to capture the pregnancy as a specific time in their life, and often include other family members in the photos as well to celebrate and document their family's evolution.  There are some key elements to consider when going about getting professional maternity photography, such as when to do the session and what to wear.

The timing of the maternity session is very important. You do not want to do the session too early and not have an impressive belly, but you do not want to wait so late so that the woman is swollen in the feet and ankles and miserable. Given these parameters, 32 to 36 weeks is a good, happy medium that usually works well. Of course if the woman is having multiples, then adjust the time accordingly.

Another consideration for the maternity session is who will be in the photos? The pregnant woman will be there of course, but should there be photos done with the partner? Are there already other children eagerly awaiting the birth of their sibling to be included in the session? This is a great time to do some family portraits before the family dynamics change with the new addition.  Some shots should also be done of the woman by herself as a more private study of the female form and the beauty of the new life growing inside of her.

Where should the maternity session be done? Most maternity sessions involve showing a good deal of skin, so the woman should consider whether she would be comfortable doing that in public space like the beach or a meadow or a more edgey urban city look, or whether she would prefer the privacy of a photography studio or home session.

The desired style of the resulting images should also be carefully considered. Should they be more moody and shadowy, or light and airy, more traditional, or sexy, or fun and funky? Figuring out the style or styles of the pregnancy portraits can be done by looking on the internet for examples of other maternity photography that you like.

After having figured out the location and the styles, figuring out what to wear should be a bit easier now.  For maternity sessions, the choice of what to wear includes; wearing clothes with the belly showing, doing semi-nudes with clothing, bathing suits or lingerie, doing semi-nudes with fabrics and sheers, or full nude maternity photography.

After having decided to do the session, another thing to think about is where to put the resulting prints from the session. If they are family portraits that are clothed, they may be able to hang  anywhere in the house. If they are more black&white nude pregnancy portraits it may be better to hang these in the bedroom.  Another great choice is to consider a fine art maternity album for the images.

Complementing the maternity portrait session with a newborn photography session after the baby is born is an excellent idea. Once you have professional photographs of the pregnancy, putting professional newborn portraits into the same room or album can really finish up the project and create a family keepsake that will be treasured for generations.

Anna Myers is a widely acclaimed Bay Area Pregnancy Photographer who specializes in artistic maternity photography.

Newborn Black & White Portraits - Miles

Christina and Zach brought Miles in for his newborn photography session when he was about 20 days old.  We chose the black background in studio to match some of their favorite maternity portraits that we had done with Christina.  Big sister Hannah came to the session too. Here are some fun family pics from the session...

Yes I am a newborn charmer and can capture newborns smiling when the stars are all aligned!

 Love these with Miles and Mom!

Some nice individuals of Miles

And we even had some time while Miles was taking a break to do some fun quick shots of Hannah which we turned into this cool little photo panel...