The Downside to Taking Your Own Newborn Photos (Even as a Photographer)
Newborn photography sessions are harder than they look
I remember when had my first daughter, I thought I could take my own photos of her and get all those cute images. Boy was I wrong. I couldn’t get her to sleep, I had no idea how to get her in the poses I loved, and I didn’t account for her peeing 17 times on me.
Babies smell their mama
One of the things that babies can do, is smell their mama. Maybe it is their milk or maybe it is something else but either way, they know when mom is close. This was definitely apparent as I attempted a newborn session with my son. Many times it happened when I get close to him to adjust a pose and he would decide it was time to nurse again.
Creative paralysis
As a newborn photographer I have a thousand props, and always want more. When I started to think of what the images I wanted in my own newborn session, I wanted to do them all: simple less posed images on white, close macro photos of every detail, all the props, baskets, bowls and hats. There is simply too many ideas to see them all through so where do you start?
Aching body
It take a lot of work to give birth to a baby, vaginally or by c-section and it takes a long time for your body to heal. Attempting a newborn session in the prime 4-10 day window is exhausting. These sessions are a lot of work and it can be truly difficult to accomplish an entire session this soon after having a baby. This is why it took me until my son was almost three weeks old before I had the motivation to attempt his session.
Lack of sleep
Sleep deprivation is real. Especially in this newborn stage. Most parents are simply exhausted for… well I’ll let you know when I wake up… but really, few new parents get the sleep they need to think clearly enough to complete a newborn session. Yet another reason I did not attempt a session until almost three weeks old.
Family photos
While you can definitely take photos of your new baby with their older siblings and their other parent, it is much more difficult to take photos with you in them. Yes, you can set up a tripod and set the auto timer but this is very difficult to get right and doesn’t give you the same flawless look as a professional getting the best angle.
You want to edit ALL the photos
One thing many of us don’t consider when we hire a professional is that they will go through each image they look and find the very best of the best to show you. When you take your own images of any occasion, it is very easy to get caught up in wanting every photo you took for different reasons. While this can be fun for places like facebook, it can make it harder when you want to show your friends and even harder to decide what to print for your walls or albums.
Did I miss a downside to taking your own newborn photos? Or are there positives to taking your own images you would like to share? I would love to know in the comments.