Photobaby Ideas and Suggestions

Parents are actively involved in Photobaby Sessions whether it be a newborn baby session or a family session with children.

As a parent, you know what makes your child laugh, giggle or concentrate so your suggestions will be most welcome during a session. It could be a favourite song to sing, a squeaky toy, some dance moves, or daddy acting silly – whatever it may be, be prepared to ‘be a kid’ again to help yours smile.

I have many tricks to help make children laugh to get natural photos, rather than the staged ‘sit there and say cheese’ type shot. You can’t ever force a child to act happy as you can tell in a photo it’s not natural, but you can guide them into smiles by distracting them such as giving them something to do or say which will hopefully lead to a smile. If I’ve exhausted all my ideas (and I have many) to make your child smile and they are still not smiling, then for whatever reason on this particular day they either maybe don't want to, they may be unwell or they may just not be the smiley type. Whilst I say this, this situation does not often happen at all - maybe once in all the years I've been photographing children. Usually children just need to 'warm up' to me and their new surroundings and then they have a fabulous time.

Kids will show you true feelings no matter what. So a baby crying and being comforted is a natural moment and will be cherished for years and should not be discounted on the grounds that the baby wasn’t happy or ‘perfect’. A toddler who stamps his feet in protest can be representative of a stage he’s in and mum wants to remember their determined little face. A toddler who is shy hiding behind dad’s legs is super sweet or a big sister who was teary as she wanted more cuddle time with mum all make for touching photographs. These are memories as well as the happy bright faces that we all want in our collection.

So if you have well fed baby (bring expressed breast milk as it's quicker to settle them if you can) or child (please bring non-messy snacks to keep them at their best), and they are well (avoid booking when your child has just had vaccinations or has been circumsized within 5 days of your session) then look forward to enjoying your session with me! I promise to capture beautiful images for you to treasure. ♥

If you're tossing up whether to get photos of your baby at 8 months or 12 months, then consider that at 8 months you get a lot more variety of poses as a baby loves to be on their tummy, their back, in a crawling position and sitting up.

Once they've mastered standing they very rarely want to lie on their back or sit down. I've found most babies are more content at being fussed over into new positions or clothing changes than at 12 months when their own little personality is much stronger.

The benefits of having photos before their 1st Birthday means that the photos will be ready to use for birthday invitations. Oh and they still have chubby legs at 8 months which are adorable!

If your baby is gassy, avoid the following foods 48 hours before your newborn photo session. This way, your baby will be much calmer and relaxed ready for beautiful photos.

This list is a helpful guide of common foods to avoid while nursing and typically affect babies under 6 weeks old.

Citrus or Acidic foods and drinks:

Cranberries

Pineapple

Grapefruit

Oranges

Lemons

Strawberries

All berries

Tomatoes and tomato products

Chocolate

Nuts

Chilli

Garlic

Spicy food (Mexican, Indian etc)

Gassy Vegetables:

Asparagus

Onions

Cucumbers/pickles

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Brussels Sprouts

Cabbage

Restrict foods such as:

Soft drinks, Coffee, Tea, Wine and Beer.

Dairy may affect your baby if they are intolerant, so if you are unsure restrict the volume of dairy you consume 48 hours before your sceduled photo session.

These tips are given as a rough guide so consult your Dr or Pediatrician with any queries as every baby is different. This is helpful advice, not medical advice. 

Using helium balloons in your photo session adds a sense of childhood fun, play and fabulous colour. Kids love them and gorgeous natural smiles come out when balloons come out!

Now Photobaby can prepare your helium balloons ahead of your session so they are ready for when you arrive. This means it's one less thing for you to organise before your session and your car isn't filled with balloons as you drive here! 

Whether it's a pink and blue balloon for a pregnancy session, a balloon for a 1st Birthday session or 10 balloons for the kids to run in the parklands with, then leave it to me to arrange.

Order 2 days before your session (more lead time is appreciated) as they will be inflated close to your session to allow for maximum float time. You can take as many of them home with you after your session. Fun!

Visit the link for more info on colours and prices: http://www.photobaby.com.au/extras/helium-balloons 

I’ve had this question asked of me a few times so I thought I’d share my answer with you all.

‘Do you pose everyone to get your shots?’

Well sort of.

I always pose newborn babies so they look cosy and have their limbs gently placed to look relaxed. Simply placing a newborn baby down does not make for a deliciously cute photo so care is taken to gently move a baby into a relaxed comfortable position. The younger and sleepier the baby the better. (See my post on the best age to photograph a newborn here.) As babies get older (5-8weeks +) they are usually awake, stronger and will move their arms and legs so I don’t worry about posing. I do have props to support older babies so parents don’t have to be in every photo to hold them. This works really well as babies will watch my face and smile right into the camera.

When babies are crawling and pulling themselves up on furniture, I give them just that, a safe environment with furniture that looks fresh and bright for them to discover. All I do is create an environment where I can predict what most babies will do given gentle pointers (like hiding a toy for them to find).

For toddlers and older children I give them a book to read, chat to them about their favourite toy, let them discover the park with its large rocks, creek, grasses and trees and whatever is age appropriate for them. This means I’m not getting them to sit still for the entire session. So the result is spirited, happy and natural photos of your children.

With adults, I give direction on where to stand, where to look and I may adjust how they are holding their baby to get the best angle, adjust collars so a babie's face is clear, but other than that, a relaxed parent is what looks best in a photo so usually not much posing for them.

During a pregnancy session with a partner I’ll give direction for where to stand or touch the baby belly etc. And I’ll work with how comfortable both parents are as to how I ‘pose’ you both.

I do have hats, nappy covers/bloomers and photo friendly props for kids to hold (to keep their hands from their mouth!) and to distract them. I aim to capture their personality without getting them to say ‘cheese’. And I’ve never had a child I couldn’t get to smile!

My photography style is fresh, sweet, bright and fun. Bring any items that you would like photographed with your children which in turn will make your photos individual or if you have any ideas you’d like to try let me know. It’s always fun for me to having willing photo subjects!

I look forward to meeting your family. ♥

 This is my most popular question so I created a general guide to help you. Every baby is different so you will be the best judge. The smaller and sleepier the baby, the longer you can extend the time to capture newborn photos where they are curled up sweetly. It's worth booking a newborn session in whilst you are pregnant to ensure the date you want is available. This can easily be moved according to the actual birth.

*If you're baby is prem or was born early, then they will be at a different stage to what is explained above.

Even though you may have missed the 'ideal' age for what photos you had in mind, remember that any newborn photos are better than not having any photos. I will always create beautiful photos no matter what age your baby is.

♥

Welcome to Photobaby’s most exciting photo feature - Your personal digital photo album in an App (yes an actual phone app) on your iPhone or iPad!

All new clients will automatically receive a link to the Photobaby App after booking a photo package. This will give tips and information on what to wear and bring to your photo session right in the palm of your hand. So no need for busy Mum's to get on that computer! 

For existing clients, you can buy your very own personalised Album App using your favourite Photobaby photos.

This is such a unique and fun way to share your images with friends and family anywhere, anytime. 

If you want to see what all this excitement is about click the image below or visit http://www.photobaby.com.au/products/albumapp.htm

What a great feeling it is to have accomplished a project that means so much to me. A wall full of photos! Yep, after all the planning I'm loving our wall of memories from travelling and our lives together. Scroll down to see the steps I took to create this.

1. I bought some super cheap 6x4" frames from ikea and spray painted them white to match the others. I already had the paint so worked out cheaper to just spray them than buy 6 white frames.

2. I traced all my frames and blu-tacked the paper templates into position and swapped a couple until I was happy.

3. Then I began replacing the paper templates with my frames using 3M command strips. 

Tip: I combined a couple of post-it note packs to make the exact width I needed between each frame so it was all even.

4. Wollah! Our finished photo wall. All our travel photos and moments on display. Our hallway is now an interesting, brightly coloured piece of art and a fun talking point. And because of my randomised design I can keep adding new frames and swapping the photos in each frame as I wish. Love it.

And just another photo because I love it so much.

Feel free to share this blog with others. ;o)

Our home has been freshly painted and I'm excited to hang brand new photo frames and have my favourite photos printed! Being a photographer I have thousands of shots catalogued on my computer but rarely do they get out and on display. So, I've decided to create a wall collage of varying sized frames in which I can swap photos around as I wish. Not only will it be fun to create the first time, but going forward a very quick way to display family memories and the great places we've travelled without all the fuss and expense of continually buying frames and finding somewhere to put them.

I have around 18 frames. I have yet to decide on whether to use all white frames or to mix a few black ones in. I will use 3M command strips instead of nails to fix them to the wall. A much easier way!

Once I have finished the project I will show before and after shots but for now here are my tips to get the best results when creating a wall display with many frames:

1. Using paper, cut out templates of all the frame sizes you want to use so you can reposition them until you are happy with the placement.

2. To make it easier to design, buy frames that have one side that is the same in another sized frame. For example: The short side on one frame is the long side on another frame or in other words, the same ratio of frame size.

2. Use string stretched between two pushpins or sticky tape as a guide when you want all the frames on the same line. You can also use a laser level to accomplish this.

3. Use removeable tape/stickers (like 3M Command strips - yes I know very expensive if you have lots to hang!). With many frames it's very hard to level them all initially and over time if they are hung with string they can stretch and move out of alignment and ruin all your hard work.

4. Stand back occasionally and take a look at how it's coming together. Sometimes you will need to adjust it visually rather than exactly level as old houses and items around the frames can make your frames appear lopsided.

5. If you hung your frames using a nail (as opposed to command strips or mounting tape) use blue-tac to hold frames in the right position. This prevents movement from people brushing past and bumping the frames or house movement.

  Paper templates and a modern layout made up of 24 individual frames with no space between each.

A neat rectangular display and an easy way to have a variety of sized frames look tidy down a hallway.

Have fun planning your photo displays and if you'd like to share your tips send me an email or comment below.