Stacie Turner Photography Blog | Connecticut Photographer » West Hartford Newborn Photographer

Newborn Twins | West Hartford Newborn Photographer

Stacie — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 13:14:30 +0000

Do you remember when your babies would fit in the palms of your hands like this?

Sweet Little One | West Hartford Newborn Photography

Stacie — Sat, 28 May 2011 16:22:20 +0000

Twin Babies

Stacie — Fri, 20 May 2011 17:41:34 +0000

Because two really are cuter than one.

Baby Yawn | West Hartford Newborn Photographer

Stacie — Fri, 13 May 2011 01:37:39 +0000

How to Undermine Your Child’s Portrait Session

Stacie — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 03:00:46 +0000

So, there you are, having paid your money for a portrait session, but now a tiny devil sits on your shoulder and suggests you undermine it. How can you best ruin your chances for good pictures?

Dress your child in clothing he or she hates. Scratchy tags, unfamiliar tights, itchy lace and uncomfortable shoes are a GREAT way to make sure your child looks perpetually miserable. If your child has sensory issues makes sure to break out the dress or pants with the uncomfortable seams and don’t forget to bring out something totally new for a child who doesn’t handle change well.
Threaten your child. Totally destroy any possibility of a natural smile AND make sure every time you look at the final product you feel angry by threatening to spank your child if she doesn’t cooperate.
Stand slightly behind and to the left of the photographer and continually call your child’s name.This will make sure that every picture will show the child doing what appears to be staring off, blankly, into space rather than making eye contact with the camera.
Keep your child out late the day before. Sleep deprived and/or tired children are an excellent way to make sure the whole portrait experience is miserable for everyone involved.
Keep your child hungry.Schedule a morning session and decide to have a late breakfast afterward. Nothing like a child made crabby by hunger to get really special pictures. If you have a newborn, refuse to nurse or give the baby a bottle because you don’t want to change the schedule. This will guarantee you get a lot of screaming, rooting pictures and not a single sleeping shot.
Give your child a snack half way through. Sticky is good, crumby is good, but sticky and crumby together, such as a cereal bar, is the best. This way stickiness will hold the crumbs to your child’s face and every shot will include a bit of snack in it.
Insist on having the session some place or the photographer warns against. Whether it is your dark, cluttered house, a playground at noon or a park 30 minutes after sundown, if the photographer says that pictures there aren’t likely to make you happy that’s the place and time to insist on. Showing up late is a good way to accomplish this on the sly so instead of getting the warm, wonderful light 45 minutes before sundown you get the special light that’s left 5 minutes after sundown. A person who wants to ruin her own portrait session must be ever vigilant for ways to do so!
Fret loudly the entire session. If you are anxious that nothing is working and the photographer isn’t getting good shots your child is likely to pick up on that. However, why leave this to chance? Be sure to vocalize your concerns to make sure your child knows you are worried.
Tell your child that he or she is doing “it” wrong. If your child won’t sit still for a posed shot, or won’t run and play joyfully upon command, make sure she knows she’s ruining the pictures. Bonus points if you can throw in some guilt hyperbole about how Grandma is only clinging to life to see these pictures and now you have RUINED them
Don’t reschedule for illness. Remember, that 101 degree fever will just add a lovely flush to your child’s cheeks.
Don’t allow enough time. Some children take a while to really warm up to having their picture taken and you should be sure that you have a very important event scheduled right after your pictures. Sure, one of the benefits of custom photography, one of the things you are, in fact, paying for is having the photographer stay as long as necessary to get the shot. Forget that. Rush it. Don’t give your child time to relax. That way you’ll get a lot of nervous “deer-in-the-headlights” pictures instead of natural looking shots.
Insist on continuing when you child is clearly done. There comes a point when your child will have had enough. Toddlers sometimes share this feeling via the subtle body language of throwing themselves on the ground and flailing. At this point your goal, as a person out to ruin your own session, is to insist on keeping going. That way you’ll not only get lots of sobbing, miserable pictures you’ll look back on the entire experience as miserable. It’s a twofer. Win-win!

—
(Obviously this is tongue planted very firmly in cheek but most (though not all) of these come from actual experiences. For a great portrait experience you should:

Make sure you like the photographer’s work.
Know how much he or she costs and whether that’s in your budget. Finding out after you are in love with the proofs that you can only afford 2 prints is not a good thing.
Dress your child in clothing he or she (and you) likes, that reflects his or her personality and that is comfortable.
Make sure your child is well rested and fed.
Relax, back off and let the photographer work. Don’t call your child’s name, do a silly dance, threaten your child or worry that nothing is coming out. It will come out. The session itself should be fun. Relax. Have fun. The pictures will come out.

… and one of my one child sporting her “I’m over this” face because a photography blog post without an actual photo is plain weird.

Itty Bitty Sleepy Girl | Connecticut Baby Portraits

Stacie — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 01:08:36 +0000

I am wrapping up my spring Fresh Faces project and have a pile of neatly packaged prints to take to the post office including some of this little cutie. Isn’t she a sweetheart? She decided to arrive on the scene a wee bit early and as a result was one of the smallest peanuts I got to play with so far this year. You can see her in my Simply Babies gallery too, which I have totally redesigned and refreshed after this winter’s baby rush.

Newborn portraits are such a delight to do. I get to see all the wonder of new life. Sure, I get peed on during most sessions (though not, actually, during this one). And urped on. And now and again I get pooped on, but there is a reason I wear jeans to the sessions and the joy of a little baby is more than worth the many fluids that come out of them. All of which is to say, in the babbly way that lets you know it’s been an interesting day with my twins, that I have the best job in the world.

Little Baby Boy | Windsor Newborn Photography

Stacie — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:39:02 +0000

This little guy came to me for a newborn portrait and decided he wanted to stay awake. I think sometimes people worry too much about getting the baby to sleep, especially since I talk about needing to make sure your house is warm, warmer, warmest for the shoot or the baby won’t sleep. But, really, wide awake babies are cute too. Awfully cute. Yummily, munchably, terrifically cute.

One thing I learned when I had babies – you can’t make a baby do anything. You really have to go with the flow and be prepared to follow the child’s lead. So, though I encourage people to look through both the Simply Babies gallery and the Dreams & Stories gallery to let me know about any specific poses they would like to capture the reality is that some babies don’t sleep soundly enough to hang in a sling, some babies won’t lay their heads on their hands and some babies will shriek in fury if they are draped over an arm. Newborn poses are wholly dependent upon the temperament of the baby. It’s part of what makes your baby portrait special to your family – even in the simplest baby sleeping pose you see the personality and characteristics of this new little person, unique, wonderful and wholly his or her own self, even at 7 days old.

Little Baby C | Newborn Photography

Stacie — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:57:30 +0000

This sweet little girl was 9 days old when she came over for a Fresh Faces session. I first met her mother at an engagement party last summer and saw her again – very pregnant – at a wedding in October. And now the little one is here. And, oh, was she an amazing baby. I expect to get peed on. I expect to get pooped on. I expect to spend time basically begging a baby to sleep. But a child who nurses, passes out, and stays thoroughly asleep with no bodily fluid leaks at all? Simply doesn’t happen.

Thank you for letting me borrow your wee one! I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I did. Now I just have to chose which one I’ll put in my portfolio as a Fresh Face…