Baby and Child safety

As the title suggests, I just want to take a minute and talk about Safety for photos.  With all the gorgeous poses in baskets, hanging wraps, etc., it's really important to me that my clients know I will do everything in my power to keep it SAFE for your baby, or I wont do the shot.  And I feel parents should know what to expect and what to ask of a photographer to ensure that. 

Here are (in my opionion) 3 basic questions to ask your photographer before letting them handle your newborn:

1)Where do you work? (ie. are most poses done on the floor or on a table?) If it's a table, the next question is super important!

2)Do you have a spotter, and if not, may I be one? (often the photographer will ask the parent to spot,  this is not to make their job easier, it's to make it safer.  Some new moms are understandably, not physically up to being a spotter, please tell your photographer that ahead of time).

3)Are you able to blend images, or remove hands supporting the baby in photoshop -or whichever editing program they use? (this is for those times you just cant let go of baby). Ask to see some before and afters so you can preview the quality of work as well.

If your photographer is not able to do these things, or unwilling to do the extra work in editing, my suggestion is to find someone who can and is.  It's your baby's safety on the line, and safety should come before cute. Period.

My son helped with this session that I'm using as an example of a composite (he's helping more and more, and I love it!), and as mentioned on my facebook page, I'm posting how a composite photo is done.  The reason I'm posting the "secret" is just because I feel it shouldn't be such a secret.  If your chosen photographer wants to hang baby in, out of, or on anything that even has the smallest chance of baby moving in, out of, or on, he or she should either have a spotter (someone who has hands ON the baby until the last possible second and is completely focused on just the baby) or be able to do a composite photo (have hands IN the photo supporting baby, and merge more than one photo to create the final image without the supporting hands in it - this is hanging in, or positions that a baby cannot naturally support themselves in).
This "froggy pose" is very popular, but done properly, it's a composite photo.
 

photo 1

photo 2

final image- combination of photo 1 &2