The pictures were dark and slightly out of focus, but my little 5 pound, twelve ounce princess was the most perfect thing I'd ever seen and I'll treasure those memories forever. In fact, on the adrenaline of new mommyhood and the strength of some good prescription pills, I put my newborn through several landmark photoshoots during our hospital stay. In fact, they were so artistically groundbreaking, NONE of those pictures made it to frames.
But the drugs, they wore off, and my sensibilities about photographing my little one eventually improved - though not quite in time to get the pictures of my newborn that I'd envisioned. I've never been able to let go of the importance of photographing those first precious few days, and any friend who will invite me to their hospital room gets the full force of my obsession.
Just recently, I got a text from my friend Helen. Baby boy was here 3 weeks early - at nine pounds, twelve ounces! I grabbed my camera, two yards of black minky dot fabric and a chinese lantern with a fluorescent bulb - making it to the hospital before he was twelve hours old.
Using the hospital bed between moms feet as our studio, we carefully undressed baby boy and swaddled him loosely in the black fabric - careful to leave the extra fabric to cover the white sheets. Dad held the chinese lantern just past his head - a few feet above him and to the left - while I snuck in for the shots.
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Ahhh, to sleep that soundly again.
Now it was time for some family shots. If you see any of pictures of me taken during my hospital sta
y (and you won't) I had greenish brown dark circles the size of dvds around my eyes which translated perfectly to the camera. So I'm always pretty careful when including mom in the shot while still at the hospital. Helen was radiant - but even so, I wanted to make sure to honor her exhaustion. We covered her with the blanket while she cuddled her son, and I cloned the rest of the blanket in Photoshop after the fact.
For Dad's moment, I'm a huge fan of the contrast of the masculinity of the time-worn hands against the tiny untouched newborn. It's a look you see often and with good reason - it's just touching. We covered Dad's forearms and chest with our handy dandy fabric, I had grandma hold the chinese lantern just to our left and voila!
Now for a wardrobe change, more time on the bed - this time using our white sheets. (And of course, dad was back on lantern duty).
Here's why I use the paper lantern - It's pretty hard to get soft, even light in a hospital room, and I'm just not a fan of using a flash. Chinese lamps are small, portable, collapseable and truly don't get in the way - just watch the cord! I also like to use a fluorescent bulb coated in rubber that I found at IKEA. It stays relatively cool so there's no danger of catching anything on fire or accidentally burning anyone. And since hospitals are NOTORIOUS for their fluorescent lighting, it matches the color temperature of the light already in the room. Total investment? Something like 8 bucks.
So how do you get shots like this on your own, mom? It's kind of like hoping for good weather for an outdoor event - you just don't know how it'll turn out. Everything could go great and you could be on your feet snapping away! But what if you have a c-section? What if your drugs are a little too strong? Is there someone else you can trust with camera duty?
The look of that precious squishy newborn skin is best captured in the first 7 days when baby still curls up like he's in the womb. You need to seriously consider this timeline before you sacrifice your only opportunity to get pictures of that first week. There are moments in life that are worth hiring a professional for (or trading favors with talented friends!) - and this is definitely one of them! Now is not the time to overestimate your skills or physical ability while in recovery! Or better yet, get those yummy professional shots AND practice shooting away in the hospital and at home.
So my friend Helen has a gorgeous baby boy, and I had the joy of helping them remember the occasion - just hours after his birth. Thanks so much to Helen and Scott for sharing your precious son with the world!
