Opinions on Posed Newborn Pictures?

arekeweg · December 2013

I'm torn on if I want to book a photographer that does the posed newborn pictures (like www.kristyhallphotography.com). I'm partly afraid they will be outdated and not timeless. I've seen posts on other boards making fun of them. What's your opinion on this type?

Pepper6 · December 2013

I voted SS because H will likely take some. I don't know that I'd pay the money to do them otherwise, but I do always like seeing them.

AllyTales · December 2013

As long as they don't have such a weird pose, that they're all bendy and weird looking like dolls.. I don't like those.

I'm indifferent. We probably won't get any, because my H is a part time hobby photographer and takes pretty good pics. So he'll probably do some.

TheMrs820 · December 2013

My phone will not let me vote on the polls for some reason.

I don't think i will pay for someone to take yhem. My mom has a really nice camera & I have asked her to take some.

MNOpea · December 2013

We had posed nb pictures with #1 and while some were trendy some of them I definitely think some are pretty timeless. Examples of what I mean (solo picture is trendy, although one of my favorite nb pictures, me and baby I think is timeless)

Eta: we now have a very nice camera and so this time I will be attempting to take my own nb pictures but if I'm not happy with them I won't hesitate to go get them taken somewhere else

Laurelyn2012 · December 2013

AllyTales said:

As long as they don't have such a weird pose, that they're all bendy and weird looking like dolls.. I don't like those.

This. I will be getting some done but am going to request more natural poses.

chaysefaith · December 2013

I love them. I could look at squishy babies all day.

alicatand · December 2013

I think they are sweet!! I see the photographer you're looking at is in the Des Moines area . . . our wedding photographer is from Des Moines and she is pretty awesome. Her newborn pics are a little more candid and intimate than posed, so a different style to consider. Let me know if you want me to PM you the link to her portfolio. Not sure if I'm allowed to post it?!

LovetoLive614 · December 2013

I voted indifferent because while I think they are cute/fun, I would want to also have some classic pictures as I do think they will look dated over time. I just think its nice to have the timeless, simple pictures.

shellbell813 · December 2013

As a photographer who has done newborns, I will say that you have to be careful about some of the pictures that are more "trendy." For example, the ones where baby's head is sitting on it's fists. Most good photographers know how to do this as a two shot mash-up where baby always has support, but I always hate seeing those kind of pictures (or pictures where they are hanging in a handkerchief off the ground) because they just LOOK unsafe... even if they are taken safely and then photoshopped.

Beyond that, I love newborn pictures-- the classic looking ones, and even a lot of the trendier ones.

Mrs.C.V. · December 2013

I prefer candid, I don't like the posed ones so we'll take our photos ourselves. We even kept posed photos to a minimum at our wedding!

PinkKEL9 · December 2013

I love them! I'm a sucker for any adorable baby pictures. But I won't pay someone to do them. I have a canon rebel and dabble in photography myself, so I will just do them.

Julie&Micah · December 2013

I voted that I like them, however only conditionally. I like the more simple baby shots. Too many props are silly in my opinion. For example just because it's a boy doesn't mean he needs to be laying on a basketball. And, please, anyone getting photos taken of their baby.....do not let anyone just put your baby up on something or hang from something or prop the baby's head with their hands! There always needs to be hands on baby for those shots!! The shots you see of these are composites and professional photogs will (should) always do this with safety of baby first!! (Stepping back off soap box...sorry)
Personally for me, I like a little of just baby, baby details I want to remember (baby toes!), and some lifestyle of baby + family/nursery!

AnnaKaie · December 2013

We plan on doing them. I know for sure I want a picture with me baby girl and my old baby dolls.

almendarez · December 2013

My sister just had a baby in December and had a professional photographer take pictures of her daughter while still in the hospital. I don't think they are any better than the pictures she took herself of her first daughter and the lady wants $145 for digital copies of 18 photos! :-O

So, I think I will opt out of the professional photos unless my mother demands and pays for them :P

iris427 · December 2013

I think a lot of them look contrived and silly. And yes, I think they will look pretty dated in 20 years--but I suppose that could add to the appeal. Like when I look at my childhood pictures and love how 80s they are.

tyrannasaurusjess · December 2013

I prefer candid photos. We did a newborn session with my now 15 mo old (the photographer was new and very affordable). I wouldn't pay hundreds of dollars, but that has more to do with price than poses. I liked what we got with Jasper, and feel like they could be timeless (but I might be bias, so who knows [examples below, sorry if they're huge]) but for this baby we are opting out of an official newborn session and doing a hospital session instead. Perhaps those will be outdated one day too, but I really like the candid-ness of it all, and there are a lot of things we didn't think to take pictures of that I'm hoping she will.

Mztwilson · December 2013

I voted indifferent. I've had professional pics done and taken some of my own. The pic attached was the best pic I have of my last baby and it was taken at the hospital with an iPhone.

Luna C · December 2013

I like the idea of them, but some of them that I have received look really ... weird. For example, when the baby is all scrunched up bent around to fit in some basket. We got one set from friends and the newborn shots were cute ... but then they included shots of the newborn with her toddler brother -- both clearly nude and the photo cropped/blankets posed in such a way to hide the genitals and it was just creepy. It almost looked like publicity still from a classy porn redone with babies. It really weirded me out.

(For the record, our friends are very nice and normal and I think they just got terrible advice from their photographer on what looked cute. I'm not implying anything weird is happening in their house.)

Dude and I both dabble in photography, so I think we'll probably just take some "planned candids" instead of shelling out for a pro shoot.

kks4471 · December 2013

My DH also has a DSLR camera, and plans on taking the photos himself. We already have a white striped sheet for the background. I love classic newborn photos.

zolastele · December 2013

I think they can be cute, they're just NMS

Cherylwang · December 2013

A friend of mine is a photographer and came to my house when DD was 4 days old and took some pics. I'm happy she did. I wish I had a better camera that took clearer brighter pics like hers does.

MrsP419 · December 2013

I got some more traditional (and probably trendy) newborn photos with my first two, and have taken them as well as a photographer, but I always try to stay away from elaborate props and poses that look unnatural. I really want to get a newborn lifestyle this time; I think I will get a combo of lifestyle and posed.

fsumom · December 2013

I love them but am lucky that my step-mom is a professional photographer so I only will have to pay her what the prints she buys actually cost. Plus, I take pictures as a hobby so I'm sure I'll take some too.

CherSomething · December 2013

Oh I cannot WAIT to get newborn pics! I love them! I have a photographer all picked out!

With my first, I only had a stupid webcam to take digital pictures of him with and I am sorry, but they were crap. My newborn is like… 8 bit in most of the pictures. We used the film camera sparingly because… developing film. You know.

I don't know WHY anyone would make fun of someone who wanted to get newborn pictures done.

Just beware of who you pick… Some photographers do not use good safety when posing newborns with props. That's all I'm going to say on that. Be careful.

wtfisup · December 2013

Warning: Opinion rant.

Personally, I loaaaaaaaaatttttheeee them. The posed ones with headbands with satellite-sized flowers. The weird ones with angel wings. The ones where you get your baby naked and photograph it on the doorstep (baby looks cold). I also hate the posed maternity shoots ("I'm a prairie goddess! In a meadow at sunset! Look at my glory!")

Why: I think it all just comes off as super artificial and phony. I want my photos to capture memories, moments, candid life -- but beautifully and artfully. I don't want to construct some false scenario that represents nothing. The ladies posed in meadows? The only take away is what she looked like. No emotion is captured, no narratives of life. What is she were cooking a meal in her house? Reading on the couch? That captures actual life. You look back years later and remember when you lived there, when you owned that, etc.

And on another tangential note, the super-posed photos seem indicative of people being highly performative for a public audience. I.e. I want to look like a glowing maternal swan, so I wore this swoopy dress and posed on a beach. Except that's not what you wear or who you are. Those photos seek external validation or to construct a fantasy or meaning. I don't need photos to make me look wealthy or crazy beautiful; I need stuff to look at when I'm old with my husband and remember when we were in this moment in time.

All that said, this is a really taste-specific topic, so serve your taste.

For reference, though not all baby pics, these are images from a local photographer we may use. I like her style.

wtfisup · December 2013

jessk86 , your photos are GORGEOUS.

Damnliz · December 2013

I love mine. It just gets expensive!!
Here's DD newborn and 1 year photo and DS newborn

allrightmeow · December 2013

They are for you to remember this special time when they are tiny and new. You shouldn't care what anyone else has to say about them.

Mztwilson · December 2013

@LoHerrim I love those pics!

Luna C · December 2013

Warning: Opinion rant.

Personally, I loaaaaaaaaatttttheeee them. The posed ones with headbands with satellite-sized flowers. The weird ones with angel wings. The ones where you get your baby naked and photograph it on the doorstep (baby looks cold).

***
The angel wing ones are the worst. They always remind me of those death photos the Victorians took and make me think the baby is dead. So creepy and awful.

wtfisup · December 2013

I think I'm going to try doing the Victorian-style "hidden mother" baby photos. So that I can capture my child's cuteness, but in a terrifying way.

shellbell813 · December 2013

wtfisup said:

I think I'm going to try doing the Victorian-style "hidden mother" baby photos. So that I can capture my child's cuteness, but in a terrifying way.

LOVE IT! Also... many newborn shoots are legitimately like this. We just have photoshop nowadays.

wtfisup · December 2013

shellbell813, please tell me you hang a curtain over the mothers' heads too.

Mrs.C.V. · December 2013

@wtfisup I wish I was as articulate as you! You summed up my feelings! P.s. holy creepy ass Victorian photos. Should not have looked at them before bed.

shellbell813 · December 2013

wtfisup said:

shellbell813, please tell me you hang a curtain over the mothers' heads too.

I have hidden a mother behind a backdrop with her holding the child in her arms. So pretty much, yep

emandjp · December 2013

We had a professional shoot with #1 and will with #2 as well. However those posed shoots are not my style, I prefer candid and natural. I absolutely cherish the photos we have of our daughter and think they are totally worth the cost...just no propped up or in a basket photos for us.

cas889 · December 2013

I love the simple ones, And I do think the "head in hands" poses will become outdated, but I still find them adorable. I can't stand satellite sized flowers and absurd props though.

I didn't have professional ones taken of my daughter, though I had gotten a DSLR a few months before and attempted some of my own. For those of you planning to do your own (with no previous experience), it's a lot harder than you think!! I assumed I could do it easily, and the majority of the pics I ended up with will be "for our eyes only". Though I was really proud of this shot back then. (And this was a composite of two photos, my husband supported her head from either side).

I *think* I've gotten a bit better - this is a photo I took of a friend's baby last year.

I will attempt to do photos myself again. And luckily, I have some photog friends that will probably come for "newborn practice". I wish it was in the budget to hire someone, because it's definitely tough to find the energy for photo shoots when you're home with a new baby. But I'm trying to take the longest maternity leave that I can, and every "luxury" adds up.

christinemurray91 · December 2013

I voted SS because I used to like them... But I really don't anymore, lol. My favourite pictures of DD are The Ones we took -- that have memories attached to them.

I don't really feel like the pictures - while very nice - are her.

arekeweg · December 2013

@alicatand, you have a PM

arekeweg · December 2013

shellbell813 said:

As a photographer who has done newborns, I will say that you have to be careful about some of the pictures that are more "trendy." For example, the ones where baby's head is sitting on it's fists. Most good photographers know how to do this as a two shot mash-up where baby always has support, but I always hate seeing those kind of pictures (or pictures where they are hanging in a handkerchief off the ground) because they just LOOK unsafe... even if they are taken safely and then photoshopped.

Beyond that, I love newborn pictures-- the classic looking ones, and even a lot of the trendier ones.

I really do not care for the ones where babies are hanging from handkerchiefs. There's one photographer here that does those and I'm specifically not looking at them because of the handkerchief ones.

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