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Shoot: Moms and Newborns

Lesson 21 from: Bumps to Babies: Photographing Motherhood

Kelly Brown, Sue Bryce

Shoot: Moms and Newborns

Lesson 21 from: Bumps to Babies: Photographing Motherhood

Kelly Brown, Sue Bryce

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Lesson Info

21. Shoot: Moms and Newborns

Lesson Info

Shoot: Moms and Newborns

So we're in a beautiful position here because I'm going to get syria take her shoes off for status so that she can move and sit and move comfortably yeah, take your blanket off aware of it however you want the baby kelly so do we have any blankets here kill that you want to put her in because I kind of thought she doesn't have an outfit so I either thought she could you tell me what you want here and normally have the baby without anything on because I want to see that skin I don't want anything distracting so in a normal setting I wouldn't have patterns or anything like that on a baby that will brighten bold because it well you're looking uh opening this diaper on they want let's try and do it him okay, so what I'm going to do with syria is I'm going to show you a really beautiful reclines that I do and I'm going to do it on the dark so I'm gonna open up this fee flat we make the strange place and ray you're nice crossing yes lucky didn't run over me that would be no quitting like I r...

an over surprise after I watched your incredible I just hang out my window and you're better said all right, so as I always do with my clients I'm gonna show you how I make you look hot fists so two and forty five degrees this way and put your foot out like mae so she mirrors may alright so straight away she's marrying may with him back to the wall so I'm always faced with two things now she's turned her body away her arm is a waste flick to the body so I always look at the leading arm everybody has towards me and the first thing I do is I take it away from the body and I never put it up on the hip when it the leading arm I just touch the back of the booty here I can't know that's going to change when she's holding the baby. So now from here I just get a tip down and so what I do is open up forty five degrees to mate that's a go lower hand here said, touch with the back of your hand they're better and I took down until she's leaning on the wall there, right position this here. So from your angle she's in that weird talk poured but from my angle she's absolutely perfectly opening up his shoulder to make so I straightened who hit up and I bring hitching around this way, okay, and then I get it to drop your eyebrows because most people will look at you with the eyebrows up so bring your chin follow may with your chin just pretend that's a girl yeah this way this way stop stay there all right so straight away I'm going to show you this I'm on my fifty cent just kind of pull back I want you to bring your ten around me, okay? Right now you hit it up, bring it forward in this place now slow down. A lot of people try and throw the hit back so he's going to make sure she's in here I'm just going to check my exposure summat two point eight I met six forty s o on the fifty mil I need a tiny little smile in your eyes good girl so from here I'm just going to tip her down and shoot a nice close shot don't move okay now what I want you to do is go back upright, stand normally and put your hands by your side don't move so see that simple tilt makes so much difference bring it in around that's it in a tiny little smile so all I had to do was tilt here forward now bet exactly touch here lean forward that's exactly how I would slim her down so chin all the way around to the front google so she's got a long chin I'm slicing down through the arm tiny little smile in the eyes and now I told her ford and it looks fabulous don't move but when I got a baby I can't tilt her forward with one arm behind your back so let's have a look let's put her let's put hero on her chest okay? Because as soon as I put hero on her chest I've lost this boob okay, I've lost this part of his waist so here is going to be filling this space here and then the only thing I have to continue with is an ominous chin okay all women pattern in may all women wanna have a perfect chin and islam all women all right to stand up nice and tall let's bring heroin and I'll show you how I'll do this okay so I need to get out of the way so you can see what kelly's doing kelly, can you stand back so I can see it now? No so normally you could do this with a beer bomb but we can't do this for beer bomb on camera come on because she can smell mailed me get him to go to sleep so quickly I don't have a car I have nothing they want some pick or that was gonna fix that hand that the moment she has her face turned into mom and what we want to do is bring the hand in underneath the face to turn the face out so we can see it and just keep doing what you're doing yeah and take a deep breath in relax kid doing just relax oh, I feel like I have to whisper look lee little face now it's for tend towards me with their lips oh okay all I had to do now is get syria keep moving though is to get syria to bring her chin okay, so stop here that is like amazing but serious non position so I'm going to show you what most people would take and why sirrah wouldn't buy it okay in a minute that her baby looks beautiful, okay, because why would you take a photograph of somebody like that? Okay, but she's standing in the most uncomfortable position herself and you look at that, okay? And I feel like most people kind of me I wouldn't have known how to get that so now what I'm going to do is all my rules let's start with the chin for syrup on your chin towards may now bring you turn away from your neck so it comes to know this way more more good girl soon as she gets a long chin she gets that beautiful length there in her face look slimmer now I want you to tip you hit this way know you're here yet slow down to slow down good girl okay, so kelly is gonna have to bring out hero's face because she's getting lower and is that where you want her hand? Is that where you would put a hand college don't move don't move you to stay on may but who'd do that so okay although at the moment is sitting out like this and I want to bring it back in in line with her body to pull his shoulder blade up and bring her face forward so it's just a matter ofthe moving her head in her elbow at the exact same time she's gonna pull against me because she's still trying to get comfortable there and she's eight weeks old so she's going to be a little bit more wiggly, right e because she's still wriggling what I'm doing is keeping my hands in position so she doesn't pull back out and until I feel her body relaxed then I'll pull my hands away and she's still a little bit tight in there with her with her hand continue to gradually pull that chin up and forward oh and I would have lots of noise playing in the studio is well right now it's very quiet in here like a happy yep and white noise we'll see about that they want me okay bringing back this stage right now turn around this place here now work your shoulder towards me that said now tune back this way hey go okay I have two choices I can cut into her I'm on my crop bring your chin this way or I can open here I'm up slightly your shoulder up and I can tip down onto here there iss day there and I've got two choices I can crop into her body line see she's pushing her chin towards may ah hero you're just doing so good give me a tiny little smile I'm shooting just above her eye line okay? And then chin this way and this way good girl there it is there it is. All right, now I know one thing I don't care how that image looks and her front arm because I've got a beautiful chin shape and all I have to do is slim there are on here and photo shop because she's got it pressed against her body and I don't need to tip if I could get her hand kelly underneath more so I can bring her arm for debt even bitter to me when you first see it, you're going to say well, it's flattened it's in the front and it's white and use it is but that is so easy for me to trim and for the shop all women one that beautiful shape you watch how it lengthened here I'm now cyril, bring your chin all the way around that's it well, there she goes now all the way around and then tip this way that's it and now around good gil so see what she did then she disporting chin all the way around okay diggle no people can be whatever they want it's hardened here she's had a baby you know the last thing you want to think about it it's feeling good and close that's my job and I don't want to say listen vera, you really should be in long slaves how rude you know the thing is is this is not what this is all women if every one of them in this weather is gonna walk in in a single it or tank or you know a t shirt wish old slaves and it's up to me to make her arm so beautiful and to make your arms up gorgeous so I'm going to pull back I look I have so many great to meet swimming techniques imposing in post production it's not even an issue for mei it's about connecting her chin and tipping in and then ford that they're to me is priceless because I can't I can but I don't want to do that on finish up so I'm going to show you how I do the spring lurching around to me sirrah in a tiny little waist smile that to go I don't read it she's just moving but stay there stay there okay here is eight weeks old I want with a two week old tilly hope end and then open this way that's it yes so two week old baby means that would be a little drunk liable okay I think the biggest mistake that we make is that we're tryingto always due to closer crops because we don't you know we want to make people's bodies look good but I'm gonna show you what I'm going to do with this image because to me it's absolutely beautiful what I want you to do is bring your chin down the hugo stay there and look down that's it almost like you're sleeping just relax put your chin ford sierra site thehe goes wow you got beautiful ten forward push it forward and down okay so look at me it's got to come this way hit it like you're looking over here in ice down google eyes down lower she turns and looks straight and then it was great kelly can you give me another pose that opens her reward to me so in that instance with a small baby I would put her up like this because you khun turn bring that face right up to yours and bring her face could you do that with her definitely can you do that with big boobs differently? Obviously she has big boobs because I have big boobs here and I can do it so basically your hands that's it perfect shelf so your hand's gonna go up like this her head is going to be in one hand on her bottom is going to be on the other hand I want to have big boobs so what let's try and keep in nice and relaxed here said just lean her back into my hand so when I'm moving a baby on a parent I'm always talking to them about what we're doing on the hand that I want the hidden is going to be the handless facing towards the light so that hand over there that one the other you're right he's going to bring that up and rest it on your collarbone just that one you're gonna bring the other hand just down a little bit further because I'm gonna place here up in here first and then the other hand will come upto to support her bottom so I'll put her in your hands so just rest them against your body I know a big stretch way go hybrid for girl did you wake up and this is also a great position when they are awake because you know the mom can kiss them and hold them and that it is more of a tighter sort of more horizontal starks normally the bombers and the hands but because she's so big she kind of given a new ball okay so if I turn you okay because she is so big I feel like this oh yeah okay can I just bring her down a little lower because she is set years love that but maybe kelly what I've done now if pushed heroes chin beck so maybe I can get this arm down uh no no yeah, yeah that's it so just a bit lower with the sam and then that that shoulder leans towards you. Yeah, okay, but now I've lost two position now he's smiling at me says she is an older baby this is like a position this is a great position for a nice young baby but I thought she'd stay asleep but she's working up smiling okay, so from here then just open your body up to may you're sleeping or you're waking up with libby for me you know ten foot and can you just your arms are really high so it here but I just want you to do this I just want you to bring your booze back because then your boobs out pushing in now long chin towards may and go towards hero how did we get here? Say that I would never have done that that's our effect people don't think actually lift down to here and just bring your lawyers to get better and look down stadium launch and good girl good girl stay there perfect and now this one is place it on her body so when they when they lock their elbows and their feet like that just bend one of their fingers or their thumbs and it breaks the pattern it was a great tip did you hear that? Okay she's pushing a chin forward she's squeezing in her eyes are looking down okay there we go beautiful tiny little smile of love on your mouth good girl there we have and I'm gonna come back to here very gently lane towards me honey just text idea chin around to me just a little bit more this is where I would walk in with his brave but I can't do that status davia in a tiny little tip on your chin there it is sirrah bring it in this way I could relax your eyes honey and give me tine evil smile okay I need who because hero is so big we need you to hold this position a little bit lower is that possible so just like kelly guide you I'm just going to support this hand under here just because she's sitting on your shelf way just bring it down and it's warm in here so she's a little bit sticky you can appeal it down that's it bring it on and let's get the hair out of the hand always I have and it is always a slight tilt and that's why the airline and the tilting is the one the hardest thing to teach yeah, when I look at this image so when I look at an image of her face is beautiful heroes killed up. If I had a more newborn, I could have differently got a bitter kill up. Kelly could have got a bit of killer on my look at that in terms ofthe okay. So from here, I just need you to bring you a chin this way and then this way, ok? I just want to take this like this because I want to show you how I would finish the shot. I actually feel like the elbows to match out for the shot that I want. Can you get her below her boobs in this position? Can't take the baby with me, okay? And stretch your arms out just for a second and relax, okay? Show her way. You want it? I want you just out from your breaths. Yes, even a bit lower. You can that's a go cast and on this side so that if one considers so I always cross the leg that's furthest away from may under said that those toes come forward and they're easier for the parent to hold and then the fingers come under in this leg just sits perfectly over, so and when it comes to the face this's really cute if you shooting on that angle but if you want something a little bit more open up you just turn their little head a little bit more bring the chain around who says you can't pose an eight week old and um I would leave that oh yeah oh but that's because that's cute look she's smiling or just cross her fingers over or place it on her knee okay so from there I need you to bring your chin no no no stay here with your body but to go and I need you to straighten you heat up and bring your chin a rest stop there it is right down there all I'm going to do in this post here I've got a little killed a baby in her arms my goal is to just take the most beautiful freddo of syrah chin down eyes here that's it so I've got seriously that where I wanna be all I have to do is get that beautiful little expression and her eyes they're good girl and turn around and work that shoulder in a little weed but more so it doesn't get that straightened you hit up to me sirrah and just engage your chin here oh you're awake has teo world going ok stay here till up this way no just it's it's taking with bit shoulder and steady time tip into who now that's a girl don't move I'm just gonna wait for her you're in perfect position no if somebody would rub my forehead like it's not funny how you remember do you think I remember being a kid and monday in it okay all right we'll do a nice open here she's long tonto again a bit more serum could be a beautiful hui threat better right I feel like in this image anything I'm dealing with is the lightness in the direction of her front arm I've tilted her for just a very touch I'll bring her chin around multiple in this way so there there that's it and all I'm going to do is deal with the southwards turn around to me now that's a girl absolutely straight underneath don't even worry about that foot anymore just let her feet hang out because she's waking up she's stretching her muscles and she's using moving her arms and legs that's better not to try and force them into a position because it will look uncomfortable for the baby and by bringing them out like that I kind of covering her nappy is well hee seok state and looking down at him go ok I just want one like that you could do that kill push it in ford sierra push it forward that's a go okay jim this way then this way let and tip towards here chin down I could kill you make his mind and you make your small too wait I'm just waiting for here I just want one beautiful smiling yeah, yeah, good d'oh. Okay, so they take away from that blew me away that one wass the bottom foot goes towards the camera so mom can hold it in the top foot goes over and then you get that, by the way is so cute. I had to take a photo of it and said that one comes forward like they're saying that there's little toe I couldn't be near albert I picked it up and she was like, yeah, but that and then kelly's had been the time an elbow been, which was absolutely amazing. And then it tucked in moved the he'd it was a really great tip, and anything smaller than eight weeks could go on the cross over. And that was when she put the bomb in the head in the hand and crossed over. So a really good portrait for the silhouette men women pose is when you do have the little newborn in mom's crossed over and then husband is around here a swell and he's part of the cross over, I think, and then the two of them can leave the heads together, husband and wife and just be a beautiful siri's, and this it would be good to get that something like that for the manual said that you've got is a reminder a secondly, I love the way kelly I made her put a hands here and then placed the baby in her arms instead of trying to jiggle it and it was everybody's instinct you know, try and take over and say that kelly was like no let me do it and she killed her up and put it down and then the other thing kelly sipowicz really blew me away which when she moved her hand up under her chin she could feel resistance and she held it until there was no resistance assumes she took a hand away the the hand stayed there but if she'd taken the hand away, the resistance would have just popped the hand straight out again so I thought that was pretty amazing and on my behalf everything I did was just about getting syria to push your chin forward, get a chin forward and give me a beautiful shape through here when serious here came around, she just looked absolutely beautiful there the only thing I couldn't change was the whiteness of her arm on the black background and the fact that it was pushed up against her boob but I sacrifice a front tom to get a shoulder, a chin and a baby that I want because this to mate is fixable now that's one of those shots that you look in the camera and you don't like cause she's going to say I don't like my arm so you don't show her I know I can fix it and photo shop I've nailed everything else I don't care about tummies and I don't care about arms. My job is to make cyril look so gorgeous that she owns this portrait of who in hero okay? And I do what I have to do to get it so and I'm happy to get everything else into position for that so that's really, really important but as a photographer I know how it feels when you look in the camera and you go she looks dead and she's not gonna buy it. You feel like there is a woman, right? And then even worse, you don't feel like that and you show them and they go I look fat and straight away they lose all the confidence in front of the camera. You must give women confidence without telling them they're gorgeous and they're beautiful all because you don't need to, ok, the confidence that she has comes in your confidence that she's doing a good job, you know, she's got a beautiful baby doing a good job, but right now my confidence to sierra would be I'm so glad you let me take a photo of you. I'm so glad that you let me take a photo of you because I feel like if I had just photographed hero I would have missed an opportunity you know, because hero is one of three little girls and that she gets to graph and have this shot of course his sisters are going to hate it one day and go into therapy and say clearly our mother liked you more than ass but you know, I think that's really important, so to me shaping that chin is everything putting hero above the boobs if you have big boobs, boobs and malleable so you can push your bum back out of the frame and then baby comes down so I'll get fake baby and so what kelly was saying about boobs wass if it's going to be up here and you've got big boobs, then obviously baby's going to be here but I can push your bum out of frame and the baby comes down to my eye line, right? So that means that when I pushed my body back what's big goes back, you don't know that I long as I'm not like this and you can see my cleavage leaning forward like all I have to do is kick my beauty back enough to push my boobs down. Secondly, you can push the baby down on two boobs because it's no different than the slimming pose I do with big boobs where I crossed the elbows here and get you to squeeze your boobs in because otherwise big boob girls hold the arms out here instead of squeezing them all the way into here she's just doing that with a baby in her arms but there's no room for a baby when you have big boobs so all she stand is kicked a beauty back to there's some space there for the baby to sit in there and she'll look slimmer and smaller if she never left him nick up and put to chin forward like that which is absolutely perfect on the ottoman would be perfect to for lady with bigger boobs you risk the baby in her arms yeah the ottoman is exactly the same shot so obviously I'm going to retouch this tonight and show you the progression of it because I feel like it will be closer to a beautiful finish portrait that's here would never hear this conversation and never see like to her she would just look at a photograph and say you just took the best photograph of me and I've just had a baby and I would say yes that's what we do here right that was amazing the internet is the chat rooms are just a bus a bus seeing the combination of you two we do have another did you want to keep shooting yes oh now um how old is she she's three weeks here hes three weeks uh caught a machine he's a big three wait how big was he when he came out? Oh good fear okay kelly I am more babies I'm just going to get so I would love to do it. I'm I'm dead shot here mum, dad and baby are you not gonna haven't dead out guy just mom all right, let's, go back to opposing manual mike if that's ok, look from my remote to go victor opposing manual um I'm gonna choose knew what? Your name li san what's his name lisa and jack come in all right least put lisa and jack on the ottoman. Okay, so kelly's got him in a nice little sleepy position. I noticed also in kelly picks up the baby that she instantly goes into that position and so I'm going to bring the ottoman forward and get lisa to go onto her knees and we'll see if we can kill jack up at three weeks old. I'm kelly, would you like him to be caught up in a blanket or just on the ottoman in her arms? Just okay again. I think the shot would look really great node, but we'll keep the nephew lon. I picked them up like this because it's easier to put them down so I can go like that and bring my hands out from underneath and if he was in my hands sort of with his head up his bottom down it would be the same thing but the more I put them in my arms, like when you cradle a baby it's very difficult to put them down from that position without stirring. Maybe you broke it down, my baby watches over me and I'm just gonna go into this side if that's. All right, all right. So I need lisa to be on a niece, but I don't expect you to do that on a wooden floor so I'm gonna give you something to kneel on so if somebody could get me a cushion oh, yeah, there it is. Hang on. They said, I'll get it for you. All right love shooting into the back light even though the backlight look is five foot three cause I'm five foot two sets up here, see how much backlight is putting in and it just means I can pump the exposure to her face just a little bit when I do that the background goes up the stop and looks even six year because its whole beckman natural light so what I want lisa to do is kneel on that a case of the distance I am from the background for the internet the distance I am is the same distance I am pretty natural my glamour photography now this position here is a hover it's a thigh hover and I call it the thighmaster workout so again your moms will thank you in a couple of days I'll come back and tell you how so they were because you can't sit down in your bomb you actually hit the hover up and put your elbows on here yep so leaning forward that's it so she's got to use his size but I want her to have a much height and lengthened so when people sit down to the front of the camera we look wider because the first thing we do is we sit down and make her I'm short like this okay say sit like me yet so we sit down like this I'm dehydrated so they sit down nice and low so what we do is we lived them up as high as the elbows go now look at that she grows about eight inches in height and then she can put her hands here all right but not to hide so kelly's gonna position jack in her arms but I've got to get her not leaning forward I've got to get here really upright to take a beautiful shut in here so dex a big three weeks but what I can see that she's gonna have to actually come forward too to have more no your arms to have more space for the baby to lay on because there is a gap when you raise yourself up like that you're creating a gap between you and the ottoman and you don't want the baby to fall down and if a baby feels unsupported anyway it's going to either have a startle reflex or it's just going to roll and and not stay in the position that you put them in so I'm going to use her top half to help support him into that position and I'm not going to have him sort of like this in her arms I'm actually going to have him facing out towards her hands can you describe your camera off there soon to see when I put my own bed and don't drop it e I want to do first it's just bring us right out having yeah hey it doesn't look like he's going to go back to say but that's all right if he's going to sit like that I'm gonna turn him onto his side a little bit more away from you so we can see his face just bring this hand up ok come out eyes a dummy for him is it your fur faded way but we could try the past do you have one that would be great way oh if you want if you if you can stay and feed him and we can just eight then photograph so with a three week old that is awake like this because they have like going back to our keynote is that we had yesterday with babies at each stage of their life he doesn't have any control his legs or anything like that. When they're awake, the constantly moving, they have no control over what they're doing. And if you put them into position, they're just gonna pull away so it's only when their sleep that you can actually put them into an actual, huh? I was, I didn't know that we're actually having a three week old baby in this segment. Otherwise, I would have organized have someone to say, give him a little bit of a seed before we come out, because it's always best to photograph a baby with a full stomach. On that way, they're nice and comfortable, because at this age, that's, all they know how to do is eat and sleep.

Class Materials

bonus material with purchase

Keynote Slides Day 1
Baby Book Templates
Birth Announcements
Keynote Slides Day 2
Keynote Slides Day 3
Online Proofing Cards
Session Reminders
Baby Scrapbook JPEGS
Marketing Book
Scrapbook PSD Files
Font Guide for PSD Layers
Family Posing Guide
Maternity Posing Guide
9 Months In The Making
Photographing Motherhood Part 1.mp4
Photographing Motherhood Part 2.mp4
Photographing 5 Week Twins.mp4

Ratings and Reviews

Candice Tizzard
 

I love kelly, LOVE LOVE LOVE her. She is a wonderful photographer, so calm and patient. That is the style that I have when photographing. I liked Sue's portion, however, I did skip over most of it, because I found that she kept talking about the same things. Sue has a great personality bubbly and funny, she just over talked the some topics.

a Creativelive Student
 

i LOVE this workshop!Sue Bryce is AWESOME!! I'm enjoying learning how to pose the mum to make her look beautiful. and I want to specialise in maternity and newborns... Thank you soooo much! I'm learning so much.... Kylie, NSW Australia

tur.tatiana
 

I LOVE this workshop, it is absolutely amazing material and I enjoying watching it again and again! Every time I learn something new from it. And you can't imaging how thankful I am!! Sue and Kelly - your are the best in maternity and newborns!! Love you both so much!!!

Student Work

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