I’m finally an aunt (to a handsome Mr. Carson Trevor Cruise)! This means two things 1) I’m going to go broke buying cute outfits and toys at Target 2) I finally have a sleeping, passive subject for my non-stop picture taking.

I got to meet C fresh out of the oven and he wasn’t very photogenic yet. Once they bathed him and got the gunk off of him I found him much more pleasant to cuddle.

Brand new baby boy - look at all that hair!

I got to test the newborn photography waters on April 7th-C’s 10th day of life. I did the posing and Alex did the photo-snapping (We were cutting it close, newborn pictures are supposed to be taken with 10 days of a baby’s birth.) And parents hire pros for this particular type of photography for a good reason: it’s difficult.

Practice shots with the onesie on

You’re constantly adjusting lighting, little baby fists and little baby feet all while trying to work quickly so they don’t wake up or have a butt blowout (which we experienced: goodbye furry fabric!) We took practice shots while he was clothed and diapered to find out which poses we liked and that helped get things moving.

There was a lot of this going on behind the scenes

Once we got used to posing him (and gently opening those little fists he likes to clinch) things went pretty smoothly. I wish we would have had a studio backdrop so heating vents and window ledges didn’t appear in some shots but we just had to be conscious of our shooting environment (which was my sister’s kitchen table).

Since I don’t own any editing software (YET) black and white was our friend. Babies have splotchy skin and little bumps that become barely visible when going the no color route.

Look at that heiney! (I apologize future teenager Carson)

The pro’s blogs that I perused before embarking on this project said they use Photoshop to autocorrect and magicwand babies to a perfect hue. C had no such luxury.

Attempt at props

Before the shoot, I had lots of ideas for props. (The possibilities are endless! We can do this all day! Baskets! Hats!) But, as the internet warned me, the simplest ideas worked the best.

Sleepy bear with his mom

Overall, I think our first attempt at amateur newborn photography went well. I definitely learned a lot (man, do babies pee a lot). I also got to experience some great bonding moments with the new man in my life. The results are not even close to professional quality but they are good enough to share on Facebook and put on the fridge. My sister also saved a major chuck of change by “hiring” me. (Good baby photogs start at $300 for a session because they’re worth it).

I may be biased but I think I have a pretty damn cute subject.

"Seriously Aunt Kailey, stop looking at my butt."