Newborn Photography - The Facts...

Hello all...

The last 2 weeks of 2010 seems to be the newborn weeks... I am doing newborn session almost every day for last 2 weeks of the year and there are a lot more newborn enquiries recently then any other type of sessions.

Bear in mind our idea for capturing images of newborn or children is to preserve the very natural behaviour of the little people... Newborn photography is about preserving the memories of the newborn as how they might be in mother's womb, the connection shared by the parents to the newborn.

Here is the Fact (according to me, anyway...) about the newborn photography and the reason....

1. The best time to do the newborn session is 5-8 days to a maximum of 14 days.

Why not 4 days and why not after 14 days? you may ask... well, most newborn will retain their "curled" up position like how they were in their mother's womb for 2 or maybe 3 weeks. 

If you are a first time parents and your aim is to breastfeed, your milk supply might not be there yet at 4th day, 5th Day, usually is better... so with sufficient milk supply, we will have a contented newborn, which will give us a lot of opportunities to capture images which happen once in the life-time.

Why not after 14 days? for those who already have a child prior will note that, the "growth-spurt" happen on 3rd week, 6th week and 12th week from birth... during that period, the newborn is generally unsettled and require constant nursing which is tiring for the mother and the baby... and yes, the poor photographer too... hahaha

Once past that 3rd week, the newborn will start to stretch and straighten the body like a little baby instead of newborn. So the images after this time tend to look stiff and not as exquisite. 

Of course, if you are looking for those connection type of shots, it is possible at any given age.

2. The best time to book an advance session is when you are about 25+ weeks onwards

If this is your first pregnancy, you might want to have some memories of your "pregnancy" curve especially those who would think to have just 1 child.

We like to think first Maternity + Newborn as one of the most major "milestone" in your life... it can never be repeated...

So, we created a perfect Maternity + Newborn session just for those who is looking to "capture" their memories of the lifetime with us.

It is very difficult (not impossible though) to schedule an ad-hoc request for newborn session through out the year, as we understand how precious this can be so we don't over-commit ourselves by make time for our clients who has booked our service prior. It is just fair for our clients. 

3. Jaundice is not a reason to postpone the newborn shoot

Most (~95%) Asian newborn that I have photographed so far suffer from Jaundice which makes them sleepy and "yellowish". 

It is probably the most asked questions about newborn, what if my newborn has jaundice? 

There is nothing really stop us capturing the most amazing images of newborn while they have jaundice. Some would prefer not to have the "yellowness" in pictures... that is why we shoot digital and that is why, we do post-production work to ensure the "yellowness" is tone done if necessary.

To be entirely honest, because of jaundice, newborn tend to be sleepy which allow us more time to create a lot of images that is so precious for our clients.

Some of our potential clients make mistake by "waiting" for the jaundice to subside, it could take up to 6 weeks... and remember, the best time to do the session is 5-8 days.

4. Newborn session could take up to 4 hours or longer

Yes, you heard it right... most would thought, it is so simple to do a newborn session as the newborn tend to sleep a lot... it is correct, if they are being swaddled tightly... but best newborn images tend to be when the newborn wearing their birthday cloths (ie, Naked) as clothing tend to "swallow" the newborn.

The reason why we allow 4 hours or more for the newborn session is to ensure a nice total experience. We allow a lot of time to feed, comfort, carry, burping, etc.... and most of great shots are done within 1 hour once the newborn in their "optimum" timing and this optimum timing can happen once I arrived, after an hour, after 2 hours, or after 3 hours... there is no correct timing. The longest session I have done is 6 hours... and there is no additional charge..

With longer session, it allows us to bond with the newborn as well as the parents. It is very important to establish rapport with any type of portrait work. 

During the 4 hours, if the parents permit, I will be the "part-time" nanny, which allow me to "feed" the baby if bottle feeding is the preferred option, burp the baby, carry the baby... lets face it, most first time parents are still nervous when carrying their little newborn.

My suggestion to parents is, clear your day like I clear my day just for your newborn session.

Why do I do that? because, I think this is the only way to get exquisite newborn images.

5. Newborn session is generally happen at client's home using natural light

A lot of our clients are worried that they are not "ready" to go out from home when the baby is so young. 

However, our solution is to have the session done in the comfort of your own home.

The reason we offer the home service rather than getting our clients to our studio is to ensure, we get the best images we could and it also allow us to incorporate the client's home decor for the newborn images which is unique to them.

We also use natural window light to do the session. We don't use flashes not because it may hurt the newborn, it is simply nicer and more "organic" using natural light. It is trickier to shoot as it require high iso and better (spell - EXPENSIVE) lenses to get the best of it. That is why, when you look at the images from our website, you are amaze with how "organic" it looks as there is an absence of flash.

in some cases, our clients prefer to have the session done in our studio, we are happy to do so.

6. Hart is a part-time nanny....

hahahaha.... anyway... that's what some of my clients refer me to.... I am not... I just love children....



Regards,

Hart
Tomato Photo
www.tomato.sg

Children photography 101.... The not so obvious tips...

Hello,

It has been nearly 3 years concentrating in children photography and family photography. I thought of sharing some of my experiences in getting interesting images of children photography. These tips may not be so obvious and generally less photographic central but people central.

Remember when taking pictures of people, they are giving you the trust and respect, so it is just a nice gesture if you return that trust and respect. Never hurry in lifting your camera to your eyes to take a shot. Take your time to understand your subjects and give them respect that hey deserve. It is the key to people photography.

You may have better tips... Leave me a comment with your tips if you would like to contribute.

1. Children first, photography second.

This is one of the most fundamental yet easily forgotten fact about children photography. Children like adult demand for attention and respect. The focus is with the children and not in photography. Many Photographers that I observe anxious about getting the shots. Slow down and bond with them and give them all the respect, you shall rewarded with their trust.

2. Shoot natural light.

Children photography don't have to be complicated and no flash is required. Natural light gives you very comfortable looking images without that "perfectly" artificial lighting. Remember they are doing you a favor by letting you take their shots. So go natural.

3. Shoot in their environment

The reason why we started children photography is to capture memories of our children, hence, shoot where their memories are. On their bed,their favorite toys, their behavior and let them be themselves which allow their personality to shine through.

4. Minimize your equipment

A simple full frame dslr with a humble 50mm f1.4 can go a long way by not intimidating the children of your photography tool. Less is more and keep it simple principle do apply here. Forget about reflectors, flashes, big zoom lenses, it is more effective with little set-up.

5. Clothing choice for children photography

The idea behind clothing is to ensure the clothing don't date the pictures so we would recommend clothing that is as simple as possible. Solid colors without prints will be nice as print and writing tend to move the attention from the subject to the clothing. However, at the same time, it is very important to do some shots with your child favorite clothing. If they are old enough, let them choose.

6. Getting the smile

It is probably the most requested shot. However, the only way to make the child smile is by not asking them to smile. As the resultant smile tend to be forced and unnatural. Try to play with he child and get him to smile because he is happy. That way, the smile will look a lot better.

7. Shoot early in the morning or late in the afternoon

Lighting is often the best, so get on earlier or very late in the afternoon. Younger children tend to be happier in the morning.

8. Observe, observe and observe

Most great images emerge from observing the child's behavior. Let kid being kid and observe what they do and don't do before taking the shots will allow you to capture some of the very best images of your child.

9. Sleeping time

Children are often cranky during their sleeping time, so it is best to note their sleeping time and only do capture their photos 1 hour after their sleep or nap.

10. Give and you shall be rewarded.

With children, you give them what they want and they will give you what you want. Not the other way round. Bribing with food should be the last resort. Sometimes children require a bit more "warming up" so give them time. They often require some "break" during your shoot, so only do small snippet about 5 minutes and let them play for 5-10 mins if the child needs it.

11. Keep it short

Children, unlike adult portrait, only last for a good 30minutes or so, less for younger and slightly longer if older. Read their body language, if they give you the signal of stop taking photos, stop and do it another time.

Ok then... Till next time...

Regards,

Hart Tan

Tomato Photo

www.tomato.sg

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions.....

Hello,

I thought of summarising some questions which pops up all the time....

1. Why the name TOMATO PHOTO?

I think this is our number one asked question, we get that almost on every new client session... 

First of all, from Business point of view, the name do stick in the head...

Secondly, it represent our work... Simple, Natural and Beautiful...

Thirdly, it is healthy... and its organic.

Our images hold the key in preserving the most organic way that we want to remember our children the way they were...

2. Why Children Photography?

Being trained as commercial photographer as well as wedding photographer and being warned by my mentors, never do anything related to Children nor pet in photography. Well, we listen only half of that... at least we don't offer any pet photography... as we don't understand pet's behaviour enough..

The easiest way to establish ourselves were to offer Commercial photography in Architetural and interior photography as well as Wedding photography... however, I simply follow my heart and offer Children photography because we believe in it.

Children photography to us is about presenting children in their most fundamental behaviour and not on what they are wearing, not what prop that we use, not on our latest photoshop post processing... there is no gimmick.. as we belief in long term value... 

Remember during the 80's where everyone is wearing shoulder pad? it was the latest fashion... would you consider wearing them today? 

It is the same concept that our photography is based on. Our aim is to preserve today in its most organic way for years to come. It is the subject, your child in its most organic form... the smile, the cry, the cheekiness and everything else but prop.

3. How come you have never provide digital negative on CD?

First of all, we don't charge for images on CD, but we put a minimum spend before we hand you the images on CD free of charge.

Tomato Photo is a brand name that is associated with one of the most creative studio in Singapore, our clients ranges from local artiste, company CEO, Socialite, to anyone who would appreciate photography as form of art.

As an artist, we believe in ultimate control of working the whole process from start to the very end. 

We find it is a need to make sure our work is produced by the right people who take pride on their work by providing an honest and highest level of quality there is to offer. Sadly, people who are offering high standards are a rarity these days.... 

Our aim is to make sure our client gets the best... but not a compromise... 

Apart from that, we need to ensure all images that leaved our studio is properly reproduced to our strict guidelines... we guarantee all our products to be perfect when you receive it.

We work very closely with all our suppliers and we understand that without them, we are simply an image creator and nothing else. Due to our tightly knit relationship with all of our suppliers, it is enable us to fine tune our workflow to ensure highest level of reproduction right from my mind's eye to the product that our client received.

At the end of the day, due to globalisation, it is not uncommon for our clients to move to another city to live permanently... so by having the digital negative available free of charge with minimum purchase satisfy both the artist's need of producing highest quality product and the client's need of archiving their images themselves.

4. Why do you charge for image archival?

With today's advancement in digital technology, Our camera equipment produce the highest resolution on 35mm full frame which produce a RAW file size of 40MB per image and on an average session, we will produce about 60 files which is about 2.4GB per client.

On top of that, the processed high res Jpeg files will take up another 1GB... so roughly, each session will take up about 3-4GB of files. 1 TerraBytes of Hard Drive only last about 2-3 months... and we need 4 of them in that time frame...

Most reputable studios will archive those files in a minimum of 4 Hard Drives (Basically similar to have 4 copies of the same images rather than 1) to ensure there is very little chance that our client's images will be lost between the ordering process.

5. What is Fine Art Print?

Fine Art Print refer to a process where the paper (medium) and the ink are certified as museum grade for longevity of the image.

Our fine art prints are done by Master Printers that serve Museums in Singapore...

It is definitely an investment for those who value the longevity of their images.

The reason that contribute to our success in a very short time is mainly due to our honest way in offering our services and doing the right thing while providing our clients with value...

Digital? or Film?

About Digital Technology VS Film Technology.

We welcome the raise of digital technology because as a Photographer, we have absolute control of the images rather than leaving it to the trusty lab. We could choose to shoot in color and turn it into B&W images and adjust the image to show its best.

With film technology, we believe that extra time taken from scanning to get the digital file for retouching would be better off spent on the retouching. High quality scanning takes time, expensive, let alone those dust that always attracted to film itself and time taken to remove those dust spots can be better spent on making sure everything is perfect.

Furthermore, with digital technology, we do not have to worry about limit the shoot to number of rolls... and lets face it, KIDS DON'T STAND Still.... so instead of worry about the limit, we are free to express ourselves.

We believe in tested & trusted printing technology that has been proven and has been in service before any viability of digital technology to date. It is still old fashion chemical process, printed on the best available paper there is today.

To sum up, we believe digital technology puts the control in the photographers hand and we can "translate" our previsualisation process into reality with the help of "precise" control of "Digital Darkroom".

However, the above is solely our opinion and should be taken as a grain of salt.

Things we do.....

Hello...

We thought to share some of our thoughts and things we do that differentiate our service.....

Most of our clients worry about their home being messy and too small for photo shoot. So I thought well, its time for us to show how we do things.....

This is probably a messy sofa to most people's standard.


This is what we see as a photographer....
We also spend time on the retouching (post processing) to make sure you are getting the best of our work.

These image shows how little distraction and not well expose picture will ruin the shots....

Well expose with distraction removed as well as putting attention to the subject. All you see is subject...