Surviving the first baby photo session

Awww, isn't he cute?  This is Benjamin, my 3 month old baby boy.  Just like any proud parent, we think our baby is the most beautiful baby on the face of the planet.  I think "Baby Gap ads?", Matt thinks "only a privileged few should be allowed to gaze upon his majesty The Benjamin." 
So leave it to Sears to take unsmiling photos of our beautiful baby.  In this photo, he looks stunned.  I know, my first problem was that I went to a chain photography studio.  My baby should only have the best, right?  Easy said when I worked a fat corporate job and could afford a Pottery Barn Kids nursery.  Now I'm a lean and mean stay-at-home entrepreneur mom. I clip coupons.  I go to Goodwill.  I take my baby to Sears for his first photos.  Don't get me started on the Mommy Wars yet.  I'll let you know how the suburbanite mom experiment pans out in this blog.  Right now we're talking about a crazy photo shoot.

Things to know about taking your baby to a photography studio:

1. Your baby will be unfamiliar with the surroundings and will probably have a wide-eyed, gaping mouthed expression as he tries to figure out what planet you've taken him to.
2. The studios operate on baby time and may not be able to get you in at your scheduled appointment time.  Be prepared to feed him, change some diapers, and deal with a little crankiness from all family members.  I had to breast-feed Ben twice in the back of an empty studio, and I had to sit on an old bean-bag chair that had been used as a prop by a million germ-ridden kids.  Yuck.
3. You may not be able to get those "whole family" pictures you wanted.  Chances run high that your baby will only have enough patience to get through 2-4 poses of him alone.   By the time we who had all dressed up for the occasion were ready to try the whole family photo, Benjamin let us know he'd had enough.  And the whole ordeal had exhausted everyone.  THE BEST TIME to get in a family photo, in my opinion, would have been when he was very, very young and still sleeping most of the time.  But then our pediatrician put the fear into us about the RSV virus in the wintertime and we avoided public exposure until Ben was 2 months old.
4. Studio lights are hot. Dress your baby accordingly. Ben started out wearing an adorable sweater set especially purchased for a photo session.  After 5 minutes in the studio, he was beet red and crying.  We had no choice but to strip him down to his diaper. 
5. Your usually-smiling baby may refuse to smile for pictures.  No goofy shenanigans whatsoever could make Ben smile.  He's still cute, but we wanted everyone to see that wonderful grin!
6. If your baby is out-of-control fussy, be prepared to walk away.  You don't want that day immortalized.  This happened to another couple whose cute 2 year-old suddenly became inconsolable in the studio.  Don't be devastated if your baby won't cooperate.  Just try again later.
7. Listen to the photographers ideas.  You may think that background and the lacy pillow look tacky, but it all comes together rather nicely in the photo.
8. Don't take it too seriously.  Yes, it may be the only time you can capture your baby at three months.  No matter what happens, you'll always have an interesting story about the day those photos were taken.

Here are the rest of Ben's photos from that day:

And here's what he normally looks like at home, smiling, with clothes on:

Happy home-body baby, drool and all.  No spotlight for this shy boy!

Comments

[Kelli Marmaduke]

Aw, as always - Ben is adorable! Even if he wasn't smiling ;) When we had Jonathon's first pics done he had this OUT OF IT look on his face, lol!

[Lisa Williams]

OMG. The cuuuuuuuteness! Help!

[Seth]

He's a cutie.

Pictures are one of those things that immediately gives you the sense of parenthood: all the pride of your offspring and all the worry that makes your hair fall out.

[Anne]

Great photos. You can find additional Baby photography tips here for a second session :)