Relaxed summer wedding at Llanerchaeron Nation Trust
Nanteos Mansion
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Newborn Training with Sleepy Munchkins Newborn Photography
1st July 2018
Camera charged and notebook at the ready I jumped in the car - on the hottest weekend of year, and headed up to Leominster to meet Veronica at Sleepy Munchkins Newborn Photography for some newborn training; along with some other lovely newborn photographers all eager to learn.
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We spent the first half of the morning talking about how to set up ready for a session, setting up a selection of blankets and props ready to use and explaining about how to make the studio nice and morning toasty - although the weather had this covered for us! Veronica then introduced us to baby 'SIB' - A Stand-In-Baby used specially for Newborn photography training. She showed us step-by-step, how to position SIB on the beanbag safely, answering any questions that we had, while we scribbled down notes and used our phones to take behind the scene shots.
Then our first newborn model arrived - Baby Darcey. Veronica settled and positioned baby Darcey on the beanbag showing how to move her from pose to pose safely without unsettling her. She covered a variety of simple poses before we had a turn to take some photos ourselves, learning about angles and different crops.
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After that we had a quick stop for lunch, with homemade sandwiches and nibbles at Veronica beautiful studio, admiring the samples she had on show and getting to know each other a little more. After lunch our training went on to wrapping; learning the techniques and styles of wrapping safely using baby SIB before baby George arrived. Veronica showed us how to safely wrap baby in a variety of different wraps, explaining what each layer was for and how to make sure baby was comfortable and safe at all times. She then used a selection of newborn props and the beanbag to produce a variety of lovely images.
We then had a go at wrapping baby SIB ourselves, learning the different styles, techniques and what each wrap was for - I even got to 'babysit' baby SIB for the night, taking him back to the hotel with me to practice!
The next morning we learnt about using props safely, and some more difficult bean bag poses including the 'Froggie' and 'Taco' poses. Veronica showed us first with baby SIB before our next model arrived - Baby Matilda.
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Veronica explained how some images are composed in photoshop to get the final images that you see. This is to ensure that baby is kept safe at all times.
She explained the importance of newborn safety, showing us never to leave a baby in a certain position and always 'spotting' the baby so they you are right there at all times - even if you can't see in the final images. Hands and fingers are always keeping baby safe and edited out in photoshop afterwards. Some final images are a selection of images put together to create the final image that you see.
Again we had a quick stop for lunch where we discussed our favourite props and who the best suppliers were - my bank balance didn't enjoy this part....it just made me want to order loads of new props!!
Next in the studio was Baby Manuel with his Mummy & Daddy for parent images. Veronica showed us first with baby SIB how to pose with parents, before showing us with our models, making sure they were comfortable and safe at all time.
To finish off the training we discussed running our own photography business. This included showing us how to edit images, composing images together, market ourselves and pricing.
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