Before and After! Newborn Baby Photography in Glasgow
Let’s talk newborn editing!
You might be surprised to hear that this is actually where most of my time goes as a photographer. I do some extensive editing on all my images because I believe that’s what really brings them to life, and I love doing it too!
I understand that, as a mum, you might have some concerns about how much editing there’s going to be on your newborn baby – of course you want them to look natural and not fake! So to put your mind at ease, I’m here to tell you exactly what I do (and don’t do) when editing your baby’s portraits.
There are a few common skin conditions that newborns often have after birth and around the time of their photoshoot. That’s things like redness or yellow in the skin, spots and blemishes, rashes, dry flaky skin etc. Given that these are things that aren’t likely to last more than a couple of weeks, I can take care of it for you in my editing process. Here’s some before and after examples!
Jaundice is something I see a lot in my job, but it’s an easy fix with some colour adjustments to the skin:
Red rashes and patchy/blotchy skin are also common, but again it won’t last so I like to even out the skin tone as standard.
The things I prefer NOT to remove is anything that is here to stay, like birth marks. I also never want to remove the skin’s natural texture by over smoothing – that’s how we get babies resembling plastic dolls, not a great look!
Rest assured, I would never alter the shape of your baby’s body or features, however, I will often change the shape of a wrap to create a more pleasing photograph – the edges are not always perfect during a session, believe me!
The other thing I like to do to all my images is to add depth with extra light and shadow. In my opinion, this is what makes your baby stand out from the background and adds that extra pop to the photograph. Do you see what I mean from the images below?
Some other things are best left up to your own personal preference! For example, while I love to see some milk spots on the nose and some flakes on their tiny feet (because those are signs of just how new your baby was!), some parents prefer to have those softened or removed as well, and I’m happy to work with you whatever you decide.
So overall, I hope that this blog post has reassured you that the editing applied to your baby’s images is designed to artistically enhance it as well as eliminate any distracting elements, so that the focus is always on your baby's beautiful face!
If you're currently pregnant and due in 2023, get in touch for details of our newborn photoshoots which take place right here in Glasgow :-)