Scott Voelker - Newborn Photography Made Easy

Copyright 2012

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Table of Contents

Lisa Voelker

I remember when I was about 10 years old vacationing in Disney World. My parents officially gave me the job title of Family Photographer since they thought my pictures always came out better than everyone else's. I'm not sure if they were telling the truth or if they just didn't feeI like taking pictures themselves. (lol) Regardless...I was so proud and I took this job very seriously.

As the years went by, I never outgrew my passion for photography. After the birth of our first two children, I was a stay at home mom and my husband, Scott was working more than 60 hours per week. I was desperately searching for a way to supplement our income.

One day, I had this lightbulb moment to open a photography studio. I talked it over with Scott and we decided to start a home-based business photographing children and families. I didn't have any formal education or training in this field, just pure passion!

Scott encouraged me and helped me every step of the way! In fact, 18 months after starting our business, Scott was able to leave his construction job and join me full-time. Together, we have been doing this for over 12 years and we have enjoyed every moment.

After the birth of our 3rd child four years ago, Scott had this fantastic idea . He wanted to teach others how to start their own Photography business. We knew so many people who were unhappy with their 9 to 5 jobs and we wanted to share our story and what has worked for us.

Soon after, New Portrait Biz was born! For the last 4 years, we've been teaching thousands of aspiring photographers from all over the world how to break into this amazing business! Thanks to the internet and our wonderful NPB photography community for allowing us share our passion!

I've always wanted to author a book and because I truly enjoy photographing newborns, I thought this would be a great subject to begin with. Newborn photography has became quite popular over the last several years and I must admit I LOVE IT!!

Why I Decided To Write This BOOK!

This is the book I wish I had when doing my first Newborn session. I remember when I first began photographing babies...there were so many things to know before even taking the first shot. I still continue to learn and be inspired by other photographers. If we stop learning, then we stop growing.

When I first decided to write this book I was going to focus on just posing...which it does cover. But...I quickly realized that theres so much more I could share. So, thats what I did in this book. I walk you through everything it will take to create Beautiful portraits that people will treasure forever.

As you can see, I have a strong passion for photographing Newborns and I dont just do it for the money. Passion is something you cant teach, but you find your passion by trying a particular style or market to see if it gives you that rush. I truly enjoy the entire process of photographing newborns...and thats why I decided to write this book.

First, I would like to congratulate you on investing in this book and taking the first step. Thats usually the hardest part for anyone...including myself :-)

Let me start by saying that Newborn photography can be very challenging at times and you may get frustrated and want to quit. But...it can also be extremely rewarding capturing these little miracles for the very first time. Think about that for a minute. You will be capturing a moment in time that will be in someones family forever. Thats pretty gratifying!

There are several different styles of newborn photography. This book is designed to help get your creative juices flowing and inspire you to not just copy these ideas, but to find and enhance your own unique style. There is nothing more pure and beautiful than a newborn baby! Being able to capture those first weeks is a privilege and parents will adore and treasure these priceless photographs forever!

Shhhh...Baby Is Sleeping

Since this book is targeted at photographing babies who are under two weeks old, I will mainly be discussing techniques and tips for photographing the sleeping poses. Capturing these little miracles while they are peacefully sleeping can be breathtaking!

You will probably have parents who insist that they want their babys eyes open during the session. Im not saying you shouldnt try to accommodate them with a few of these shots. However, you need to educate the parents that theres only a short window of opportunity to capture these sleeping shots and they wont want to miss it.

Another reason why you should focus on the sleeping poses, is because very often newborns tend to look cross-eyed. Their eyes may track together and end up looking crossed. Also, some babies have extra folds of skin on the inner corners of their eyes. As the babies get older, the folds disappear and so will the cross-eyed look.

In this book, I will be taking you through every step of my routine and workflow. I will share many poses that you can use as inspiration...or as a reference guide for your next session.

Throughout this book, you will notice that I often refer to traveling to a clients home for the newborn sessions. However, most of the lessons and tips can be applied to your own studio.

Promise...No Fluff Or Filler

Ok...so before we officially get started I just want to say that this book is full of tips and techniques you can use immediately. It always frustrates me when I buy a book or guide and find out its filled with a bunch of fluff just to make it longer. You will notice on the next page that I instantly jump right into the content and start explaining what to do first.

My goal was to create a resource guide where you can jump around and find what you need at a particular moment. We are all busy and who wants to sift through pages of fluff to find the good content. I do recommend reading from start to finish, but if youre in a rush and you want to skip to a certain section...thats fine. I want you to use this as a resource guide that you can refer to from time to time.