Next month my sister is having a baby. Wonderful news for everyone, and I hope to make it over to the UK sometime this winter to see my new nephew / niece. I’ll bring my camera along, but to be honest I haven’t photographed many babies. I mentioned this to some of the other photographers on Okinawa, and Anya Schmidt invited me to assist on her latest newborn shoot.

The first thing I learned is that newborn shoots are done when the baby is very young. We were photographing Alec at 14 days, and I was told this was quite old!

The second thing I learned is that the baby controls the shoot. As most newborn images are created while the baby is asleep, you have to wait patiently in a very warm room until the baby sleeps. A newborn photographer is a bit like a horse whisperer trying to relax the baby and parents, before trying to get the shots.

The third thing I learned is that if you are photographing naked babies, your equipment faces an unusual set of hazards. Little Alec tried his hardest to pee on Anya’s Canon 5D Mark II and 85mm f/1.2 lens, but settled on just dousing everything else.

Here are a few shots from the day.

Newborn photo shoot: Baby Alec

Newborn photo shoot: Baby Alec

Newborn photo shoot: Baby Alec

A huge thanks to Anya for allowing me to watch her work, and of course to Alec and his parents for allowing me to attend their portrait session.

You can see more of Anya’s work on her website .