If you were going to send out a wedding announcement, you certainly wouldn’t take your engagement photos right after rolling out of bed or when you’re suffering from a newly developed rash. You’d get ready, making sure to show your best side, right? Why wouldn’t you do the same thing for a baby announcement?
Many parents are eager to send off baby announcements full of photos of their new little cutie as soon as they get out of the hospital. The long wait is over, you’re excited and overjoyed at the new little life you’re holding in your arms, and, of course, you think he or she is the most beautiful creature in the world. While it’s understandable that you want to share the excitement of this momentous event in your life with everyone, candid hospital shots probably aren’t the way to go on an announcement.
I’m thinking of two particular baby announcements as I write this. One was an e-mail announcement, and the other was sent through the mail. Both were not pretty. While they were designed and (in the case of the mailed one) printed just fine, the photos just didn’t do anyone justice. Instead of the desired coos and “ahhs” that the parents undoubtedly hoped for, my reaction was one of surprise.
There are some photos that are just for your family to keep and remember. Birth isn’t necessarily a beautiful time visually (although I hear it’s beautiful in other ways). There are lots of things going on that simply don’t photograph well like most moms after many hours of labor, babies still trying to recover from their tiny heads coming through an even tinier space, and the antibiotic they put in baby’s eyes. Go ahead and capture these moments if you want to, just realize that they’re not the same if you weren’t there.
Give your baby a little time (perhaps a week or two) to acclimate and to figure out her new surroundings. Give her head time to decompress and her skin time to get pink before you take photos that you’ll put out for the world to see. Even if you’re taking all the photos yourself, make sure to find good lighting, take the photos when baby is happy or sleeping if you’re going for that shot, and color correct the photos—especially if they’re yellow tinted (you don’t want your little one to look jaundiced, right?).
Keeping these things in mind will definitely help your baby announcements to be the attention-getter you want them to be. And your children will thank you for years to come.
Related Blogs:
Taking Photos of Babies: It’s All About the Timing