To find baby photos like this slightly disturbing?

[Porkster]

Hmm

They look so unnatural; the babies have obviously been manhandled into many of these 'cute' poses. I'm seeing more and more of these - newborn on its front, supposedly propping its head up with its hand, usually with a ghastly colour popped flower stuck on its head.

Just bleurgh.

And fecking DM was only link I could get to work.

yabvvvu to say pictures of babies are disturbing , yanbu to feel that they are not your cup of tea. They are really sweet

Great free advertising for the photographer. A bit weird though, I agree.

i love them! so common in the states - only a few photographers seem to be cottening on to this style here - where i am anyway ...

much prefer these to baby sitting on thick orange faux fur rug in a sailor suit!

particulary like the snug as a bug one.

I find some of them a bit weird and staged - the ones where the baby is clearly fast asleep in something they wouldn't normally be asleep in. But then I also found the pics of my newborn niece and her naked 3yo brother a bit weird (nakedness wasn't weird, it was that the photographer had decided to tuck them in under a blanket together, and have him cuddling his sister. I know I will get flamed).

Hey how about babies in dads or mums arms? Or grand parents or aunties/uncles or older siblings arms...???

That way when the older loved one dies there's a record of love and family? As in normal family holding the baby as opposed to the baby sprouting from a turnip??? Fucking wierd .. And a bit sad?

Aww I think they are cute and the babies would have let it be known if they weren't happy.

Sinister

Theicingontop....your comment just cheered me up after a shite day ! Wonky veg pmsl...

I'm sitting in bed with a 5 wk old lying on my chest. She is resting her head on her hands. Sometimes she rests her head on one arm and tucks her other hand under her chin. Totally un-posed! It looks adorable, but then I'm besotted and have the whole maternal pride thing about her immense beauty. I don't even like 'cute' and logically I'd far rather she was wise than beautiful but it is just something daft in me that makes me coo at her that she's cute. But it is only cute to be in that position because it is something she's done herself from birth. No way am I going to prop her in a scratchy basket!

Topic close to my heart as I'm a photographer and yes, I do photograph newborns..

You're right, newborns can't hold their head up like that, there's always an assistant/mum holding the head and said hand is removed in post-production with photoshop-magic.. Regarding the the baby in hammock thing - similarly for safety, that's all done in photoshop.. The hammock thing in particular is a style that I think has come over from the US and is very popular at the moment, but it's not one I do as I find it a little too 'staged' for my tastes.

I agree that some of these are a bit like using the baby as a "prop" or "artist's model" - when the whole photo should simply be about the baby. EG. I tend to photography newborns sleeping curled up foetal position, sometimes head propped up, usually no props or hats etc.

And everyone asks - HOW DO YOU GET THEM TO SLEEP?!

The answer is PATIENCE and practice! It's not unusual for a newborn shoot to take 3 hours... and remember I am not a sleep-deprived new-mum so I have patience to wait till baby is ready for the nap :) Let mum feed, wait it out till baby is ready/ If mum is lucky she might get a nap on the sofa too LOL

If you think that's wacky then who's seem Anne Geddes' work - she's world-famous for these technically good pictures.. but I'm not sure I'd have a picture like this on the wall of my daughter.. hmm...
www.annegeddes.com/category/gallery/dig-gallery/

I dislike them - the babies' heads look unsupported in many of the poses.

The twins and the smiley one are quite cute, but I'm with you in general. In a huge minority though, everyone I know with a recent ish baby has them...

Oh and newborns are always photographed in the first 10 days... remember when you thought your baby was a 'great sleeper'.... and then you realised it didn't last ha ha!

At least at nearly 3 years, I'm only getting up once each night now. I shudder to remember how many times it was back then... I am sleep monster!

I find some of them distinctly unsettling. The over-staged poses bear an unfortunate resemblance to Victorian post-mortem photography.

That's interesting, mumwithcamera. I suspects smoke & mirrors.

Anne Geddes has much to answer for!

I cant put my finger on it, but I also think their skin looks weird, kind of like those bloody reborn doll things...

pandemoniaa
Yes, you see it too!!

Anne Geddes has much to answer for!

Indeed! Her style does nothing for me, I'm afraid.

Not keen

Porkster - Smoke and mirrors - ha ha!
Can I make that my company tag-line?

Those smiling babies - anyone else thinking 'wind'? I think any parent would .

I've had something similar done with my twins. They aren't in any hammocks or anything and the photographer was great with them. She came to our home and I breastfed them until they were sleeping. The heating was up full whack and they were stripped down to their nappies. She had a sumptuous white fluffy blanket with her for the background and they slept through the whole thing.

The poses she does were more natural than those in the link but we were delighted with the result. There was lots of photoshopping, things like she couldn't get one of them together without it being a bit uncomfortable for them so she took separate photos but had in her mind how they would link up and it worked brilliantly.

I prefer newborn photos like that, there's something so natural about them. The ones in the link aren't really my cup of tea so I wouldn't have wanted ones like that but I still found them quite cute

Ooh, I'm afraid I love these and would be as happy as Larry (not sure who he is, but heard he's always jolly) if I could get a pic of my ds (5 weeks) in a monkey nut wooly suit or the hanging hammock type one.

I think they're quite cute really. They can't be hurting the newborns in any way. IMS, newborns have a way of telling you if they don't like something!