Don’t try this at home!  Recently in the newborn photography industry there are a lot of photographers  disclosing and encouraging other photographers to disclose when a photograph has been edited or composed in order to create the shot.  It’s not just this industry really. You notice more and more commercials on tv with the disclosure, “This is a closed course, professional driver” or “trained professionals do not attempt.”  Some of my favorites are the commercials where things are so obviously exaggerated and yet there is still a need to say, “This baby was not really put into and launched from a slingshot by his grandmother to steal his older brothers Dorritos so please don’t try this at home.”

When I decided that I wanted to specialize in newborns my first inquiry was to a registered nurse and medical books. I researched newborns body temperatures, stress, and flexibility.  It’s one thing to attempt substituting applesauce for sugar in a recipe because someone told you it works, but to see a photograph of a newborn being cuddled by a tiger and think, “Wow maybe I’ll take my next client to the zoo and see if we can’t jump the fence and pull off this shot.” just seems like a lack of commone sense.

If your first thought is “how did they get the baby to do that?” The answer is most likely, they didn’t.  Some people argue if it’s photoshopped it’s just fake while others say that photo manipulation is an artform.  Personally I think there is a happy medium. Your opinion is what will determine your choice for a photographer. In any case it’s important to realize that when it comes to fragile little newborns many poses you see require the work of photoshop for the babies safety.