Celebrity maternity photographer Amrita Samant divulges do's and don'ts for baby photography
Amrita Samant | Instagram
First is to respect the child the same way we respect any adult. Secondly, don't introduce children to first-time experiences.
Maternity and newborn/baby photoshoots have become very popular over the last few years and would-be-parents/parents are willing to go to any extent to get never-seen-before results. Celebrity maternity photographer Amrita Samant in an exclusive interview with Zee News Digital revealed how she made a career switch in time and dishes out some do's and don't for baby photography while also shedding some light on how difficult it is for photographers like her to shoot amid a pandemic. Here are a few excerpts from the interview:
Q. Why did you switch from Human Resources to maternity photography?
A. This seems to be one of my most asked questions, during interviews! So yes, I was in the HR field for over 7 years. I was working as an HR business partner in a gaming company and very honestly, I loved my job. However, it wasn't enough to satisfy my need to indulge myself in something creative.
That's why I even tried out various creative part-time jobs such as writing for magazines, choreographing, theatre, all while working a full-time job. It was through this process of trial and error that I finally realized what my through calling is, photography. This realization took place when I assisted my friend for a wedding photography gig. It inspired me to find something unique for myself in the field of photography. And that's how maternity and newborn photography happened. What started as a simple attempt, later turned into a full-blown career.
Q. Elaborate on Do's and Don'ts that can make or break a baby photography session.
A. First is to respect the child the same way we respect any adult. When a child first enters my studio, I never run over to them to gush or carry them. I smile at them and head off to their parents to have a short talk before we carry on with the shoot. By doing this I am respecting the child's space and privacy while giving them to get used to the new environment. Secondly, don't introduce children to first-time experiences or new experiences in a photoshoot.
We try to avoid first time experiences during shoots. So if my client wants to do something that their child has not done before, I advise them to practice that activity at home a few times. Ex: A milk bath shot – some babies refuse to be seated inside a tub that isn’t plain water. Or a cake smash, kids who like to be clean hate doing a cake smash as getting messy is part of the deal. This way we can avoid surprising the child with new activities during the shoot, avoiding mood changes and tantrums.
Other dos and don'ts is to ensure every activity we plan out is 'fun' for the baby, something they would enjoy. The idea is to make them comfortable at all points in time. We ensure to line up tasks/activities that will also help engage natural responses and elicit natural reactions.
Q. What is it like to shoot babies and families in a pandemic and what kind of precautions are required?
A. Newborn Photography inherently requires a lot of safety measures in place, because we are handling a couple's most precious being who is barely 20 days old. And the same applies to maternity and child photography as well. So I wouldn't say there is a big difference in the measure taken in the post-pandemic world. Everything we used to do earlier is still being done with the exception of govt. prescribed sanitization products used.
But if I must pick one, then it would be having to wear a mask. Expressions, not just the client's ones but also ours, are key in building rapport during a shoot. Especially when working with children, we indulge in several games like "peek a boo" in which we make use of our funny expressions to elicit smiles. So with the masks on, it is difficult for the children to even understand what we are saying to them because everything sounds muffled. But you know what they say, it's only a matter of time before we adapt and get used to new situations. And that's exactly what we have learned to do, by finding other ways to elicit that natural smile or laughter.
Q. Please share some of the most interesting requests by clients and unusual or challenging shoots of your career.
A. I think one of the most interesting requests I got was to create ethnic maternity portraits which came as a request from a Kannada film-actress, Disha Madan. We came up with concepts and ideas to promote our ethnicity versus going with the cliche westernised maternity portraits. Reminding our children of their roots with a shoot such as this one will hold immense value decades later.
Q. Is there a difference between how men and women react to the concept of birth photography?
A. Every couple reacts differently to birth photography. We can divide this into two main categories, one where couples are utterly afraid to even understand this field, two where couples are extremely excited to have their precious moments with their little ones captured. And trust me I understand where both of them are coming from and neither is wrong. Birth photography is still a fairly new concept in India so it is common for people to probe and question all the ways we could go wrong!
I think it's up to us photographers to help them understand what this type of photography is and gain the couple's trust with their skills and knowledge.
Q. Any advice for the budding photographers?
A. Perseverance and patience are your two eyes. Both are equally important characteristics that will help you create better images which are our primary role as photographers. Get better with each photo, learn more about each photo. This will uplift the art more, in a collaborative (not competitive) way. The one piece of advice I stand by is don't just follow the trend. Be more of you and let that come across in your images.