This family brought so many lovely things to include in their session that I was genuinely spoiled for choice.
One of the sets they were keen on was this music setup, reflecting their love of vinyl and DJing. It looked simple enough but it was actually quite involved to put together, with the records, the mixer, and the headphones all needing to work as one cohesive little scene.
We built it in stages, which is always the sensible approach with a complex newborn setup. Oscar was still settling when we started, so the first stage was getting everything arranged and him comfortable on the pillow with his nappy still on and the headphones resting on the side of the mixer. His mum and dad had brought a muslin with black circles on it, which we used to cover the nappy. It looked remarkably like a record. Fate was on our side.
The next stage was the headphones. A little tricky, but he was settling more by the minute and they were well padded so he was comfortable throughout. By the final stage, nappy off and tucked up properly, he barely stirred. The finished image was worth every bit of it.
It’s one of the biggest lessons newborn photography teaches you. These little people have strong ideas about what they’d like to be doing, and those ideas don’t always match yours. Working in stages, building up gradually rather than diving straight into something complex, is the only way to get there without unsettling them. Patience and the ability to adapt are everything in this job.
