Caleb's first gig

I was browsing the Connie's Kids facebook page a couple of weeks ago and saw that Connie had posted a lady's email along with a request for newborns to be used as models for a photography conference. I emailed the lady and explained that although Caleb would be a month old once the conference had arrived, he was a preemie and should be about the size of a newborn by then. She emailed me back and said to bring him anyway! So we spent Monday and Tuesday of this week at the Waterside Marriott for the PSD Experience photography conference.

Caleb spent Monday as a model for OBX photographer Brooke Mayo. She used him as a how-to guide for working with babies. Along with Caleb, they had another little guy who was 3 weeks old and a 5 month old boy. Caleb was the best behaved! He was used first and slept well. He was a little squirmy, but they showed how to calm down babies and pose them for the pics. Then the teacher took pics before allowing the "students" to move him and take pics. It was in the lobby of the 4th floor; things were a little crazy, but I thought they went well. After about 45 minutes, they let the other little guy model. We went to leave, but they asked us to stay; Caleb was used again as a model after the other two boys were finished. =) We will get all of the images, but so far they have only edited and posted two. Here's the sneak peek...

One of his photos from his second session, photographed by Brooke Mayo.

I was talking to an attendee from Maine who asked if she could photograph Caleb with  me. She caught a sweet smile.

We went back the second day and were used in a session that was a little more private. Marta Locklear (from Fredericksburg) was the teacher for the day. She is all about using natural light and loves working with newborns. In fact, she knits and crochets baby hats, blankets, wraps, and cocoons that she sells on her Baby Couture Etsy site and used a few in her photographs. This session was in a suite (yay for quiet and privacy!) with tall windows and an all-white bed. She had a 5-day-old and a 5-week-old to work with in addition to Caleb. She tried to use the newborn first, but the little girl was fussy and wouldn't stop crying. She photographed the other little girl instead, using the bed as the backdrop and showing the class how to photograph from different angles and how to wrap natural, organic fabrics around the babies for really beautiful shots. Then, she used Caleb on a beanbag thing she'd draped with blankets and fabrics. Finally, the newborn settled down and was able to be photographed; she was really sweet!

As with the first day, Marta used the babies as a how-to guide for photographing little ones. The first day, Brooke had a vacuum that she left on for white noise. Marta chose to have the heaters on in the suite so the newborns were warm and snuggly and more likely to relax. (Meanwhile, we were all sweating and peeling out of our layers of clothing!) When the babies got a little fussy, one of the photogs turned on a white noise app she had on her phone--it sounded like a hair dryer blowing--and the kids fell back asleep. And, much to my approval, Marta made it very clear that only she could touch the babies, but everyone was allowed to photograph however they wanted. I appreciated this after so many folks moved and posed Caleb the day before. This day, I remembered my camera...

Marta poses Caleb on her beanbag, snuggled in one of her high-end baby wraps.

I took this one with my little "amateur" camera. You can see the cell phone playing white noise on the blanket next to Caleb.

Another shot with my camera; I can't wait to see the professional ones that the photogs took! He looks to be about the size of a jellybean, doesn't he? =)

Marta was showing them how to calm down a squirmy baby and get him to pose like you want him to.

Posing Mr. Caleb

Caleb finally got a little fussy, so she had me swaddle him in this blanket. He fell right back asleep, and everyone came back over to photograph him again, this time in polka dots.

It was really a cool experience. I cannot wait to see all the photographs that get uploaded to the site for us. (That's our "payment" for him being a model.) I will share more as they are given to me.