Younger infants (under six months old) are my favorite subjects. As with everyone else, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. Meeting and introducing yourself is important.
When the mother approaches you with the child, make eye contact with the baby and speak softly.
Don’t get too close. Like the rest of us, babies each have their own comfort zone. Getting too close to a baby is like getting too close to an adult. They will be uncomfortable. If the baby is not making eye contact, it may be because you are too close or are too loud. Babies will deal with this by not looking at you.
If the baby is not making eye contact, get their attention by moving back and forth or in and out. Don’t get louder and closer.
At this point my goal is to just get a smile in return and talk to the baby enough for both the baby and mother to be comfortable. Don’t play with the baby too much. Save that part for when the baby is posed and you are ready to capture those smiles.
Another way I introduce myself is with the baby lying on their back on the posing table. I use a 22 inch high posing table. This just happens to be about the right height for me to lean over the baby, straighten their clothes and be about the right distance from the child. This method is useful if the mother can’t seem to stop jiggling the baby. Babies have a tough time focusing on you (or anything else) if they are being jiggled. With their little head bouncing up and down they can’t focus their eyes on anything. Having the baby not in the mother’s arms avoids this.
During this whole time I am talking to the baby in a soft but normal way, like you would anyone you had just met. I compliment them on their hair style, their choice of clothing, anything that I can sincerely say. It is important that you not sound phony, that you are genuinely interested in them as a human being. It is easy to be sincere about any infant hair style. You may need to choose your words carefully about a native dance outfit or rodeo buckle.
It is important that the infant like you. Having the parent like you is even more important. I concentrate on the child but I don’t ignore the parent. I want the parent to understand that they are more important to me than the child.
I also try to keep it a little light. “I like what you have done with your hair. That is so popular with two month old girls this year. In a minute we are going to prop you up for the first pose. Grandma will love this one. It is important that you keep your skirt down. Be ladylike. I know that’s tough with short legs and a diaper, but I’ll help you. We can do it.”
During all of this it is important to be paying attention to the mother, the only person there who is more important than the baby. My goal at this point is to get the parent to relax and enjoy themselves. Everything I say is meant to amuse and reassure the parent. I look at and speak to the mother frequently during this time. I am introducing myself to them, too.
Introducing yourself to a baby accomplishes two things. The obvious is that the baby becomes comfortable with you and you learn how the baby will react, how loud and how close you should be. I avoid physical stimulus, jiggling, touching, tickling as much as possible. I prefer eye contact and talking, like anyone would with a real human being.
The other important thing is that the mother sees how the baby reacts to you. This will make it easier to keep the mother from talking to the baby or trying to straighten their clothing while you are posing and getting expressions from the baby. There are important things the mother can do while you are photographing the baby but you want to limit them to what is useful.
You want the mother (or other accompanying person) to do only what you ask them to do. Anything more will interfere with your interaction with the baby.