Name: Neelam Vyas

Representing: Neelam Vyas Photography

I am Neelam Vyas, an Engineer by profession and a photographer by passion. Multiple hours of professional photographic training, focussed self study and best of all, years of photographing newborns, children, families, and maternity have made me the photographer I am today.I first discovered my love for photography upon the birth of my second child when I just wanted to “capture the memories”. As I photographed my child’s glorious smiles and wrinkly expressions, his increasing curiosity with our world, and his delightful discoveries, I realized photographing these moments was my passion. I realized that the result, the actual photographs, are a timeless gift of wonderful memories that we can make for ourselves and our children.Today, I pursue photography professionally. As a parent myself, I love to capture the bond, the most meaningful moments, what the parents feel for their child and the child’s reciprocation and delight in the most natural way. I’ve got the best of camera and lens and am confidently creative with props. I’m skilled at posing and lighting. Take a look through my photo gallery to see what I can do for you and your family.

I love creating different pictures with simplicity yet with colors…my pictures are original and I think of different ideas and create something new every time. My son who is 5 year old was my inspiration for my work …and now everyday life inspires me to create new ideas with Indian traditional touch.

Kelly Brown …I love her timeless pictures with minimum props. I came across her in Creative Live, Facebook and Online Website.

Practice Practice and Practice…every day its a new story every day baby is different. and be confident about yourself as even newborn babies feel the vibes.

5D mark 4 Canon24-70mm for newborns and studio pictures200mm F2 favourite for outdoors100mm f 2.8 macro

My home studio and sometimes at client’s house.

Belly Baby and Beyond 2017 CaliforniaIn person newborn photography training by Erin Elizabeth.In person training with Amy McDaniel in Newborn studio light and natural light workshop.

I started my business 3 years before. I was going to a nearby maternity hospital and use to give one free complimentary pictures to parents and show others if they are interested to buy. It gave me lot of experience working with 2-3-4-5 days old babies.

Here in India parents don’t come out of the house before 40 days for shoot…but this is what I wanted to overcome and I use post every day a newborn picture which I use to click at maternity hospital and right now over a period of 3 years parents come to my home studio with 15 days old babies.

They will best quality pictures , comfort zone as I have home studio, friendly enviorment and latest props all over the world and highly equipped home studio.

Like a lot of other newborn photographers, my oldest daughter was my inspiration to get into newborn photography. I’ve always loved photography since I was little, but once I held my precious baby in my arms, I knew I had to take classes so I could take gorgeous photos of her. At first, I believed it was just a hobby. But I fell in love with capturing the special time in a family’s life and I went on and took more courses, applied for my EIN number, bought insurance and became a thriving photography studio. Besides newborns, I also do maternity, birth, babies, toddlers, children and families.

My work is very fun and whimsical. While, I also include simple setups/photos in all of my sessions, I also have a couple of fun setups as well. I like people seeing my work and giggling with joy at the cuteness of the setup. love including setups that mean something to each family – whether it’s dad’s favorite sport team, mom’s favorite movie, etc. The families I work with inspire me. I customize every session – I sit down with each family for a consultation beforehand and we plan it out. I get really excited when they tell me things they love – it challenges me to come up with adorable setups. Then at their ordering sessions, when they cry at the work I’ve shown them, it warms my heart and keeps the spark going.

Anne Geddes was my first inspiration. I just remember seeing her books and calendars back in the 90’s and falling in love. I loved the whimsy and fun that all of her photos represented. Then I found Kelly Brown and Ana Brandt. They are my inspirations for having a great workflow, learning to safely pose newborns (I took 2 in person workshops with Ana Brandt and did several online classes with Kelly Brown) and creating gorgeous works of art.

Don’t expect to be perfect over night. Just like everything else in life, it takes practice. Take as many courses as you can. Try to get some hands on experience with in person classes and workshops. Make sure you have your EIN number and insurance and put safety health above everything else. Don’t rush anything. When you first start out, you’re not going to be able to do a “froggy”. That’s ok. Concentrate on the simple poses. With practice and perseverance you will get there! Don’t give up! Also, don’t compare yourself to others. Only compare yourself and compete with yourself.

I shoot with a Nikon D750. My favorite indoor lenses are my Sigma Art 35 mm 1.4, my Nikkor 50 mm 1.8 and my Nikkor 105mm 2.8 macro. When I’m shooting outdoors, my Nikkor 70-200 mm 2.8 and my Nikkor 85 mm 1.4 are my favorites. In my bag, I always have an extra SD card and an extra charge battery.

The majority of my sessions are held in my 950 square feet studio. I find for newborns, it’s the best place as parents get to relax on my couches, enjoy coffee, tea, water, snacks that I provide and I can control the temperature in the room, the lighting, etc. In the summertime, I do a lot of family sessions and maternity outdoors. I enjoy those as well. I love doing them during golden hour and getting the gorgeous warm lighting.

I have taken 2 in person workshops with with Ana Brandt, I’ve also done two 1:1 mentoring with a local newborn photographer. In addition I’ve taken online workshops and purchased online videos with Kelly Brown and Meg Bitton.

I officially started my business in 2011. From 2011 until 2014, I wasn’t seeing much money at all. I was a shoot and burn photographer at that point. However, in 2014, I started doing IPS and it was a huge game changer for me. I started offering gorgeous and unique products and offering a full service – meeting ahead of time for a consultation to plan out the sessions, then after the sessions having an in person ordering session to help the families choose the best photos and the best products for their needs. As soon as I switched to the IPS business model, my profits soared. Though, it’s more work to do consultation, in person sales, placing products orders, etc. as oppose to just sending them a gallery, it has made a tremendous difference in my profits and has also helped to set me apart for the majority of photographers around me.

I’m a bit of a “propoholic”. So I struggle with storage of all of my props. I finally turned my spare bedroom at my house into a storage room for my off season props and that has helped a lot.

Finding time to balance work and my family has also been a challenge. While it’s still an ongoing challenge at times, I’ve hired assistants to help alleviate the load.

One of my biggest challenges was when I made the switch from shoot and burn to IPS. I lost a lot of clients and it was devastating to me. But then I started gaining new clients that appreciated my dedication to my work, the personalization and the high quality products I offer. All it took was patience and working on reaching my ideal client and realizing that not everyone is my ideal client.

I customize everything so my sessions are just what my clients are dreaming of. I meet with each client in person to discuss everything from their hobbies, their work, their favorite colors, and the colors of the walls in their home so that the photos I create are just what they have envisioned or even better. I have a very relaxed atmosphere and a fully stocked studio so clients just need to bring me their adorable babies and food. I supply everything else. Parents can watch as I do a adorable poses with their babies, or they can relax and nap on my couches. My aim is to make everyone 100% happy with their experience and their photos.

I honestly enjoy spending time home with my husband and dog! Love family time with my siblings too. I am currently 31 weeks pregnant and I find myself “nesting” right now, I know once baby is here they will be my full time and my spare time and my most enjoyable time. At such a young age I started baby sitting, I have always LOVED kids and babies and have always been really good with them. I will admit I was scared to hold other peoples newborns when I started. I always let parents lay them down and I just would photograph them sitting there. I got more and more comfortable and extended my knowledge with safety, posing and soothing techniques. I surely enjoy it and love meeting new moms to chat with.

I photography a bit of everything, weddings, family, baby’s first year, engagement, couples. I like doing a bit of everything. I would get bored if I only did one thing.

I think my style is pretty “organic”. A lot of my props are vintage, textured, layered and fringed. I love bonnets and old school style. As I purchase items for my own baby, i see myself leaning in the same direction style wise while choosing outfits. I love nature stuff and plants, succulents. When the weather is nice I love to bring the newborns outside.

Rachel Vanoven and Erin tole have been use role models. I have learned a lot through rachels e-workbook. I purchased this and studied it on the computer and had it on my ipad. I watched it before every newborn session years ago.

Workshops, e-workshops, etc will get you farther than any “photography school.” The amount of props you have does not determine your talent, you don’t need tons of “things” to shoot newborn photography.

I have three cameras. 5M2, 5M3, 5DM4. I am currently using my m4 for all sessions and my m3 as a back up. I use my m2 on vacations etc. I have the following lenses: 85mm, 50mm, 100mm, 24-105mm, 135mm, 35mm. I shoot 90% of my newborn sessions with my 50mm and then use my macro for detail and close up shots.

I photography most of my newborn work in the studio. I have a studio in the central part of my city. When the weather is nice I will take them outside during june,july and august.

Rachel Vanoven
Erin Tole

I started my business around 17. I photographed my first wedding back then. The wedding was perfect for a first time photography, but they were not my ideal client. I invested in good equipment, youtube lots of editing videos, practiced on friends and family. My photography actually started in highschool doing prom photos. It eventually turned into a career after college. I invested in a studio as I was so tired of bringing my items to peoples homes for newborn sessions. Raising my pricing to what I am worth and providing good quality work that matches that price.

I think making the decision to get a studio was a major commitment and risk that I either needed to do or quit. It was a big decision when photography was and is your only income, so you know you have a monthly bill to pay on top of your mortgage at home, car etc. Once i made that jump my business really boomed.

Name: Amanda Puskar

Representing: Amanda Puskar Photography # of Years Experience: 6

I am married to the love of my life, Jeremey, and together we run Amanda Puskar Photography. He is my assistant and toy squeaker extraordinaire. We have 3 children, 13,11 and 11 and 10 dogs. Our business is so busy that we don’t often get much free time, however, when we do we like to travel (Disney fanatics) and spend time at home with our family. I started newborn photography on accident really. I had a friend who was expecting her 2nd baby and she allowed me to capture her maternity session as practice. I was just starting out the maternity side of my business so I needed all the practice I could get. Once baby arrived, she asked me to shoot her newborn session. So I packed everything I had and bought and took it to her house. Looking back on those images 5 years ago… whoa! Boy have I grown! But that is what you are supposed to do. Once I shot that session, I knew I wanted to continue in newborn photography.

I hate to use the words light and airy… but really, that is what it is to me. I like the light, pastel colors, the brightness, the softness. I don’t do much of super dark colors. I love cute little animal hats and tutus, and fancy headbands. I love to add in a little dash of color on a neutral palette. I spend time on Pinterest and I also love Etsy. Both places I find inspiration.

I love Maxine Evans. I came across her work on Facebook. She lives clear across the country from me and I have talked to her several times. She has a very clean and classic style. Her positioning is always perfect. I love that she uses hats and headbands too.

Education. Education. Education. It isn’t as easy as putting baby on their tummy and taking pictures. You must be safe at all times. When a parent brings a brand new baby to you their expect that you will protect that baby from harm. You must learn and educate yourself on newborns, newborn safety etc.

I shoot with the Nikon D810. I upgraded from the D800 last year. My favorite lens would have to be my 24-120mm f4. I find that during a newborn session, I can easily get up-close shots as well as wide angle shots all with out having to change my lenses. I also have a 35mm f1.8, a 50mm f1.8 and a lens baby spark.

All of my newborn sessions are shot in our studio. We have a controlled environment where we can control the temperature, the noise etc. We have everything we need right there for those sessions. Our first priority is newborn safety and in our studio, we are providing a safe place for baby by having everything controlled.

I have taken the Milkway Newborn Retreat for 2 years, along with the maternity retreat as well.

I quit my full time job to take the leap of faith that this would happen. My husband worked full time still so we could only shoot newborns on the weekends. That really limited our business because people really only wanted Saturdays, not Sundays. So the business could not grow like I had hoped. So in 2015 we made the decision to do the business full time. My husband quit his job and we jumped in with both feet. That first week home, we shot a newborn every day that week. 6 Months after taking that leap, we expanded our home of 150 sq ft to studio to a commercial studio that is 1000 sq ft.

I think the biggest challenge that we face is finding your target market. I believe now, after being in business for almost 6 years, we have found that market. Getting there was rough. Pricing also goes hand in hand with that too I think. It was a lot of trial and error really. Finding what worked for my business and my clients.

When you book a newborn session with our studio, I send out our consultation information. Each baby that comes in the studio, I consider my own. We take care of all the changing, cleaning, and feeding (unless baby is breastfed). We incorporate items that parents bring in to make their session that much more special. Our studio has 2 shooting rooms for newborn sessions. One room is where we shoot all of our prop sets and family shots and then we go into a smaller, much warmer room, that we shoot all of baby’s naked images in. We have a comfy couch for parents, who often nod off, along with refreshments and wifi. Your baby is taken care of by us so that you can sit back and relax. You are never far away tho! Mom and dad are always in the same room with us shooting.

Name: Geniann Elliott

Representing: Geniann Elliott Photography

# of Years Experience: 2

My biggest photographer crushes are Meg Bitton, who I origonally stumbled across on facebook and I fell in love with her dreamy edits and more specifically to newborns, I love Andrea Kinter and Dewdrops by Amy for their classic and perfect newborn sessions!

My one piece of advice to anyone beginning in newborn photography is to think of the baby’s safety first and foremost. You will be requested to do all sorts of things to get a specifically cute photo of the baby, but before jumping into posing a precious baby in vulnerable positions, research the proper ways to do it! APNPI has a great learning program for anyone beginning or in need of a refresher course!

I use a Nikon D3s and I have a D700 as my backup camera. My favorite lens for outdoor photography is my Tamron 70-200mm and for newborn work in studio I love my sigma 24-70mm so I can always remain close to the baby. At any given time both of those lenses are in my camera bag along with bubbles for playtime with my clients and perhaps candy or stickers for bribery (I’m not above it haha)

I use to travel to clients homes but I was having trouble keeping my work consistent due to lack of studio lighting, props that I could bring, backdrops, temperature for baby comfort etc. So now I only offer in studio newborn portraits so I can control everything!!

Growing pains are still happening and I have been in business for 5+ years now. Honestly the one thing I wish I would have done sooner is a CODB (cost of doing business) so that I began charging what I needed to keep my business profitable (or at least breaking even) but it took me a long time of overworking myself and tons of stress for me to finally break down and do the math making sure I charged what was needed.