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Create a “Newborn Portrait” Competition

Posted on 25 Mar, 2020 by Sarah Hart

THE COMPETITION DEADLINE HAS NOW EXPIRED. CLICK HERE IF YOU’D LIKE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT MY NEWBORN PHOTOSHOOTS.

Win a Baby Milestone Session AND a Babyprints Hand and Foot Casting!

Create a newborn portrait of your baby with help from Sarah Hart Photography and win the following:

• a Baby Milestone Photography Session with Sarah Hart Photography plus 10 high resolution digital images from the Baby Milestone Session (valued at £300)
• a hand and foot casting framed with the photo of your choice in a luxury hard wood frame from Babyprints Tunbridge Wells (valued at £160)

This competition is for any new mums (babies born in March) or soon mum-to-be (babies due March April and May).

Spring is a time for new beginnings and such a wonderful time for having a baby. I don’t want the current virus pandemic to put a dampener on the joy that comes with bringing a new life in to the world. Unfortunately, I’m not able to photograph your newborn babies this Spring BUT you can! And I’ve come up with a plan to help each of you to create a beautiful newborn portrait of your own baby. I may not be able to physically take the photograph, but I can still edit from home. Hence together we can create a stunning image together!

And I’m so excited to collaborate with another local business, Babyprints Tunbridge Wells, who has kindly offered a hand and foot casting framed in your choice of luxury hard wood frame seen below.

How to enter the competition

In this blog, I’ll show you step-by-step, how to create the following newborn portrait (it’s easier than it looks)…….

All you have to do is follow my instructions and take a photograph of your baby in either mum or dad’s hands. Then email the image to me at sarah@sarahhartphotography.com and I will perfect every image that is sent to me. I’ll convert the image to black and white and use my usual techniques for editing newborn portraits. Once edited, I’ll email the image back to you (there is no cost for my editing service) for you to keep. During the first week of June, I’ll make a display of all the newborn entries on my Facebook page and will ask for the public to vote for their favourite image. The winning entry with the most votes will receive a Baby Milestone Session (to be booked once I’m able to reopen the studio).

How to create your Newborn Portrait

• 1) Choose a window in your house. I use a studio light but you can create the look with natural light coming through a window. Try to avoid a sunny day – this will create harsh shadows on your baby. Ideally, find a large north-facing window in your house. Or if not possible with a north facing window, choose a cloudy day to take the image.
• 2) Find a beanbag or duvet for your baby to lie on. If you haven’t got a firm bean bag you can use a folded up duvet (perhaps fold up a single duvet in half, then half again). You just need something soft for baby to slightly sink into and be comfy on.
• 3) Find a black blanket/sheet/table cloth. If you haven’t got anything black, then choose another dark material, throw or blanket (the darker the better). You’re going to lay this over the beanbag/duvet. A big tip here, is to lay a disposable baby matt under the black cloth to soak up any accidents. You don’t want any wee or poo accidents to ruin a duvet!
• 4) With you hands, make a slight well in the beanbag/duvet for the baby to lay in. You want the light to come down the baby’s head. Make sure your partner (or whoever will be using their hands in the image to hold the baby) has enough room to kneel (see photo)
• 5) Choose who will hold your baby. Mum or Dad? Either is fine! Then get the adult to practise making the shape seen in the picture below. They need to push their hands back as much as they can, keeping their wrists together.
• 6) You need a nice sleepy baby. Hence choose a time in the day when they’re likely to be sleeping. Just after a feed is a good time.
• 7) Lie your baby down on their side and let them curl up. Make sure the parent’s hands are nice and warm. Scoop the parent’s hands around your newborn’s back. Make sure that the fingers sit under the back of the baby’s head.
• 8) Keep the baby’s feet tucked in. Your baby’s feet might kick out. Have the parent’s hands lightly hold their baby’s feet down.
• 9) Gently rotate your newborn’s head towards you. Just very gently twist their face towards you. This means you’ll get less of their profile and more of their beautiful face in the image!
• 10) The parent holding the baby needs to slightly lean back and to the side out of the way. This will mean you can stand next to them to get the photo taken over their shoulder.

That’s it! Take a few photos and pick the best one to email me and then I’ll put a little Photoshop magic in to your image and email it back to you to keep. Amongst other things, I’ll blacken the backdrop and convert the image to black and white.

The images will need to have been emailed to me by 6pm on 31st May. Then I’ll pop all the finished (edited) images on to my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/SarahHartPhotography/) on 1st June 2020. All entries will remain up for a week. Encourage your family and friends to vote on your image by liking the photo. Only likes on the original post will be counted. The voting will close at 6pm on Saturday 6th June. The image with the largest number of likes will win the competition!

For full terms and conditions, scroll to the bottom of this page.

Enjoyed learning how to create this newborn portrait? Want to learn a little more about taking photographs of your baby? Take a look at another of my blogs which has more tips on photographing your newborn at home: https://sarahhartphotography.com/photographing-a-newborn-at-home/

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Terms & Conditions of the Create A Newborn Portrait Competition

• 1) The promoters are: Sarah Hart Photography & Babyprints Tunbridge Wells
• 2) The competition is open to anyone who has had a baby born in the period 1^st March 2020 – 25^th May 2020. The Winner must be willing to travel to the Sarah Hart Photography studio (TN10 4DT) and the Babyprints studio (TN4 0TQ) to claim their prize.
• 3) There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this competition.
• 4) Route to entry for the competition and details of how to enter are via https://sarahhartphotography.com/create-a-newborn-portrait-competition/
• 5) Only one entry accepted per person. Multiple entries from the same person will be disqualified.
• 6) Entry in to the Create a Newborn Portrait Competition will allow Sarah Hart Photography to post each edited entry on their Facebook page for the public to vote on. The entrant also gives permission to Sarah Hart Photography & Babyprints to share pre-edited and post-edited images from the entry, on all social media platforms.
• 7) Closing date for entry will be 6pm on 31^st May 2020. After this date then no further entries to the competition will be permitted.
• 8) No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason.
• 9) All entrant’s edited images will be posted on the Sarah Hart Photography Facebook page on 1^st June 2020. Voting by the public will take place from 1^st June 2020 until 6^th June 2020. The Winner is the entrant who’s image receives the most votes by 6pm on 6th June 2020.
• 10) The Winner’s prize is as follows: A Baby Milestone Session and 10 edited high resolution digital images from Sarah Hart Photography (valued at £300) A hand and foot casting framed with the photo of your choice in a luxury hard wood frame (valued at £160)
• 11) The Winner will be notified by email and on Facebook within 5 days of the closing date. If the winner cannot be contacted or does not claim the prize within 14 days of notification, we reserve the right to withdraw the prize from the winner and pick a replacement winner.
• 12) The promoters will notify the Winner when and where the prize can be claimed. The Baby Milestone session & Hand Foot and Casting can be claimed only when Sarah Hart Photography and Babyprints Tunbridge Wells have reopened for business following the government’s COVID-19 restrictions on businesses.
• 13) The prizes must be redeemed by 31^st December 2020.
• 14) The Promoter’s decision in respect of all matters to do with the competition will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
• 15) By entering this competition, an entrant is indicating his/her agreement to opt in to marketing material from Sarah Hart Photography and Babyprints Tunbridge Wells. Entrants may unsubscribe at any time.
• 16) The Winner agrees to the use of his/her name and image in any publicity material, as well as their entry. Any personal data relating to the winner or any other entrants will be used solely in accordance with current UK data protection legislation and will not be disclosed to a third party without the entrant’s prior consent.
• 17) Entry into the competition will be deemed as acceptance of these terms and conditions.
• 18) This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook or any other Social Network. You are providing your information to Sarah Hart Photography and Babyprints Tunbridge Wells and not to any other party.