Newborn Photography Tips – 5 Reasons to Use Soft Muted Tones
As fun as different colours can be for your newborn photography, you save a ton of editing time when you use soft muted tones. Today we’ll go over 5 reasons to use soft muted tones in your newborn photography.
Avoid Color Casts With Muted Tones
- Avoid those yucky color casts!! When you move from using saturated, bold colors to muted and neutral tones, you can say goodbye to those difficult color casts. It is tricky to deal with color casts on skin and lighter clothing after the fact. Avoid them altogether by providing beautiful wraps, blankets & accessories in neutral & soft color tones. With bright bold colors, those saturated tones will reflect back onto your client’s faces (and if they are wearing neutral clothing) onto their clothing. This means hours of edit work to remove or even them out in post production!
Consistency is Key
- If you are choosing a light, bright and airy aesthetic in your images & branding, then make sure that all your colors flow together. Consistency is key here. Show what you want to shoot. If you are continuously showing bold colors but want a light and airy aesthetic then you will confuse your clients. If you show the tones you’d like to work with then you will attract clients with similar likes to that aesthetic. Provide your clients with options that will harmonize in their maternity, newborn and family sessions. Choose neutrals: creams, whites, beige or greys, dusty pinks, blush, lilac, soft blues & soft greens.
Easier to Edit
- Neutral backdrops are easier to edit. This works in the same way as #1 above. A bright, saturated backdrop tone will reflect back onto your babies/families and increase the amount of post editing fixes you will have to make later in Photoshop. By using an off-white or bone seamless (or neutral wall color) you will help avoid pesky color casts and speed up your edit time!
Keep the Focus on Baby
- Bold colors and large scale patterns will inevitably detract from the star of your session-that sweet newborn baby!! Neutrals & soft colors flow with natural skin tones and allow the eye of the viewer to be drawn to that beautiful baby, the focus of the photograph.
Co-ordinate Colors With The Whole Family Being Featured In Your Newborn Session
- Muted tones work well together. When educating your clients on what to wear in a newborn session, ask them to wear neutrals! I suggest creams, white, beige or greys. Dusty pinks, soft blues & greens are also lovely. Any or all of these colors/tones together work well. Suggest avoiding large bold prints and big logos (this will save so much heartache later when they look through and regret their wardrobe decisions). This will also ensure that the colors you used in their maternity & newborn sessions will flow with the family photos. If you can offer a studio wardrobe that is even better!
Color is perception. Our eyes see something (for example, a sky) and information sent from our eyes to our brains then tells us it is a certain color (blue). Each object reflects light in a different combination of wavelengths. Our brains then pick up on those combinations and translate them into the phenomenon we call color!
Understanding the color wheel and color harmonies (what works, what doesn’t and how color communicates) can be really exciting!! As each of you figure out your likes, dislikes and develop your brand vision, you will go through a great journey of color experimentation.
You will find which colors feel happy, joyful and bright (these pure colors are shown here in ‘Hue’). You will also find the muted colors that make you feel calm & zen. I find that these tones work so well for sleepy, curly newborn photos (play with ‘Tint’ & ‘Tone’ to find these soft colors).
If you want to make the switch from saturated, bold colors to muted tones…you’ll say goodbye to those pesky color casts. You can still use color in your photos! Just tone them down a little. And then ensure that the newborn photos you are showing on your website & social media reflect the brand you want to build. Most of all have fun creating!!
Warmly, Amanda
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