10 day-old Thorin

05/18/13
Today Thorin is ten days old. This marks the last day for optimal newborn shooting as indicated in a research I recently made (according to certified and trained expert Sofia Genato, "the best most ideal time" for newborn photography is when the child is 8 to 10 days old. This is because older newborns don't curl up as easily and are harder to pose. Expert Ms Genato specified an exclusive shooting time as well, 9am to 12nn. She further listed some preparation pointers in her website (check out her amazing work at www.thestorkstudio.com). Oh, and in case you're wondering, no, I don't know her personally. I stumbled upon her work and was inspired to learn how to photograph newborns to get even half-decent results. If time was not a factor, I definitely would have booked her expert service months in advance so we could just relax and wait for awesome keepsakes of our baby. Anyway, so we studied her pointers carefully and did our first attempt on Thorin's seventh day. Even though he just graduated from his week-long dose of antibiotics (administered via shots by a registered nurse twice a day...too much ouch if you ask me), we tried to work on the shoot. We're obviously excited to share our bundle of joy to the world but then our entire "production team," after several takes, gave up by 5pm due to exhaustion and loss of available light. We then resolved to start earlier and try harder the next day. By some miracle, we achieved our goal on his eighth day! By sheer will and determination, we managed to talk our way with "the boss" and he surprisingly cooperated. We told him, "Baby, Daddy needs a new cover photo by the end of the day. Kindly grant him this bonus after depriving him of sleep for a week now." He smirked and laughed as if saying ok, then, go ahead and try if you must. Ms Genato was spot on. 8-day old babies do sleep longer so we had a smooth session, too smooth that we even ran out of ideas and the baby is still photo-ready. After some frantic clean up, we then hurriedly transferred Thorin's photos to Susie (our laptop), did a quick edit and almost immediately posted some of the pre-approved best shots along with the earlier candids. Then comes celebration time for the team! Yay! A full course meal for Ron and I and an extra ounce of milk for baby Thor (to compensate for the longer sleeping time). Day 9 came and went without any attempt to shoot at all. We were all extra tired so we gave ourselves a semi-day off (we're still working but in a relaxed, schedule adherence-less environment). Today is Day 10. Despite the nice respite from the stringent new born care instructions, we still can't miss work today. Overachievers that we are, we wanted to attempt another photo session with our little angel to maximize the optimal newborn photo opportunity. Our shot list includes:
Baby in cocoon style
Baby portrait with dad
Baby beside his largest feeding bottle (to have a sense of size comparison)
We talked to him again and said, "Baby, we love you so much. We promise this is your last formal portrait session in Manila. We'll do your next ones at home, in Bicol." Through God's grace and our angel's benevolence, we were able to achieve two out of three goals so we're more than thankful! We're celebrating tonight with our dream DQ ice cream cake. Everyone who knows where we are, are invited to join us and eat a slice. Cheers!