The Heartbeat Rest

How to set up The Heartbeat Rest

1. Set the frame before anyone moves. The Heartbeat Rest wants a waist-up frame, with 2 people already close enough to touch. The newborn sleeps on a parent's bare chest, skin to skin. Intimate and calming for baby, usually leads to deep sleep.
2. Get them into the lying shape, then say this once and stop directing: "Lie back and let him rest on your chest; we'll just wait for a sleepy moment."
3. While they hold it, make one flatter change and shoot again. Recline the parent at about 45 degrees and drape a soft blanket at the waist.
4. If the first frame feels stiff, do not rebuild the group. Try this next: Parent's hand on baby's back.

Who it suits

The Heartbeat Rest is a baby pose. Support and warmth come before the composition. It suits 2 people and a lying down shape. It is beginner: one clear sentence is enough direction. If the group feels crowded, drop to the closest variation instead of backing everyone away from each other.

Where to shoot and how to light it

Shoot The Heartbeat Rest indoors (indoor). A sofa, bed, table, window or step you already have is the set. Clear the background directly behind the heads so the newborn photo poses subject stays the subject. You do not need a studio wall.

For The Heartbeat Rest, face a window and turn the ceiling light off. Light from the side sculpts faces. Overhead light puts eyes in shadow and flattens the lying shape. If the window is behind them, they will be silhouettes, which is only right when the pose is meant to be a silhouette.

The usual miss on The Heartbeat Rest is a gap, a straight line of heads, or a face waiting for the next instruction. Recline the parent at about 45 degrees and drape a soft blanket at the waist. Then take the frame before anyone resets.

Variations

• Parent's hand on baby's back
• Both parents with the baby between them
• Close-up of tiny hand on the parent's skin