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My First Session

Lesson 5 from: Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

Sandy Puc

My First Session

Lesson 5 from: Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

Sandy Puc

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Lesson Info

5. My First Session

Lesson Info

My First Session

personal. We're gonna start with the first session because obviously that's one of the hardest are the most important one, I think in the transition of becoming a photographer. Now, um, the majority of sessions I want to make sure I clarify the majority of sessions that we do are perfectly beautiful little babies. They're absolutely in perfect condition and are just as if you were doing any traditional session in your studio. So each session is going to be very different in this training. You have to keep in mind that we are trying to give a lot of the worst case scenarios because we do need to educate our photographers onto the full scope of what could happen. Our photographers do not become qualified until they have had the proper training on. We know they're qualified, so that so it It's easy to assume that they already can handle working with babies. Regular baby sessions, you know, traditional baby session smaller, bigger on. And that's why the focus is primarily on some of the mo...

re difficult situations today. But keep in mind, the majority of you will see babies in reasonable looking health potentially connected to some tubes and wires, but a little easier to handle now, My first session, obviously outside of Cheryl, our first official. Now I lay me down sleep session waas actually very unique situation. And this baby had passed away and was actually located at a funeral home. So you can imagine, as an organization here, Cheryl got the first phone call and this family had actually Mom was pregnant and had read an article in the magazine air in a newspaper about now I lay me down to sleep at the time she was pregnant and, you know, just it was a Mother's Day article, and I thought that it was very sad, but had no idea that within a few days that she would actually suffer a loss. And so, um, a few days later, she did suffer a loss, and her baby was very early, I believe, a 20 closer to a 25 weaker. And when it first happened, she didn't really think about. Now I lay me down to sleep, and the baby went through the process of being delivered to the funeral home and a few days as they were making the preparations, she sort of had a panic attack and realized that she wanted this with her baby. And so by the time she contacted Cheryl, the baby had been passed for seven days. Hey, was a very tiny baby and he was in a funeral home. So, honestly, our very first session was completely not the norm, not even in the in the type of scenario that we would normally explain. But Cheryl and I did go out drive a couple hours at this time, and this was the first session on, you know, the one thing I do want to say, I'm not gonna go into a lot of detail because I consider my first session with Cheryl. But the honest truth is, even though the situation was so different, I was in a funeral home. It was This baby was very small and had passed. So he was very stiff and wasn't very, wasn't. I wasn't able to really move him. The one thing that I'll never forget, this little guy fit into the palm of his father's hands, his entire body from head to toe and the love that that family had for this tiny baby. It didn't matter where we were I mean, it just That's very first official session. It was just like Cheryl's in the sense that the world closed out and this was a very special private moment, and there was no difference to me between a session in my studio and then and a session that the session of that I didn't for Cheryl and this family with this baby because the tears and the love and the outpouring of love was just overwhelming. So it really sort of as much as it wasn't the ideal first session. It definitely assured me that no matter what, no matter the condition, no matter the situation that when a family request this service, they truly love that baby. And they truly want these images. And for us, um, you know, it is a great honor to do that. So I wanted to have Helen. Um, since Helen's been a member since the very beginning and originally we did sessions together, we would trade off. It would be me and Aaron, me and Cheryl, Cheryl Aaron and I, um, or Helen and I. There was a one point where I was traveling, and Helen got her official calls. So if you want to just give us that kind of how you felt. Even though you've done a few, how did it feel to do one by yourself? Oh, that's right, because you had That's right. You started a little bit after until who had done helped with Cheryl Session and Aaron, who had helped with your session. And, um, you called and we were going. I was actually with Chantelle and Aaron and we're going through a drive through and you called and said, you know, we have a baby in Sandy's out of town. Can you go? And I'd known that she had done this and I'm Shantel and Aaron and and Sandy had talked to me about it. But I was just like, oh, what do I dio? You know, I just the first feeling that I had was fear. It was just like, this is this is a one time kind of thing, and I'm such a perfectionist. I have to have everything just, you know, all my ducks in a row and was like the fear of what's gonna happen if I don't do this right. You know, I I want to give these parents the best memory that I can and, you know, it's just there's a lot of fear that goes with it. Um, however, taken my two friends along. They're not just my coworkers. They were my good friends. They talked me through it, and I have to give a lot of kudos to Aaron and to Shantel because they were like Helen, we can talk you through this. You'll be fine. I'll do that. Shantel was the human light stand, and Aaron was just there for moral support at that point, although she served as a human light stand often, too. And, um, you know, it was just once we went there, it was I don't really remember the session. It was a very small baby, Um, but I just remember just really staying focused on the parents and taken signs from them. And I think that's the most important thing. When you step into that room, it's not about you. And you know it's not even about your photography. It's about what's going on with these people. And, um, you know, I just I just remember being very quiet, and Aaron would kind of help me and gentle what kind of help me, and we got through it. Um, and like I said, I don't remember anything of that. First. That 1st 1 I don't remember the baby. It I just remember it being small after you do a few every every session that you walk into is it's like Sandy said it's very, very different. I mean, they're all so so different. Babies are in different condition, you know, some babies, air big, some babies are small and, you know, they're the conditions there in are different. The one that I do remember. And this is what I want people to know. I want people to know that when you've incurred a great loss like you have, you know that you don't even realize as a photographer the gift you're giving the parents, um you know, that we did have at the very beginning we did have some people, you know, the cob and, you know, it's it's just not right and stuff, but until you've been there, you don't know and the one the one session. But I do remember that I wanted to kind of touch base on just so that other photographers understand what a gift they're giving is when I did it through the studio. Um, a lot of times I would not deliver the pictures. Aaron would work on the pictures, and then one of our sales people would deliver the pictures and so forth. And so I never really got immediate feedback on you know what I done? And one day, a receptionist, actually, our receptionist stopped me and said, Helen, I just got a phone call from a baby that you did for now. I lay me down to sleep the other day, and it was a young father and a young mother, and, um, the dad didn't really want to have pictures done. And so when we went in there, Hiss hiss Father had actually called our service had called on our service and I went into the hospital room, and at first, the dad, the young father, it was really I don't know, he didn't really won't be there, but after a while, he kind of warmed up to it. And I think he understood that this is his chance, you know, to to have his little girl he had a little girl and to have her with him forever and that the grandfather, Actually, I stayed with them for think I was there for, like, two or three hours. And, um, the grandfather actually called the studio after it was all said and done. And he told the receptionist that he was so grateful for what I done because he was so worried about his son and what his son would do. His son didn't want to give up the baby. And I think he was really worried about him doing something to himself. And and he said, You know, in essence, you saved his life because he now has a part of his daughter with him forever and ever. And so, you know, it was really it was really That was really nice toe to know, you know? And so there is so much that you give when you're doing this. So you know, if you're out there and you're thinking about it, do it. You know, whatever you got to lose and there's so much you get back, there's so much I mean, yeah, eso So again, everybody's experience will be different. We'd love to provide the training of the services and toe, have the shadow with somebody possible, But there are many countries in many places that we cannot offer that. So So, again, the majority of what we do Our beautiful, perfect little babies that are just not going to be here on then. Of course, we're sharing with you some of the other concerns that we have, because we do need you to be. You're volunteering for an important work and we want you to be prepared for everything. So we've talked a lot about how do you meet the family? And I think we've kind of addressed the session. We are going to go through some posing and things the delivery of the images. Once the session is complete, the requirement is four weeks, and we do want to make sure that the images have artwork on them. We'll talk a little bit out. We're actually gonna teach today some of the artwork techniques that you would need to use. Keep in mind, this isn't really important. Um, we're producing professional portraiture, and that's where there's some concerns. I know that even on the forums, I've read a few things where even today, where people are saying, Well, why don't you give them the raw files. Why don't you give him the everything and understand that most if not all, families will have their own snapshots? As Cheryl explained, very clearly their own snapshots, their own images, they have the raw files. We're professional portraiture agency. We're providing professional portrait. So therefore they will be retouched and taking care of at the level that these families will have something that they could never have with a snapshot camera, etcetera. So So keep that in mind. We'll talk about what we offer and why we offer it, and the difference between a snapshot and a professional portrait later. So delivering the images, there are many ways you could do that, and we'll talk about that as well. And then, obviously that emotional that Helen mentioned. I mean, it's something that you each session it becomes, you know, eventually they will kind of become a blur. You remember some little faces in some little names, but they all are these incredible little angels that have changed your life

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