This picture is beautiful, isn't it? 

I mean, the baby, the colors, the pose... wait? How did that newborn baby pose that way by herself? 
She didn't.
I'm sure by now, you all have heard of someone trying this pose as a parent, at home, just wanting to have this pose on the wall or in a photo album, or just even on their phone to show their friends. Who wouldn't want it? It's neat to look at! The problem is, many many many people put their newborn in harm's way by attempting this pose, just as shown above, with no support to their newborn at all. This is very dangerous. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.

My clients come to me because I am a trained professional. I know how to professionally edit this pose so it can be attempted safely. This pose is shot like THIS:

As you can see, Mom is RIGHT there, holding the head and the hands, supporting the newborn.
Why do I have Mom or Dad hold this pose for me? I can't imagine anyone else who wants their child to be safer than Mom or Dad. So, I get the newborn into the pose, and then I instruct Mom or Dad on how to execute this pose safely, once again. I usually have gone over this on the phone with them in our first consultation so even if they don't book with me, they know how I execute this pose safely and professionally and know the dangers of it. I do not care if people book with me, as long as they go to someone that knows how to safely pose a newborn.
If Mom and Dad don't feel comfortable trying this pose with me, then we either don't do it, or I have a tripod and wireless remote so I can capture this image by myself. 
I didn't try this pose the whole first 5 years of shooting newborns. I saw it over and over again on Facebook and Pinterest, and I thought it was so neat. I was definitely green with envy for those brave enough to try it, even with the proper training. You see, I wasn't always passionate about shooting newborns. I was always so afraid of their fragile state and how delicately they would startle and cry. It wasn't until my own child was born that I became more confident and aware of how to safely handle a newborn, even though I had been around small children most of my life. 
After my daughter was born, I wanted to take better images of her and my passion for photography in general, blossomed. I began attending more and more photography seminars and classes, I dove head first into reading books on what many found boring to read, and I shot everything I could think of. It wasn't until I took a class in 2012 that I felt comfortable trying this shot for the first time.
This was my first attempt:

As you can see, I wasn't comfortable with Mom even taking either of her hands off of baby's head at all. So I got creative (allbeit, sloppy) and edited them out.
This was my final edit:

While I see this as a huge turning point in my career in newborn photography, I can't help but laugh at myself when I see this edit. You can clearly make out my editing flaws, and I would have pulled the blanket taut, and I would have done so many other small things that I always do now, but this was my first attempt, and I am very happy with it. Her little hands are soft, and she's very much asleep and relaxed. This little one was a friend of mine's newborn, born prematurely and at the time of this session, she wasn't even 5 lbs yet! I'll never forget the way it felt to cradle her precious little soul in my arms and be trusted to try this shot by her mother. It was a very priceless moment for me.

From that point on, I felt extremely confident that I could professionally capture newborns. I knew it would be an uphill battle to get where I wanted to be eventually, but I've worked very hard, taking classes, talking to other professional photographers, and entering into forums and other critiquing venues for photographers. I took everything to heart and worked harder and harder to perfect my work, as I will continue to do. I'm so thankful for the journey that this little girl has lead me into. Years later, here I am, taking images like the one on the right (below) to the one on the left (below). 

I'd like to thank every past client I've had for trusting me to capture their newborn for them. These first moments are so precious, and they'll never ever be this tiny again. It's truly an honor.