Blush Is The Superior Pink

I mean, a good rose is fantastic too.

I said this recently during a session and immediately followed up with "That's going to be my next blog post!" So here we are, and I stand on what I said, not that anyone is keen to debate me about shades of pink.

Blush falls into a family of colors that my own brain categorizes as "antique" or "dusty" colors. And it's interesting because while I adore the brightness and contrast of the whole family of gem stone colors, ohhh give me a gorgeous dusty shade of anything and I will make art with it. Blush lands somewhere in top 5 of my favorite backdrop colors altogether, truly.

Why am I writing about shades of pink?

Because pink, is the #1 backdrop and prop color request that I get for my newborn work and it finds it's way into my maternity work as well. While that's perfectly understandable since I know folks love their girls in pink and boys in blue tropes, I have to admit something a bit controversial. I absolutely loathe baby pink and bubble gum pink, LOATHE. And of course what are the two MOST requested shades of pink when I do newborn sessions for my girlies? Those two, haha. (Clients please know I love you and will always do my best to deliver what you dream up because these are YOUR memories and not mine. I'm solely writing a silly opinion piece with some style advice thrown in. As the kids say, no shade.)

This probably still seems like a lot of strong feelings about a color. I am an artist you know. So, from my perspective as a photographer specifically, and a photographer who, to be frank isn't rockin' a ton of fancy gear, baby pink immediately disappears. When photographed I have almost always experienced that it just looks like I didn't get my settings right on a white backdrop. I once purchased the CUTEST baby pink backdrop with itty bitty gold foil polka dots and I was so stoked to use it. It looks just like I previously described, and you can't even see those little dots. *cue dramatic artist tears* Additionally, it's just so popular, and while that's ok, I love to set myself apart from the crowd where I can. Let's face it, the newborn photography crowd in Houston is pretty darn crowded as it is.

Alright, so I've argued my piece about baby pink but what's wrong with bubble gum? It's so cutesy and fun! No, no no. What it is, is highly reflective and throws the absolute worst color cast that I spend HOURS trying to fix. I have learned my lesson, and this is a color that I will actually try hard to avoid working with for newborn unless we're using some props to break up the color. I promise you want perfect photos more than you want bubble gum pink as your backdrop.

I thought we came here to talk about blush?

Touché, I have gotten off on a tangent, but it was necessary for you to understand that I don't dislike all pink, and I have good reason for the shades I do. So trust me when I say that blush and it's sister, rose, are absolutely by far the superior shades of pink for newborn photography. And I'm ready to defend that.

Blush as I mentioned before has a "dusty" look to it and gives a timeless feel. It works with boho, it works as an understated accent with neutrals, it can be cutesy and princess-y when gold and faux fur are used to add a luxe feel. It's such a workable color that holds up when photographed, and doesn't throw quite as badly of a cast as other shades do. Also, it looks GREAT against navy blue, like that's my absolute favorite combination. Maybe add a touch of tan? Perfection. Oh man, then when you pair it with other muted shades like sage or lavender? Now you've got an antique look, or that cute French farmhouse style.

So what does all of this have to do with me?

Well, these are great points to keep in mind when you are planning for your very own session. By no means am I suggesting that you must cater to my tastes, or any photographer for that matter, but you DO choose your photog, hopefully, based on your interest in their body of work and their style, right?

When choosing the colors for your styled newborn session, or coordinating your families' outfits for any kind of family session, its good to have an idea of what look you're going for. By that I mean, what kind of style do you want to show, are you going for a certain mood, do these images need to fit in with the rest of your home décor where you'll be hanging them? Color choice is a very important part of achieving the look you desire. If a client is looking for bright and airy, boho style images full of lots of neutrals and shades of white, but then show up dressed in neons, that's not the look we're going to achieve that day. And I'm ok with that, but the client might not be if that's what they were expecting.

Another thing to consider, especially when dressing your whole family, is making sure that while everyone matches, and coordinates well, I personally prefer not to go full monochrome unless its for a specific look. So for example, if baby is wrapped in blush then I might want anyone in two piece outfits wearing neutral shirts with deep blue denim bottoms, and anyone who might be wearing a dress I'd suggest a solid neutral or a pattern that has soft pinks and isn't too large or distracting. This gives baby the opportunity to stand out as the main subject of the photos and just photographs so beautifully.

Now, for the posed, backdrop images of the baby themselves, I actually do like monochrome sometimes and might choose accessories that exactly or closely match the backdrop itself. I also like to include images with contrasting colors and so I'd likely include in the session as well, a neutral backdrop with blush/rose accents and also accents of a neutral color to go with the blush backdrop. By doing this I'm creating a nice full gallery that doesn't feel redundant and also looks great together on the wall regardless of which images you choose to print. It's like mix and match!