Newborn portraiture with Marmie

Photographs do capture life’s most precious moments; it documents one’s life and helps us to memorialize the past. Meet Marmie Vera Cruz-Wistehuff, married to an American national, a mother to three children, an OR Nurse and a natural light portrait photographer who specializes in newborn portraiture.

Marmie began as a stay-at-home mother in North Carolina and decided to look for a hobby after having lots of free time on her hands. “I tried doing a lot of things such as knitting, quilting and baking but it just never seemed to work out for me. I eventually picked up my husband’s Nikon DSLR since he wasn’t using it very much and I started playing around with it. The only willing subjects I had during that time were my kids,” she says.

Marmie admits that her initial training with the camera was time-consuming, since she didn’t have any type of professional training in photography. Instead, she relied entirely on tutorials online and would sometimes stay up all night listening to tutorials on the Internet. With a huge interest in Photoshop, Marmie found it interesting to manipulate bad photos into an acceptable one.

“The defining moment in my career occurred when I decided to go to a three-day professional seminar by a female photographer who I admired. At the seminar, I learned so much about using natural light and the business side to becoming a professional photographer,” she shares. “But it was her very own personal story that really touched my heart. I have learned that when her first child was born, she didn’t take any photos, just a few videos. Those videos were in the camcorder on the kitchen cabinet and were stolen during a household burglary. A few days later, her baby died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). This photographer had nothing to remember of the short life of her first born. No photos, no videos. That was when she understood how precious photos are and that no price can be put on the memory of your loved ones.”

Marmie’s first real newborn shoot occurred after moving back to Cebu City, where she is originally from. “By then, I already had plans to do a shoot that would try and emulate photographers that inspire me, like Anne Geddes or Kelley Ryden. I was however, too shy to ask anybody if I could use their babies as subjects,” she admits. “But one day, I was chatting with my pool cleaner and learned that his wife was due soon. I asked him if I could do a shoot of his baby soon after birth. He didn’t really understand why, but he agreed to it anyway. After that, I knew I was hooked.”

Having done endless amounts of newborn shoots for the past years, Marmie now has an average of three bookings a week (she gets booked quite easily so best to make an appointment before delivery). But she doesn’t own a studio. Instead, she travels to the comfort of your own home, taking with her a set of lights and props. Not even an assistant, just her and her camera. “This tends to create a more relaxing and comfortable atmosphere for everyone involved. I can also schedule my shoots around my clients needs since these newborn shoots do take time. But then, if the baby doesn’t cooperate, then it could sometimes take the whole day,” she shares. “The best newborn shoots happen to be in the first ten days after birth. This is when babies are generally very sleepy and tend to be less active as opposed to being 3 weeks old and above. At 10 days old and below, babies curl back to a fetal position, which is easy to manipulate for the shoot. Also, at this stage, their skin is normally very nice, free from baby acne and allergies. But ofcourse, each baby is unique and I am very happy to work around them in everyway.”

What is the procedure of newborn shoot like? It’s very simple. On the day of the pictorial, the baby is bathed half an hour before the shoot, then fed and wrapped with only a receiving blanket. Marmie advises this to all her clients so she won’t unnecessarily disturb the baby by removing the clothes and diapers during his sleep.

This creative type of photography takes a lot of time, effort and patience. “You can’t tell a baby what to do, so you’ll have to be patient and wait. You have to move and manipulate with great care. I also get pooped on and peed on a lot, which of course can’t be prevented. But I’m pretty much used to that,” she laughs.

Newborn Portraiture isn’t like your standard shoot, but a more complex and artistic type of photography. As each baby is truly a work of art, Marmie without a doubt brings out the best through her photographs.

Marmie Vera Cruz-Wistehuff’s work is uploaded on her Facebook account. You may contact her via email at [email protected] for any questions or inquiries.