We’ll go ahead and file this one under ‘creepy, but potentially useful.’
What you see above is StandInBaby, a Frankenstein-looking baby mannequin designed to improve your newborn photography without the hassle of screaming, dirty diapers and and everything in-between.
Currently being funded on Kickstarter, StandInBaby is the creation of husband and wife dos Brendon and Sandra Moffatt. Not only does the mannequin resembles the basic frame of a newborn, it can also be positioned as you see fit, thanks to its advanced articulating extremities developed by overlaying real-world X-rays from newborns on top of StandInBaby’s computer aided design (CAD) structure.
StandInBaby took roughly two years to develop, during which many dolls, ninja turtles and barbies were sadly ripped apart in the name of prototyping. The result is a hands-on training aid that is beneficial for both photographers and parents.
The idea is that photographers won’t have to worry about taking a newborn out of their comfort zone when practicing and learning new poses and techniques. Furthermore, it relieves photographers’ issue of having to time practice shoots around a newborns (understandably) fickle schedule.
To ensure StandInBaby resembles a newborn’s skin tone when practicing, the team used a ‘camera ready’ finish that comes in a Caucasian and African American skin tones.
I’ve never been one for newborn photography, but I grew up with a mother who babysat for a living, so I know full well how difficult it can be to get a newborn to cooperate in any environment, let alone under a camera lens in unusual positions.
At $750 a piece, StandInBaby is anything but cheap. But if newborn photography is your profession and you either want practice yourself or want to train new employees, it’s not a bad way to gain a useful product in addition to a nice tax write-off.
For more information and to secure your StandInBaby, head on over to the Kickstarter campaign, which is going on for another 28 days.
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