How to Take Photo's of your Newborn at Home
As everyone knows, due to COVID-19 we have been told to distance ourselves from others and avoid all unnecessary contact. As a result, and rightly so, I have had to temporality shut my little business and unfortunately postpone lots of photo shoots. Many of these shoots were newborn shoots and this fills me with great sadness as I know how special these are for any parent. A newborn shoot is such a special way to capture those early memories, to look back on how small baby once was as its so easy to forget.
As such I would like to share some tips of photos you will never regret taking of your new arrival. All the below images can be taken on an iphone or any phone with a camera and can be done with babies of any age.
1. A close up of baby’s feet
Wait until baby is asleep so they aren’t moving around. Get as close as you can and make sure the picture is in focus to show the detail of the lines and wrinkles.
2. Close up of other body parts
Hands, nose, ears, lips etc. It might seem a little strange but its so easy to forget how dinky these newborn babies are. As they grow their body changes and although you spend all day looking down at your baby now, noticing their features and taking it all in, its so easy to forget.
3. Babies hand in you hand
If possible get everybody in your family to get their hand in the photo, it’s a lovely way to compare size of your newborns hand to yours as well as showing the bond between family members.
4. Get baby naked
Photos of your baby naked are timeless. Often newborn clothes are actually too big for your newborn and outfits with patterns can sometimes take over in a photo.
5. Curled up, sleeping babies
If you have a young, rather sleepy baby you may be able to get some cute images of your baby curled up. Pop a large plain bed sheet down on a comfy bed. If possible peg one end of the sheet on to something higher to provide a bit of a backdrop. Have a few small rolled up towels ready – a flannel is a perfect size. Get baby naked, if it is safe to do so place baby on their tummy with their head turned to the side (make sure baby is not leaning on any body part…watch out for feet and hands! Sometimes turning their body towards you slightly helps with this). Gently lift babies head and pop a small rolled up towel underneath to elevate it (a bit like a pillow). Place babies hands together and gently place them underneath their chin. Sometimes babies will have a little squirm at this point or try to put their hands back. Gently rock them whilst holding them in the position. When you feel them relax continue, but wherever possible try to keep one hand on baby at all times. This will make them feel secure and therefore relaxed. If babies knees are tucked under generally the babies bum will be sticking up in the air. If you can elevate the bum by popping a small rolled up towel underneath the white sheet then do so but this isn’t always needed. Smooth the sheet around baby for a neater look and then take photos from several positions – directly above, from the top end of babies head, from the feet end, close ups, from a distance etc. You can add any little hats or even tuck a small teddy under babies arm. The key to these photos is not rushing, take your time and be gentle with your movements.
Please make sure that safety is always your number one priority when taking any photos of your baby. Always hold them – only letting go when it is safe and for as short of time as possible.
6. Get siblings & pets involved
This can be very hard. Once of my biggest challenges as a photographer is taking a photo of a newborn with a young sibling. I often find them easier to capture when baby is a few weeks older or if the sibling is aged 4 or above. Get your newborn’s sibling(s) to sit next to them, they don’t have to be cuddling if they don’t want to, they don’t even have to be looking at the camera or smiling (in fact often the images of siblings looking at their new sis or bro are much cuter). Try not to aim for the most perfect photo as often you’ll get frustrated if siblings don’t comply. Be quick and speedy, trying to capture the natural shots rather than forced smiling, ‘perfect’ shots. All of this applies to pets too.
7. A photo with dad AND a photo with mum
Please do not forget to take photos of your newborn with their mummy. Often the mum takes all the photos and there’s not so many of herself. If mum doesn’t feel confident or happy with how she looks then a side on, close up photo of mum kissing baby and turned black and white can be really special.
Other tips for the perfect photo:
1. Make sure the photo is in focus. Often a quick click on a particular part of the screen helps the camera to focus.
2. Up the exposure – on iphones and android phones if you press the screen just before you take the photo and slide your finger in an upwards motion it will increase the brightness/exposure on an image. This helps bring out all the little details and in my opinion makes photos look fresher and more professional.
3. Do not put a filter on your photos – or if you choose to please make sure you keep the original photo as well. Adding a filter can cause the photo to distort and the quality to lower. Facebook and Instagram also purposely lower the quality/compress your uploads so choose somewhere safe to save them i.e. dropbox/google photos/a USB…even sending them to your email is a better way to save them then simply putting on social media.
4. Print your photos – while we all have a little extra time at the moment it would be nice to get your photos printed straight away and its so easy to do it online. Where possible I would recommend opting for a ‘lustre’ type paper rather than glossy as this gives a much more professional feel to the print.
5. Don’t delete any photos because you think they’re not good enough. Chances are you will take some photos you don’t think are great, but don’t delete them just yet…in the future you may look at the photo and love it. Often the imperfect photos are the best and most special.
6. If for some reason you do not like a photo - before you delete it try turning the photo black and white. Often this changes the whole look of an image and you may end up liking it.
7. Make sure baby is fed and sleepy for the best outcome and please, please please always make your babies safety your number one priority.
8. If your photo session doesn’t go to plan, stop and try again at a later date.
I hope all of these tips have provided you with some inspiration. If you would like any further help please don’t hesitiate to contact me. Take a look at past shoots on my social media and website for even more inspiration.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope to see you all in my studio in the future to capture more memories for your walls.
