Photography Tips and Tricks

How to Photograph Newborns

Photographing newborns can be a challenge, even for the most skilled professional photographer. Newborns constantly sleep, they can’t sit up, and, even worse, they can’t follow directions. No worries! Here are some tips and tricks gathered from professional photographers for photographing newborns.

Waking the Baby

Newborns sleep constantly, so getting them alert for pictures can be challenging.

Try to schedule your shoot for right after a feeding or a few minutes before a nap. The newborn should be somewhat alert and calm.

To keep the baby alert use rattles and other pleasant, high pitched noises like your voice or a music box. Newborns also like bright colors. Have dolls and stuffed animals on hand that incorporate as many bright colors as possible and have the parent play with the baby to stimulate him awake.

Pose Ideas

Since infants can’t sit up on their own you will need to find an attractive position for the baby to be in where you can get a good shot of the face. This can be done in a number of ways:

• Rest the infant on the shoulder of a parent and take a charming parent and child photo, with or without the parent’s face.
• Lay the newborn down on a blanket and snap quickly when the infant raises her head. Some newborns are not able to raise their heads, so ask the parent before trying this technique.
• Have the parent swaddle the baby in a blanket, and then lay the baby down. Prop the underside of the infant with a rolled up baby blanket. This can be done in a number of angles to get a pleasant look.
• Drape the parent’s chest and lap with a colorful cloth and have them hold the baby in their draped arms. Closely cropped, the image will look like the baby is being held by a custom poser.

Help

Remember, the parent can help you get a great picture. They know what their baby likes and can be a great help with getting that perfect shot.