As a mother, I understand the deep desire moms have to capture every wink, cry, and yawn on camera. We’re completely enamored by our babies from their soft skin, to their pudgy curves, and every little expression. But when it comes to taking at-home baby photos, the magic we see in real life doesn’t always translate to the images we capture. As a professional newborn photographer, I want to share 5 simple tips that can instantly improve your baby photography practically overnight. These tried-and-true industry tricks work no matter what kind of camera you have, even your smartphone!
Get closer
Standing back from your baby to snap off a few portraits is a comfortable position for you – and a rare chance to realign your vertebrae – but it really doesn’t improve your images. This from-a-distance shot has a tendency to allow the background to take over the photo, causing the newborn baby to become a secondary subject rather than the protagonist. Try stooping to your baby’s level and filling the entire frame with your baby – whether it’s a photograph of his face, toes, hands, or rump, make sure that he is the center of attention. Just avoid shooting up the nose, that’s never a beauty shot.
Soften your camera’s flash
Baby photography has a way of making people swoon because of its ability to capture the natural delicacy, innocence, and softness of a newborn. The moment you flash an LED on that scene, the softness is as good as gone. For that reason, I recommend moms use indirect sunlight (through a window) whenever possible. Flash has a tendency to wash out and flatten the details of a photograph, so turn off the flash or try creating a soft light box to fit over your camera’s flash to soften the light.
Shoot in macro mode
Portraits of tiny babies are all about the details and textures. Capturing these minute elements requires changing your camera’s settings to macro mode or zooming in as much as possible (without sacrificing your image’s definition). Zoom in on your baby’s feed, hands, thigh rolls, and wrinkled toes. Capture a snapshot of the way his tiny hand wraps around your finger, or the way his eyes look up at you when he has just finished nursing.
Widen the aperture for soft backgrounds
Blurry backgrounds in portraits are an excellent way to highlight your baby. This is achieved by widening the aperture (the size of the hole in your lens), just keep in mind that the smaller the number the larger the aperture. Try fiddling with your cameras settings and seeing how it affect the background of your images, when you hit a sweet spot make note of the settings so that you can quickly come back to them in the future.
Forget the Poses and Go with the Flow
As a professional newborn photographer, I can testify to the fact that this tip can really make all the difference in the world. Your newborn baby’s age will determine, to a great degree, how active he or she is. Babies in their third month and older tend to be quite squirmy and active in their own ways, refusing to fold into perfect little poses. That’s just fine. Rather than repositioning your baby into some hallmark-esque pose, challenge yourself to capture their beauty in their natural posture. This will require that you experiment with distance, height, and camera modes but it will also ensure that your camera skills – and artistic eye – improve with every shot.
While these tips can help you capture beautiful moments at home, there’s nothing quite like the magic of a professional session. If you’re ready to preserve this season with timeless, high-quality images, I’d love to work with you.
Let’s create something beautiful together—reach out to book your newborn session today!