Guest post by Tanja Haller from T Haller Photography. Award winning full service studio photographer located in North Vancouver. Specialized in fine art maternity, baby & newborn photography.
Some may hire a professional newborn photographer such as myself. But for those who choose to take their own newborn pictures here are a few tips to help you capture some beautiful images of your precious little one:
1. Take your time
One of the benefits of photographing your own newborn is that time is on your side. Unlike a professional photographer who has to create a wide variety of unique images in a 2-4 hour time slot, you have days to capture your little one.
Make sure not to rush anything. You just had a baby and you need to rest and recover. I recommend you try to just capture one setup a day. You will still end up with a beautiful gallery.
2. Keep baby safe
As a professional photographer I spent numerous hours/days/weeks at workshops and on educating myself about safely posing baby. Please do not try and pose your precious newborn in poses you see on social media or the internet. There are quite a few poses that can only be safely achieved by compositing two images together.
A good and safe place to capture your newborn images would be on your bed. You can place the baby on light or cream coloured linen to make sure the focus is on baby (for some colour or texture variety add in some furs or blankets).
3. Use natural light
You do not need any fancy studio lighting equipment, just a bright window. Make sure that the light is positioned so it does not shine from the chin up to the forehead. Try to have your baby angled so the light flows from the top of baby’s head down their body at approximately a 45 degree angle. Look for a soft shadow underneath baby’s nose. A sheer curtain or white bed sheets are recommended to diffuse the light. If you are taking your pictures with your phone, try using the portrait mode.
4. Keep baby happy
A well fed baby is a happy baby. Try and keep your baby awake before you take your pictures. You could give your baby a feed just before you plan to shoot, this will keep baby relaxed and sleepy for your photo session.
5. Capture the details
They grow so fast and you’ll want to make sure to capture their beautiful little details, like hands, eye lashes, lips, feet …
6. Focus on the eyes
When taking your pictures try to focus on the eye closest to you. Do not shoot up baby’s nose. The pictures are much more flattering when you shoot straight on to the face or down the face.
Bringing your newborn baby home and enjoying the first moments together is such an amazing time. Sadly, they change so quickly and you want to capture all the precious details before they grow! I hope these tips help you capture some precious images of your newborn. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me at www.thallerphotography.com. I am happy to help!
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