Photographing your new baby at home – My top 10 tips

So, right now you are either pregnant or you have just brought your new baby home from hospital. Arranging a day for baby photos is probably one of the last things on your mind at the moment. Am I right? But wait a moment, trust me! Your baby is going to change so much in the coming weeks that often it will seem to happen overnight, you are going to want to photograph him.

I would love to share with you my tips to help you capture those precious moments.

1. A full baby is a happy baby.

This almost goes without saying but making sure baby has a full tummy will keep him happy and content while you take your photos. This goes for you too! You don’t want to be getting hangry half way through. Have a snack before you start.

2. Warm up.

Whatever room you are using, it must be warm. As you know, newborns do not regulate their body temperature like we do and will need a very warm space to feel comfortable. A small heater will do a good job here or just turn up the heating. Keep them wrapped up as much as you can while photographing and only remove the blanket for a short while before snuggling them up again.

3. Lighting is everything.

When I photograph newborns for my clients I use natural light from a nice big window. You do not need any fancy lighting setups to take gorgeous photos. All you need is nice, soft natural light, place them on the bed close to the window allowing the natural light to fall over their little face. Look for the shadow just under their nose and above the top lip. Never shoot looking up towards the nose, it’s not a good angle.

4. Noisy.

Your newborn baby has just spent the last 9 months in a very noisy environment. He still loves some noise and I find that white noise is the best. You will find many white noise machines that work great. Here is a link to one that you can clip on to your buggy when you are out and about, click here. Just keep it near baby while you photograph him to help keep him settled. Don’t forget to use it later tonight when trying to get him to sleep! When baby is sleeping soundly, use it to help you nod off too!

Have you seen by post on “How I learned to Soothe a Newborn”? Here I explain how I use the 5 steps to soothing a baby as proven in the book “The Happiest Baby on the Block” by Dr Karp. Available on Amazon, click here to to purchase a copy. Let me know what you’ve tried and if it works for you.

5. Details are so important.

Do your best to capture that cute nose, pouty lips, eyelashes, ears, fingers, toes, new belly button, spikey hair and fuzzy shoulders. These details will change so fast that soon you will struggle to remember all of them.

6. Move yourself.

You don’t need to move baby around very much during this time. But do move yourself. Exhaust all of your angles before moving your baby to a different position.

7. Involve your older kids.

Be sure to involve your older children. Depending on their age they may be able to hold baby for a minute or two. If they are a little younger just lie them beside your baby and chat to them while you shoot.

8. Photograph you.

I know you probably don’t feel like it as you’ve just had a baby. However, it is so important to get yourself in the frame during this time. As your baby grows he will treasure these images. So please, hand your camera to someone and cuddle your new baby close for a few shots.

9. Safety rules.

I know that your baby’s safety is a priority so I almost don’t need to mention this. But I will. Please only put your baby in a position or location that is safe. You don’t need to try unnatural poses to get gorgeous images of your baby.

10. Print, print, print.

Please don’t go to all this effort and leave your pictures on your camera. Keep an eye out for special offers and use them to print your images to canvas or framed print. Get them up on your wall. I print high quality images for clients all the time. Family photos deserve to be admired and loved. You can email me about arranging some printing.

I hope these tips help you to take some great photos of your new baby. Enjoy the process and share your attempts to photograph with me. However, I would love to do the work for you so as a thank you for visiting my site and reading my article I have a gift of 10% off a newborn session with me if you get in touch through my contact page.

If you are interested in newborn photography for a family member or friend, I have gift vouchers available in various values and you will find out lots more about how I run my sessions here.