Baby Photography Tips for Beginners

Beginner Photography  •  Photography Tips

It’s such an exciting time getting ready to photograph your newborn. With some good baby photography tips, you can get some great shots.

Shot List

First, create a list of shots you want to take before you reach for your camera. When taking photos of your newborn, your time is limited, as there are many confounding variables that come into play. Be sure to get your safe shots first. Once you’re confident with those, start getting creative with new angles and ideas.

Photo captured by sangeeth sivan

Lens Choice

The best lens to use for this kind of photograph is a fast 50mm or 85mm prime lens. Shooting at wide apertures will allow you to work in darker environments and capture the focal point on your subject with a blurred backdrop to remove distractions.

Set your camera to aperture priority and opt for a wide f/4 to f/5.6 aperture.

Focus on your newborn’s face and allow a bit of the backdrop in the frame. Interesting or colorful backdrops are really good to use in these situations, as they make the scene and image more dramatic.

Another perspective you could consider would be to aim your focal point at your child’s feet, throwing the rest of his or her frame into a creative blur. The best position for this is to stand in a fairly low position.

Attaching a zoom lens to your camera to vary the composition of your shots is a great idea to consider. You can get really cute pictures of their feet, hands, ears, and nose. Try to span the image out wide to reveal the entire length of your child’s body.

Lighting

When taking any kind of portrait you need to consider an even light distribution. Don’t use your flash; it disrupts the calm atmosphere and will rob your image of tone and texture. Position your child in a room with big windows and white walls or near a window using a white sheet or curtain to diffuse if it’s a bright, sunny day.

Props

Make sure there aren’t distracting items like bottles, nappies, or toys in the foreground or background of your shot. Incorporate soft blankets for interesting colors, tones, and textures. Consider using props for scale and objects to keep to a theme. Make sure, though, not to have too much clutter in your shot. Keeping it simple is the key.

Black and White

Consider shooting in black and white or editing to black and white for some of your shots. Black and white imagery always carries our more emotion than colorful shots. When editing your shots play around with the curves, or presets in the software you’re using to control the contrast and brightness of your shadows, mid tones, and highlights.

As your newborn grows up at such a dramatic speed, it is a good idea to shoot at a well thought out periodical interval to chart the change and growth of your child. A collection of these images can printed in a photo book and make for a great gift or a great visual memory of your child.

It is always a good thing to put an emphasis on the petite proportions of your newborn. This is best done with the parent. Baby’s hand on a parent’s hand or your child’s feet in between the father’s.

To get the best images of your newborn, make sure you take the photographs after a good feed and a quick nap when your child is waking.

About the Author
Ellie Williams is an award-winning fine art photographer, specializing in newborn, baby, children, and family portraits.