Tips for taking your own baby photos
Quite often during our in-home photography sessions, our photographers will get chatting to the parents about how they can take their own baby photos.
Some are keen amateur photographers with a DSLR kit and all, most just want to use their iPhone to capture memories. We’re always more than happy to share our passion and the knowledge we have gained over years of professional experience.
In honour of all those over the years who have plied us with tea and the occasional biscuits, we thought we would share our top tips for taking your own baby photos.
Safety Is King
It almost goes without saying that, above all else, your baby needs to be safe.
If you have an awesome and creative idea for a photo, think “how can I do this, and is this safe?”. A baby balanced on a double bass? Great idea, but not a ‘one shot’ image. Usually a photo of the bass on its own is captured first and then baby is brushed in after. Hands holding the baby are removed in photoshop, or the baby is brushed in from an entirely different image altogether.
You’ll be surprised how many newborn photographers ‘comp’ their shots – that is, stitch more than one photo together – in order to get that perfect and ‘unique’ shot. Is this photography or digital art? That’s a whole different question up for discussion, but baby’s safety is not.
2. Take Your Time
Photographing babies takes a lot of patience. They are on their own schedule and will need some time to calm and settle down.
Very often inexperienced photographers think “quick, they’ve stopped crying to breathe in air – take the shot!” but that is simply not how it works and by rushing things you are not in control of your image or of their safety. Timing is important, preparation is very important.
If baby is fully fed, warm (or cool on a hot day) and has a clean nappy then you are half way there. Again, from the first tip – rushed is rarely safe and invites accidents.
3. Find The Light
Find a nice, soft light. Not too bright or harsh. DON’T put your baby in the direct sunlight.
Diffused light is beautiful and you can find it naturally when it is coming through a window with a thin, white linen curtain. If it is a bare window, a cloudy day provides a gorgeous natural light as the sunlight is diffused through the clouds.
If you can’t get near a window, the light reflected from a white wall can be nice and soft and makes an excellent light source, however your camera may have a tough time understanding how to expose the image properly.
You may find that the image looks slightly yellow or blue - this is the colour temperature of the light that varies throughout the day as the sun rises and sets.
Our mobile, state-of-the-art lighting equipment that all our photographers take to your sessions is put together to replicate a perfect soft window light. We calibrate all our cameras, retouching suites and printers to obtain a consistent, high quality studio-look to your wall-art.
4. Compose Carefully
What do you want your images to portray? A close up of an expression? Maybe an environmental shot that shows the surroundings too. Are you capturing an interaction?
Pro tip - always shoot from above the eye line and try not to shoot looking up the baby’s nose.
Often, people think a portrait needs to be perfectly centred or with the subject sitting straight and looking at the camera. We love this look and when done well, it is great for classic portraits, but it is not best for every image. It d
It seems to be an old-school idea that hangs over from the early days of film photography, when a photo needed to be developed in a dark room after the shoot, so everyone had to sit still and smile for the camera to make sure it was captured perfectly.
What other elements are included in the image that could tell a story, or just be used to create a beautiful composition? We love simple and natural images, so we often think the opposite - “what should we leave out?”.
A great image is created long before the button on the camera is pressed.
5. Zoom in
If you are not using a long focal length then faces can appear slightly distorted or certain features exaggerated.
Very often a picture captured on a mobile phone is taken using a wide angle lens and to fill the frame, people bring the camera closer to the face but this makes the nose appear larger than it is and the ears/eyes appear smaller, which is not very flattering.
Check the settings on your camera - can you zoom in to 50mm or more? This is a good starting point that has minimal distortion.
Many phones have more than one lens on them now, one for wide angle and one for zooming in (pinching and zooming in on your picture is not the same thing), so use the zoom lens if you can for portraits.
All professional photographers are aware of the effect that focal length has on an image and often use this as part of their composition.
5. Experiment
Don’t be afraid to try something new!
I’m sure you have lots of photos of your baby smiling already, so maybe capture them laying on their back and exploring their feet or a great moment is to capture them reacting to someone giving them a big wet kiss!
Shoot through things, on things, use textures, use props - there is no limit as long as you are observing safety rule number 1!
6. Don’t Forget The Details
While your baby is still very small, make a feature of it! Use items and objects to create a sense of scale and tell stories or show family history.
Do your baby have lots of hair? Maybe they have amazing eyes, thick eyelashes or chubby rolls and dimples! Many baby features are great memories and disappear over the years.
I love to tell stories using hands, or capture eyelashes and feet, or cute little noses and pouts.
We often use items in your shoots that are personally connected to your family. We can use toys, blankets knitted by grandma, family heirlooms, souvenirs, clothes – anything is possible. If you don’t have any heirlooms, we can create some by using them in the portrait that is going to on your wall for the next 20 years.
I hope you found some of these tips useful, I’d love to hear your ideas too. Leave a comment below!
Thanks,
John
