Tips for taking your own baby photos
Quite often during 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.
Here are our top tips for taking your own baby photos.
1. Safety is Number One
It almost goes without saying that, above all else, your baby needs to be safe when taking a picture.
If you have an awesome and creative idea for a photo, think “how can I do this, and is this really safe?”.
How about a baby balanced on a double bass? Great idea, but it’s not a ‘one shot’ image. Usually a photo of the instrument on its own would be captured first and then baby is brushed in afterwards, from another shot. Hands holding the baby safely are cleverly removed in photoshop.
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 debate, but baby’s safety is definitely not up for discussion.
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 before you can photograph them successfully.
Inexperienced photographers can panic and may think they have to cuddle the baby to stop them crying and then very quickly put them down to get the shot…that is simply not how it works.
By rushing things you are not in control of their safety or of the outcome of your image. You cannot consistently create beautiful photography by hoping for the best. Timing is important, however good 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 to creating a great image. Again, from the first tip – rushed is rarely safe and invites accidents.
3. Find The Beautiful Light
Find a nice, soft light to photograph your baby and be careful that it’s not too bright! Please DON’T put your baby in the direct sunlight, for obvious reasons.
Another reason to look at the light is that there is a difference between hard and soft light.
Hard light has dark shadows and a high contrast between the light and dark parts of your image. If you squint your eyes, you can clearly see the light and the dark parts but not much in between.
Soft, diffused light is beautiful and has a gradual transition into shadow. You can find it naturally when it is coming through a window, maybe 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.
Light temperature
If you find that your image has a slightly yellow or blue tinge to it, this is the colour temperature of the light that varies throughout the day as the sun rises and sets. A manually operated camera can correct this or it can be corrected in photo editing apps. You will see our photographers using grey cards, to help measure the light and correctly adjust for the temperature.
If you are tempted to use artificial light sources such as lamps or bulbs, be aware that they can be hot and bright, which is not safe for your baby. LED lights are cool(literally and figuratively) but can look harsh unless controlled properly with diffusers or modifiers. LED lights for photography do exist, but they are expensive.
Our photographers take portable lighting gear to your sessions that is perfect for creating baby photography. The equipment is put together to replicate perfect, soft window light and is not too bright or harsh. We use Elinchrom lights, which are some of the best in the business.
We calibrate all of our cameras, retouching suite and printers to obtain a consistent, high quality studio-look to your images and 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 to tell a story. 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 was not seen until it was developed in a dark room, sometimes hours after the shoot. This made sense for everyone to sit still and smile for the camera, to make sure it was captured perfectly.
Ask yourself, what other elements are included in the image that could tell a story? Maybe they are just there to enhance the shape or leading lines of the image. 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. This makes the nose appear larger than it is and the ears/eyes appear smaller, which is not very flattering, but can be used for comedic effect.
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 their tiny little size! 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.
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We come to your home to create naturally beautiful images of your baby and family that can be crafted into our handmade wall-art.
Book a session with Grain & Weave online or learn more by clicking here