This past year with COVID-19 often disrupting plans to have newborn photoshoots has meant that a lot more parents have been forced to try their hand at taking their own photos of their newborn baby.
When you have zero experience of photography, you're sleep deprived, and constantly struggling to keep up with the washing, finding a tidy spot in your house and trying to capture your tiny baby might not be the easiest task in the world!
So in an effort to help anyone that would like to learn how to improve their newborn photography skills I have laid out my top 5 tips below.
1 - Take your time
What has got to be the biggest benefit to you taking your own newborn photography has to be time! Unlike a professional newborn photoshoot, you have all the time in world (or at least a few weeks) where you can play around and make mistakes and improve without having to worry that you can't photograph more tomorrow.
Also remember you've just had a newborn baby! Make sure you don't try to do everything in one day. Pace yourself. Try doing some swaddle shots one day, a few naked ones the next, and a few days later get some with their siblings etc. The main thing is do not stress and be patient with yourself.
2 - Lighting, lighting, lighting
Honestly, lighting is everything when it comes to newborn photography. Despite what you may have seen in other photoshoots and films, you do not need fancy equipment to get the best light!
If you can, you want to have soft, diffused, natural light. So a nice big window with a white voile (or shower curtain works well) across to soften any harsh rays. The gentle highlights and shadows that come from beautiful diffused sunlight will be perfect to accentuate their tiny features without making them look over angular.
3 - Try different angles
When you have your newborn set up in front of the natural light then try lots of angles with them. Generally speaking, a great rule of thumb to go by is to have the light coming in onto the baby's head and down its body to give you some lovely light shadows under their nose and in the creases of their rolls. If you have baby settled in one position then make sure you step back and move around them, get a few close ups, checking you've seen all the potential angles of this one scene before moving on to something new.
4 - Put yourself in the picture
I know it may seem daunting to put your tired self into the picture but you will not get this chance back! Even if its just a photo that sits in the top drawer or on your phone, you will one day look back on it and be grateful you snuck in there for a few.
Not all the photos with you in have to include your face or entire body. I always make sure I get the parents to be featured in their newborn photography somehow. By placing your hands on your baby it will give some perspective to the size of their features, a shot of them resting on your chest or nose to nose.
5 - Capture the details
The detail shots in newborn photography are always some of my favourites. So make sure you get up close and capture those tiny toes, their hand wrapped around your finger, the pink cracked lips, eyelashes and fluffy baby hairs on their shoulders.
I hope these might be useful - let me know in the comments if you tried any of the tips and had any success with your own newborn photography!
