Instead of inviting a professional photographer into their homes for an hour, many parents are choosing to get comfortable with the camera and take their own baby pictures. Photographing babies takes some practice and time to get right, and getting a perfect portrait is trickier than it seems! The following are five tips for taking truly memorable photos of your baby.
1. Finding The Angles
One of the greatest struggles of a parent photographer is finding the perfect angle to shoot from! Not only are babies writhing little creatures, but with bumps, marks, scratches as misshapen heads being a normal part of a new arrival, finding a flattering angle can be difficult. One great angle is low down at the baby’s level, as this typically results in natural photographs that feel like you’ve entered your infant’s world, rather than looking down from above. Another great angle for a memorable photo is when baby is in someone’s arms. Whether baby is at the breast, being held, rocked, or kissed, taking photos with other people adds warmth and context to your shots, which in turn makes the photos even more precious.
2. Go Macro
Babies are adorable as a whole, but what’s more precious than a tiny pair of baby feet? A little ear, a puckered mouth, tiny perfect fingers? Taking close up shots of your baby’s individual features makes for a memorable photo, especially when you change your digital settings to black and white. Macro shots accentuate the small details that many of us miss in the broad scope of things, and make for breathtaking photos.
3. Remove the Colour
Black and white shots are good for more than just macro photos. Black and white has the ability to remove the redness from baby scratches. It can also reduce the appearance of blotchy skin, and helps to soften the picture, highlighting the natural softness of a baby. De-saturating your shots in another way to reduce colour without the extremeness of black and white, which offers a soft pastel look to your photo.
4. Indirect Lighting
The sweetest pictures are those taken in soft, incandescent lighting. This is true for two reasons. First, the flash setting on your digital camera tends to wash out the colouring of little ones. Second, setting a flash off in your baby’s face may result in shock and potentially fear, ruining the moment for any further shots. Warm lighting from strategically placed lamps is a good idea, and shooting in natural lighting is always favourable.
5. Pick Your Moments
A big part of getting the perfect shot is to choose your moments. Try to get an idea of when your baby will be alert and happy. Also recommended is trying out your camera’s continuous shooting settings. Because babies make so many subtle movements, it is easy to miss the moment. Continuous shooting means it’s more likely you’ll capture that perfect shot. You might want to invest in a big memory card for your Digital Camera too!
Getting memorable photos certainly takes a good deal of time and effort, but the memories will be worth it! If you follow these five tips, you are sure to get memorable pictures of your baby that will last a lifetime.
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I SOOOO love your pointer on going macro!
I love the go macro tip. I love when I see photo’s that are black and white with just one thing in color, like the babies hat or diaper.
this is so cute!!
I have always taken awful pictures, I either miss the top of people’s heads or I do not focus correctly. My family takes the camera from me whenever we get together and my oldest son takes the pictures. I am going to show them this post and the good ideas it gives and perhaps they will let me take the camera next time.
hahhaa, just the same here sometimes Maria. Go show them! Thanks!
Thank you so much for these pointers!!! I refuse to pay hundreds of dollars for someone else to take pictures of my kids. Going to put these tips to use today 🙂
We always take tons of shots of our Ruby!
Great tips! It’s so true how lighting plays such a big part in taking great pics!
Thanks for these tips. I love the one about taking pics of their tiny little feet!
I have taken so many pictures of my daughter since she was born. I usually take a ton and I usually can get at least one that looks really good.