Photographing new babies

Infant photography

Ideas and helpful hints to make art style portraits

This little cacoon I have Isla in, I knit it in a couple evenings, It makes for a very cute photo of her snuggled into with her little foot coming out. These are available on line, I have seen them in a few different colours and shapes.

As beautiful as babies are when they are born, they can be challenging to photograph. 

Some babies have blotches, baby acne, scratches, dried milk around their mouths, and sometimes snotty noses... and still are such a wonder. A lot of times when you see photos of babies, it is more of a documentary style photo rather than an art photo,
so here a few ways to improve your infant photography. 

So where to start, when you book an appointment with a mom and baby, always ask when the infant is at its happiest, or sleepiest. This is one of the nicest times to photograph them. Remember to keep the room slightly warmer than normal. Quite often if you work smoothly and quietly they will sleep through the whole session. 

Textured back drops work well, I took a photo of some peeling boards and had it printed on a canvas  that is 5' x 7' at a xerox shop, the cost was about $50. I have used it for quite a few shoots and the customers have always enjoyed the texture in the backgrounds. 

Get close, go macro try and capture the small things like ears and toes, fingers and thumbs, they don't stay small for long, so these shots are always appreciated. 

Use a low aperature to create a focal point.

You don't need a lot of gear for infant photography. A window and a reflector. The best lighting to photograph babies in is natural window light, so get close to the window and you will get nice soft diffused light on the skin. 

 For this shoot I did use my studio lighting, with softboxes to mimac the natural light as my studio in my house is very dark and does not allow enough ambient light in. 

Don't forget to shoot from different angles. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below, if I have left anything out, or your wondering about settings. 

Thanks,