About 1.4 trillion pictures are expected to be taken in 2021. About 91% of them will be taken on mobile phones.
It’s never been easier to stop what you’re doing and capture a moment. As a parent, you want to capture every moment of your baby’s life. Each image must look incredible.
Why not? They grow and change daily. You’ll never get those special moments again.
How can you make sure that you capture those special moments? You’re not a professional photographer, but you can make your baby photos look that way.
It’s not always easy, but this article has you covered. Keep reading to find out how to take baby photos that look professional.
1. Look For Inspiration and Baby Photo Ideas
Your first step is to find inspiration. Get a few ideas together as to what you like about some baby photos and what you don’t like.
Check out sites like Pinterest and look at professional photography sites, too. Look at the portfolios of baby and newborn photographers in your area.
As you look at the pictures, try to understand what you like about them. Consider the colors, shadows, and see if you can tell where the light is coming from.
These are all things to incorporate into your baby photos.
2. Know When to DIY or Hire Professionals
Safety has to be a priority when you’re photographing children, especially newborns. Those beautiful photos with a baby sleeping on someone’s chest or in a hammock could turn tragic if you do them yourself.
Prone (on stomach) sleeping positions increase the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Sure, there are tons of pictures on Pinterest with babies sleeping in pumpkins or other potentially dangerous positions.
Photographers use special techniques to capture some of those images. For instance, they might take a photo of a baby in a prone position with a fully supported device.
They’ll take another image of the hammock and superimpose the two.
Your best bet to DIY baby photos is to photograph the child in a safe position. If you want to put the child in a risky position for a photoshoot, leave it to the professionals.
Look for photographers that specialize in newborn photography, such as Tammy Cynar Photography. As you contact them, ask them about the safety measures they put in place for photoshoots.
There are also certifications for newborn photographers. One is Accredited Professional Newborn Photographers International. That type of accreditation can give you peace of mind.
3. Decide Your Style
There are two main types of styles to use when taking baby photos. The most common one is portrait-style.
This is where babies are posed and on a set. Everything about the shot gets staged. There’s nothing wrong with this style and it’s what most professional photographers rely on.
The other style is a documentary style. You approach your photos like a photojournalist and look for those special moments.
The advantage is that your images are unique. A portrait style gives you more control over the final image.
4. Choose the Right Location
Where will you take baby photos? You can shoot at your home, in a studio, or outdoors.
Revisit the images that you liked and see if you can tell where those images were taken. You can also rent a photography studio space in your area.
5. Consider Lighting the Scene
Lighting is everything in photography. The root of the word photography means to write with light.
You can’t overlook this when you take baby photos. How you light the scene depends on where you’re creating the photos and your style.
Use natural light as much as possible for documentary-style photos at home. With portrait photographs at home, rent a lighting kit from your local camera shop.
Standard room lighting has different hues, which can make your images green or yellow. A professional kit has white-balanced light bulbs for the best color accuracy.
If you’re shooting outdoors, you’ll want to schedule your shoot at a time when the sun’s light is perfect for photography. This is called golden hour. This happens 1 hour before sunset and 1 hour after sunrise.
6. Have a Camera Nearby
How can you make sure you capture those real moments? There’s a certain look, or gesture that’s perfect and must get captured.
Always have a camera nearby to take advantage of those moments. That could mean taking images on your phone or getting a DLSR camera.
The things that get in the way of getting those moments are dead batteries and taking the time to power the device on.
Make sure you keep your camera charged and have the device settings in place so you can just grab the camera and shoot.
7. Be Bold and Show Personality
Put on a silly hat or add accessories that are fun and show the personality of the baby. Props like glasses combined with a fisheye lens can make the image fun and playful.
Newborn baby photos are challenging because the baby’s personality traits don’t usually appear until they’re six months old.
In that case, you can add elements of your personality to the image. Think of one or two things about the parents that you can bring to the baby’s image.
How to Take Baby Photos Like a Pro
It’s easy to end up with thousands of baby photos that you don’t like. Don’t let those moments with your baby become only memories.
Capture them with these baby photography tips. Always put safety first, and get a professional if you’re taking newborn images. Consider lighting, location, and don’t be afraid to have fun.
Now that you have some baby photo ideas, head over to the Fashion section of this site for more fun and inspiration.
