The arrival of a new member to the family, as is the case of a babyIt is a historical fact worth documenting. Babies are responsible, on many occasions, for their parents to enter this fascinating world of photography. I know many couples of parents who bought their first SLR camera in order to photograph their baby and they were stuck there.
If you or your family have been graced with the arrival of a baby at home, or you are in the sweet moment of waiting, today’s article will come in handy: here are a series of tips that are very easy to follow with the that you will be able to highlight the most photogenic side of your baby, but in this mega guide on baby photography that I have published for you on the blog you will find many more.
Tips and tricks for photographing your baby
1- Get inspired, observe, plan: If you want to save time and get a head start, spend a few minutes looking at baby photos on Flickr.. There are really impressive photographs, so try to keep the ones you like the most. Get inspired by them and get ideas, poses and angles, and write it all down. Decide what photos you want to take before you even pick up the camera. Thus, when you start shooting photos, your effort will be well worth it.
2- Choose the best possible target: Every situation has a suitable goal. for portraits, including babiesGenerally, any lens between 50 and 85mm with a wide aperture will give you excellent results (here I am talking about one, magnificent, excellent, which I call the King of Lenses).
3- Highlight the little protagonist: To give your baby the prominence that he deserves in the photo, a very effective technique would be to focus on him as much as possible while completely blurring the background. In this article I explain how to apply this technique step by step. You will get all eyes focused on him.
4- Semi-manual mode : I’m sure all the modes on your camera will work fine but if you really want a good result without messing with too many manual controls, I’d advise you to use the semi-automatic mode on your camera called “Aperture Priority”. On the mode dial it has the symbol “A” on Nikon cameras and «Av» in Canon. Once you are in that mode, select a value F as low as possible (f/1.4, f/4 or f/5.6… the minimum you can get).
5- Ideas that always work: Shoot him full body, and then try photos focused on specific parts of his little body, for example the soles of his feet, hands, nose or mouth. These types of photos always work.
6- Photograph from the same height: Unless you want to unleash your creativity, the normal thing is that you photograph your baby from the same height. Get down to the level of the bed, crib or wherever he is and shoot from there, this will create a sense of closeness and intimacy between the viewer and the small subject.
7- Avoid the flash at all costs: The flash will be your baby’s biggest enemy. It scares them and makes them cry nonstop. Please, unless you want your photo session to fail, disable the flash completely. Instead, try to use natural light from a window, for example.
8- Take care of the accessory details: Eliminate all objects that have nothing to do with the “Baby” theme: for example, what is the point of a baby photo with a pot of lentils with sausage behind in the background? Eliminate anything that might be extraneous to the photo and decide if instead you want to add children’s elements like toys, Legos, and the like to contextualize the photo.
9- Try black and white photos: Black and white baby photos are irresistible, they are very cute. If you don’t know how to process photos on a computer, you can configure your camera to shoot some photos in black and white, however, if you know how to process them in Photoshop or any other photo editing program, I strongly recommend that you shoot in color, normal, and that you change them to black and white later once you process them on the computer. This way you will always be able to see both results and decide which one interests you more, if the color one, or the black and white one.
10- Shoot without stopping: Do not cut yourself when taking photos. Fortunately, today’s digital SLR cameras do not require film, so when in doubt or when you lack ideas, shoot. The more photos you shoot, the more chances you have to get good photos and even find inspiration for other photos that you hadn’t thought of before. Of course, it is not necessary to reach 2,000 photos either.
11- Show your proportions: A newborn baby is such a tiny and cute thing., of very small dimensions. This is sometimes not appreciated in the photos. If you want to draw attention to the smallness of his body, include an adult (or part of it) in the frame: for example, let the baby rest his hand on his mother’s, or have him rest his head on her shoulder , and things like that. More tips for photographing a newborn (in their first months of life) in this mega guide on newborn photography.
12- Do not be cold, please: If you are going to photograph him nude or semi-nude, put yourself in his shoes by. Don’t let it get cold, pre-regulate the heating if necessary. Make him feel comfortable, it will make him happy and give you some great photos.
13- The best time to photograph your baby: After it has fed and is starting to get some sleep is usually the most convenient time to photograph it. It is a quiet moment in which he will hardly pay attention to you, he will not notice the camera, and you will even be able to delicately move his hands or feet without him offering any resistance, being totally asleep, or almost.
Babies grow very fast, so take the opportunity without hesitation. Please, if you have a baby at home, promise me that you will give him the photo session he deserves. You will enjoy it and he will thank you when he grows up.
Did you like today’s tutorial? Have you ENCHANTED? Are you excited or enthusiastic about the idea? Well, now comes the time when I ask you two small favors:
- The first, that you write yourself a note in which you put “PENDING TO PHOTOGRAPH MY LITTLE ONE” and that you hang it near his crib, somewhere visible and that you do not remove it until you have done so.
- The second, that you help me spread this article: give it a vote below recommending it on Facebook or Twitter, so other readers (and babies) will benefit.