Getting Great Newborn Images Without a Professional Photographer

Capturing Your Life, One Image at a Time
By Dawn Fry

Getting Great Newborn Images Without a Professional Photographer, March 2010

Newborns, newborns, newborns! Oh how I love them! They are sleepy, squishy and wrinkly. They are tiny, lovely and they make the most wonderful sounds. They smell like heaven and they look uniquely beautiful. Nothing in this world looks like a newborn baby to me – nothing compares. And I just love, love, love documenting that extremely short-lived moment in time.

Newborns change and grow so quickly in the first couple of weeks that most professional photographers require newborn sessions to happen before the baby is 2 weeks old. Another big reason for this is because after 2 weeks, newborns become much more alert and much less sleepy! It is way more difficult at that time to get all those great nekkid, sleeping shots.

So, if you have a newborn baby and you want great newborn images, here are a few things you can do to get amazing shots without hiring a professional photographer. (just don’t tell anybody I told you this, ok?)

1. Turn off the flash in your camera. No matter what kind of camera you use, when shooting newborns, turn off the on camera flash (a speedlight or other external flash is fine, if you know how to use it, but I still prefer natural light). Not only does it make the images look washed out, it creates harsh shadows. And, it could potentially wake up your sleeping angel. Find your camera manual and go through the menus until you find the off or manual flash option. You will thank me for this.

2. Find a good source of natural light in your home. It is not necessary to take a newborn baby out into the elements to get beautiful images. If you have a window or glass door in your home that gets a good amount of light, set up a little place either directly in front or slightly adjacent to it to take your photos. I have done newborn sessions in spaces as small as 3×3 – you don’t need a vast area to do your shoot. This area could be in a bedroom, living area or even in the bathroom. Just look for the best source of outside light. If the light is extremely bright or harsh (causing shadows on the baby), hang a white sheet or a sheer/gauzy piece of material over the window to soften it a bit. Sometimes you can get the same effect by closing or turning up the blinds if you have them – in this case though watch out for the little circles of light that may come through the holes.

3. Find something comfy to lay the baby on or in. This may be something like a basket filled with soft blankets, a boppy pillow covered with a blanket or even a bean bag. I use a bean bag for all my newborn sessions. I love it because it is perfect for cradling infants and I can shape it almost any way I want without having to worry about them rolling off. If you are doing this alone and there is no one to help spot for you, make sure the baby is securely nestled in something like this. You can also set up on your couch or a big, fluffy chair as long as they are near your light source.

4. Keep baby warm and well fed. A warm baby with a full tummy is a happy, sleepy baby. Turn on the heater in your home, use a space heater nearby to warm the area or you can even put a heating pad on low under the blankets your baby will be laying on. I usually put a heating pad on top of my bean bag, layer a water proof pad over that (in case of accidents – and they will happen!) then a couple of blankets over that. The whole area stays comfortably warm and snuggly without being too hot for the baby. They love it!

5. You don’t have to have fancy, complicated or expensive backdrops or blankets. When I am hired to do a newborn session, I go to my nearest fabric store and purchase a couple of new fabrics to use as backdrops. It doesn’t take much, maybe a yard or two, and they look amazing in the images. Just drape it over the back of a chair set up behind the bean bag or whatever you use. Solid color sheets or baby blankets will work as well. You probably already have a ton of things in your linen closet that would work. Be creative and enjoy the images you come up with. Bath towels offer a wonderful texture when draped over the bean bag or basket and also are nice snuggly comforts for the baby (and they come in handy if the baby decides to um, bless your set up! Just make sure to have a package of wipes near by.). Have your spouse wear a black shirt and serve as the backdrop while holding the baby. Sometimes you don’t need a backdrop at all. Likewise, stay away from complicated outfits and clothing. Leave baby au naturale for most of the images or be creative with just a diaper, a swaddle or a loosely wrapped blanket.

6. Don’t forget the bits and pieces! Once you have documented your little cherub naked and swaddled from every conceivable angle using all kinds of fun blankets and backgrounds, don’t forget the most important shots – the bits and pieces! Take shots focusing on the hands, feet, lips, ears, nose, belly, the top of the head, the back and even the little patootie. If your spouse is around, take some shots of them holding baby’s hands or head to emphasize the smallness of your new baby. Make sure to get yourself in there too – the shots you will love the most are those of you cuddling your sweet little one.

7. Most of all, be patient. Capturing a good set of newborn images takes time. A professional session for me takes anywhere from 2-4 hours; I am pretty efficient, and I bring an assistant to help me! Doing it yourself will take longer; there will be accidents to clean up and feedings to take care of. The phone will ring, the other kids will plow through your set up and the dog will escape the yard. Sometimes the baby just won’t cooperate and will want to look around for the whole thing. Be patient, do what you need to do to take care of yourself, comfort the baby and try again later if need be.

All that said, if you are recovering from a difficult delivery, a complicated or painful c-section or are just too darn tired, call a professional or at the very least a friend who knows their way around a camera. Most pros are happy to work a newborn into their busy schedules. They come to you and do all the work, while you sit back and rest. And, most of us are moms and/or have seen it all before, so don’t worry about a messy house or the fact that you are still in your pajamas! Either way when it is all said and done, you will have a wonderful collection of memories to remind you of how special and wonderful your baby looked. You will enjoy looking at the images for years to come; especially once you come out of the sleep deprived, newborn haze.

Capture Your Life!
Dawn

Dawn Fry is a mother of 2, co-host of the Musing Mommies Podcast, a professional photographer and the owner of Dawn Fry Photo in Austin, TX. Her work may be seen at her website, www.dawnfryphoto.com and in homes throughout the Austin, Houston and Dallas areas. If you would like to contact Dawn with editorial ideas, questions or comments, please feel free to drop her an email through her website, in the comment section of this post, or at dawnfryphoto(at)gmail(dot)com

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