Baby Led Posing for Newborn Photography

newborn

Feb 15

My approach

I could go an entire Lifestyle Newborn Photography session without touching your baby. Yes, I would LOVE to snuggle that beautiful bundle and smell their newborn head... but that will only happen if and when you offer. However, the way I lead my Lifestyle Newborn sessions is entirely based on your baby. If your baby is curled up when we place them down, we leave them that way. If they cover their face with their tiny fist, we don't move their hand. This approach is called baby led posing. I may suggest where you place your baby, and wait until they are calm or sleeping soundly. But this is the essence of Lifestyle photography, we set it up, but we don't touch what happens next, we let baby be.

Some newborns refuse to be put down on the day I am with you, and others just won't wake from their milk induced slumber long enough for me to catch their sweet eyes. When I arrive, my main goal is to capture you and your baby, and I have a few go to poses to get what I want. This post is about the newborn baby portrait where I look directly down at your baby while they are laying on their back.

This portrait takes many forms, but they generally look the same. Hovering over a bed or a happily made floor bed, while baby sleeps or you gently reassure them of your presence.

Below are a few tips about how I achieve these images, but first...here are a bunch of cute babies and what a would be included in your gallery of newborn photographs;

Now check your facial expression... are you smiling or have some euphoric doe eyed look?? Well I did.

A few tips to achieve this look:

Pull out any blankets or swaddles that are solid color and any that have beautiful patterns or special meaning to your family
Find a window, and set up next to it.
Setting up you ask? Something soft like a bed, pillows or blankets. Then lay your chosen blanket or swaddle on top... then place the baby on the comfortable spot you created for them.
Place baby only when they are calmest or so deeply asleep that they won't notice being moved. Note: this may never happen (see end of post for images that are also included in your gallery).
Hold your camera above your subject, make sure you and your camera are secure, you do not want to drop anything. Seriously, double check you and everything around you is stable.
Always have parents close by, ready to hold or comfort baby if they are startled or unhappy.
Pro tip I learned from a NICU nurse... if a baby starts to fuss... they feel the absence of YOU. Warmth, contact, pressure. Place your hand on your baby softly and apply soft but sure pressure. This is why you see parents hands in my photographs so much. Sometimes babies need to be connected.

Now here are a couple behind the scenes images that show me taking these photographs....

While baby is in this position there are dozens of other photographs I can get while here. Here are just a few other shots that are accomplished from this perspective and positioning of the baby.

Basically the best spot to capture baby details like toes, hair and everything else that is fascinating about the scale of new life. But let me reassure every single parent that find themselves on this blog post... babies cry at every single session. 100% chance they will cry while I am with you. 100% chance that I will continue taking pictures while they cry and you comfort them.

Here are a few fussy and crying baby images to round out the calmness above. If you notice, the babies below are the same babies as above :-)