Photography is the art of telling a story through capturing single moments, frozen in time forever. Your amazing baby photos will be allow you to preserve this precious history for future generations to look back on.
Tips on How to Take Perfect Baby Pictures
There are all sort of ways to learn how to create beautiful baby pictures online, from learning mobile apps that have all sorts of interesting filters to more advanced editing with through Photoshop tutorials. Below are key techniques to apply to capture perfect baby photos.
- Choose the Best Light
There are different kinds of light, natural and artificial light. As you take the toddler’s photos make sure that there is sufficient lighting either from the sun or strobe light, to avoid dull, blurred and underexposed images.
- Focus on Details
The beauty of a well-taken photo cannot be appreciated enough.It’s important to capture as much detail in each shot as you can. That means getting your focus perfect to enhances the clarity of images. It also means, when taking a photo of the infant’s face, try to capture as much detail as you can, including getting good lighting and focus on their nose, hair, eyes, eyebrows, and ears.
- Choose the Light Right
In case you are using natural light, timing can be key. Photos taken during what is called the “Magic hour” will give you the most stunning results. The magic hour is the hour after the sun rises and the hour before sunset. You have a small window of time to work with, so try to plan out your shots before the magic hour begins!
- Ensure the Baby is Comfortable.
Babies are perfect models for photo shoots when they are relaxed. A hungry baby is a fussy baby to work with, so try to feed the baby half an hour before the start of the photo session, bath, and clothe them with clean and not too tight clothes. In case you are taking photos of them with nothing but a diaper or less, you’ll need to put a heater in close proximity to keep the baby warm.
- Getting the Best Angle
To end up with great looking photos of the baby, experiment with a lot of different angles and poses. Whether it be on their stomach, sitting up, playing with toys, closeups, or long shots, the key is to bring a lot of variety to the shoot. A close up is typically the parent favorite and don’t be afraid of getting super close!Keep in mind, since babies are tiny, you’ll often find yourself crouching or laying flat on the ground to get close in for the best shots.
- Take Photos of your Baby on a Regular Basis.
Since babies grow fast, you’ll want to capture as many regular moment of the their growth as you can, otherwise you’ll be missing out on cataloging some of the key moments of your child’s life. There are even fun mobile apps for your photos like the Grows Up With Me free app where you take photos daily and it converts them into video flip book you can share.
- Befriend the Airbrush
Babies need a lot of care and attention to keep clean &tidy for a photoshoot. Keep a clean warm towel to wipe sleepy eyes, dried milk and food around the mouth, or to lotion dry skin when taking photos. Worst case scenario, you’ll simply have to use a program like Photoshop or Lightroom to edit out these blemishes in your post-production editing process as it’s almost impossible to catch everything when you are busy shooting.
- Using a Backdrop
Use a uniform background if possible, to not distract from the beautiful baby you have in front of you! There is no need for busy or dramatic backgrounds when photographing an infant, as the baby is star of the image and anything else will simply detract from the perfection of that little cutie.
Overall, great looking baby photos will instantly capture people’s attention. Photographers should consider their lighting, focus on details, get the best angles, keep the baby comfortable, and most of all remember to have fun & laugh when photographing babies. They are one of the most entertaining and rewarding photos you’ll get to take as a photographer.
