DIY Newborn Photography

I’ve had to cancel or postpone tons of weddings, newborn, first birthday and other milestone sessions thanks to CoronaVirus. It breaks my heart for the families arriving at these landmarks who are unable to celebrate with their loved ones. It is especially difficult to miss out on newborn sessions because those sleepy early days are so quick, and the window for squishy newborn photos is so small.

I know lots of beautiful mamas-to-be who are about to pop — and I’m sure you do to — so I put together a DIY newborn photography primer for those who want to try their hand at photographing their little one during quarantine.

SAFETY FIRST

This goes without saying, but your baby’s safety is the number one priority while you are taking his photos. Many of the more complicated poses that you see on Pinterest are actually composite photos that are photoshopped together from one or more photo so that the photographer and her assistant can always support the baby:

Professional newborn photographers have come up with tons of adorable ways to pose babies for picture-perfect shots—but for DIY newborn photos, it’s best to keep things simple and safe. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t still take great photos of baby! I actually prefer simple, everyday poses in my own work anyway, and they turn out great if spend some time to get the right light and setup, which we will cover later in this post.

It’s easy to obsess over styling the perfect newborn picture, but safety should always come first. Whether you keep it simple (and you should!) or are trying some more complicated poses, make sure that you have help.

MAKING BABY COMFORTABLE

Set yourself up for success with a happy, sleepy baby. It’s usually helpful to time your shoot for just after a feeding, so your newborn is full and sleepy.

Another great trick is to keep your shooting space toasty warm. A cold baby is an unhappy baby, and it more likely to fuss or wake up while you try to photograph her. A small space heater is a great tool if you don’t want to smoke the rest of the family out of the house!

My other favorite tool to keep babies sleepy during their session is a white noise machine. There are tons of great phone apps if you don’t already have a standalone machine. My app of choice is White Noise.

FIND THE LIGHT

TIMING

I schedule most of my newborn sessions for mid-morning. Usually at that time of day I can find a window that’s letting in nice, soft, indirect natural light. Usually a north or south facing window is best as it cuts down on the angle of the sunlight entering the room. You want to avoid direct sun since it can cause harsh shadows rather than the nice, even light you see in so many newborn photos.

SETUP

You do not need any fancy studio equipment to get this right. Pick a room in your house that has the most natural light, and position your setup near the window. Ideally your brightest room will also have a little bit of space for you to spread out. For your setup you’ll need a solid-color blanket for a backdrop, some item for the blanket to stand steadily (back of a chair, or the back of the couch), and a few cushions or a boppy to lay your new baby on:

A good rule of thumb is to let the light hit the baby’s face at a 45 degree angle. To do this, when you’re laying the baby down, point the top of her head toward your window, and be sure the light source isn’t directly above or below the baby’s face. Look for a soft shadow underneath baby’s nose to verify that you have this right.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

There’s no reason to get fancy! Your little newbie is perfect as he is–no props or poses necessary. It’s a great idea to let go of the expectations that your newborn pictures will look like an Anne Geddes original if you’re not a professional photographer. There are plenty of simple poses that will be perfect for your DIY newborn photoshoot.

Start with a simple photo from above of your baby on his back.

Another great pose for a DIY newborn photoshoot: putting a sleepy baby on her side. You can then play with the positioning of her hands to create a cute pose.

I suggest picking basic poses which look really realistic. Is your little one always on his side? Does she sleep with her arms up over her head? You might watch your baby for a few days before you plan to shoot to see if there are any poses that he finds naturally comfortable, and recreate those during your session.

Some babies love nothing more than a nice, tight swaddle, and if that’s the case for your kiddo, that’s the perfect setup for great newborn portraits!

DON’T FORGET THE DETAILS

Don’t forget to document all of those sweet little details that make your baby unique! That little button nose, her pouty lips, eyelashes for days, those tiny toes and fingers – these are all things that you will not want to forget. Those details will change so fast as your baby grows and this is a wonderful and easy way to preserve those memories. If you are using a smartphone, try the different camera options–details are a job for Portrait Mode!

SOME FINAL TIPS

TAKE YOUR TIME

I highly suggest you not being in a hurry and take your time. Lucky for you, since you live with the little one, if something doesn’t go your way the first time, you can always reshoot the next day. There’s no reason you can’t plan to take your newborn photos over the course of a few days. A professional may spend 2-3 hours on a session since it their only shot with that particular newborn, but you have the luxury of taking a few minutes here and there to perfect your photos.