7 Basic Tips for Creating Adorable Newborn Photos

2 May 2023

If you are planning to focus your career on newborn photography, it is important to bear in mind that this speciality is not like any other. In this type of reportage with newborns, the care in the treatment of the babies and the preparation of the sessions are two very important aspects when offering a quality service, but they are not the only ones you have to take into account to be a great children’s photographer.

In today’s post we are going to give you 7 recommendations that will make your newborn photos professional and charming at the same time.

Discover the guide to take good newborn photos that we have created in Arcadina.

What are newborn photos like and why do parents like them so much?

Newborn photos are usually taken a few days after a baby is born, usually in the first week of life. This short space of time from the time the baby is born until it goes to a photography studio for the first time, means that the poses can resemble the positions that the babies adopted in their mothers’ wombs.

In addition, in this type of reportage, the most common thing is to create a series of very colourful and elaborate sets so that together with the props used with the newborns, the results are true works of art.

This idea of newborn photography is beautiful and mums and dads are delighted when they discover that this type of session exists. But in order to be able to offer such adorable images, photographers have to do some very specific training and practice with specially designed articulated dolls.

Tips for a safe and beautiful newborn photo session

If you want to add newborn photos to your children’s photos, in the following guide we are going to give you a series of recommendations that will help you to start this process.

1# Ensure the safety of the baby

This is the most important aspect and the one on which you have to focus all your efforts, especially until you acquire a certain fluency with newborns. Remember that you will be holding babies just a few days old in your arms and you have to be totally sure of the poses you are going to do with them.

That’s why training is essential to be able to start offering this type of reportage. Nowadays you can find plenty of courses on baby posing where they will teach you how to hold babies if you are not very fluent, how to position them and how to create a plan for the session so that the poses are as fluid as possible.

2# Be patient and wait for the perfect moment

Another essential requirement for a newborn photographer is patience. As a general rule, this type of session can last up to 4 hours and can be tiring for the baby, the parents and also for the photographer.

Ideally, you should plan a session that is not too long and organise the poses in such a way that they are a concatenation of scenes.

As they are very young babies and in many cases the parents are first-time parents, reserving a whole morning for a single newborn photo shoot will allow you to take as many breaks as necessary for the baby to feed, change the nappy or wait for the baby to fall asleep.

3# Take care of the lighting in newborn photo shoots

In photo shoots with such small babies, it is important that you take care of the lighting and create an atmosphere in the studio that is as dim and relaxed as possible. The idea is for the baby to remain asleep or at least calm while you are taking the photographs and if you are focusing powerful spotlights on them, you are not going to achieve the calm that newborn sessions need.

If you are lucky enough to have natural light in the studio, make the most of it. This, as well as the fact that babies are more relaxed in the morning, are two of the reasons why it is highly recommended to plan this type of session in the morning.

4# Create a relaxed studio environment

In addition to trying to create a calm atmosphere in the studio so that the babies do not get upset, parents, especially if it is the first time they attend a session of this type, can often be a little nervous. Think that it will be the first time they leave their baby in the hands of a person who is not family (except for paediatricians, of course).

To put the parents’ minds at rest, the first thing you should do, before they come to the session, is to send them a script of how the photo shoot is going to take place.

Once they are in your studio, you can create a small corner with a comfortable chair, magazines, water, biscuits or even an instant coffee machine to make the hours they spend in your studio more pleasant.

5# Always have your studio ready for the baby’s arrival

In the newborn photos we have already mentioned that babies are placed in different poses to make the images more spectacular. These poses can be done on different elements, such as: drap, bucket, cradle, bowl and many more options. All these elements, together with the props both in the studio and on the baby, will make the photographs much more varied and the parents will love it.

So that the session does not take too long, it is important that you plan in advance, not only the sequence and order of the poses you are going to do that day, but also the elements, sets and props you are going to use.

All this previous work will help you to lighten the time of the reportage and to have more security during the time you are doing the photo shoot, since having everything under control, the workflow will be more dynamic.

6# Inform parents correctly

In point 4 we already mentioned this and now we will go into a little more detail.

The first thing you have to convey to the parents is safety. Organise a chat with them and tell them how you work, what kind of precautions you take when positioning the babies and the experience and training you have. This will give them more confidence and encourage them to take on this type of very special photo shoot.

Once you are more or less sure about everything and they decide to do the photo shoot, you can send them a guide explaining how the session will go. We are going to give you some examples of topics that you can cover so that everything goes more smoothly on the day of the shoot:

• Indicates the number of hours the session will last.
• Explain what precautions they need to take before coming to the examination, such as: that the baby has finished feeding just before the examination, that the baby comes in comfortable clothes, etc.
• Ask them to bring a change of clothes in case the baby stains during feedings, extra nappies and several bottles.
• If parents are going to participate in the session, inform them about the costumes they can bring.

These are just a few ideas, but the more information your customers have, the more determined and reassured they will be.

7# Take care of your technique when taking newborn photos

Although this is the last recommendation we give you, it does not mean that it is the least important, on the contrary. None of the above would make sense if you don’t learn to define your own technique when taking newborn photos. To do this, go back to your training, look at your references and don’t neglect editing. In this type of reportage it is very important to give that final touch in the editing.

If your goal is to take newborn photos, Arcadina helps you to achieve it

As you can see, in order to take newborn photos it is important that you are well trained beforehand in how to position the babies, in the composition of sets, photographic techniques and editing.

And once you have enough knowledge and experience, organise your sessions beforehand, inform your clients before they come to your studio and create a warm and friendly atmosphere to welcome these little angels that have just been born.

We are going to share with you several websites of Arcadina photographers who are dedicated to newborn sessions.

>> Newborn photography: top 10 newborn websites

Today we are going to share with you an interview with Rebeca Canalda, a children’s photographer who does a different kind of photography for newborns.

>> What is the day-to-day life of a children’s photographer like? Rebeca Canalda tells us about it

And finally, here’s our question. Tell us why are you interested in newborn photos? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Headache for your photography business? Take an Arcadina

Headache for your photography business? Take an Arcadina

Fulfil your dream of becoming a professional photographer with the help of our business solutions. Now you can create a website and business for free for 14 days with no commitment of permanence.

Thanks to Arcadina’s business solutions for photographers, your business headaches will disappear.

If you have any queries, our Customer Service Team is always ready to help you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We listen to you.