In my short experience as a photographer, I have probably taken more than 2500 pictures of my 6-month-old daughter Tali, and another 10,000 in general. Follow me along on my journey and you will learn some easy tricks to taking some amazing photos.

Posed Shots

For a posed shot, it is important to plan ahead what you are going to do. In particular, you must decide what you want the baby to wear and have an idea of how you want to pose them. This is very important because what they are wearing and how you want them to pose can change how you want to take the picture. Maybe it will require a different angle to capture the outfit, or the full effect of the pose. Follow these three general tips for planning ahead:

    Posed picture of 3 Month old Tali under Bad Lighting Conditions

    3 Month Old Tali under Bad Lighting Conditions

  1. Prepare the area. Decide where you are going to take the picture, and prepare the area so it is ready to start shooting. Deciding where the picture will be taken will allow you to plan what type of additional lighting you might need, any additional poses that might work, and what kind of backdrop you could use. In the photo to the right, I failed to recognize lighting conditions in the area and this ruined a potentially beautiful posed shot. Finally there are props. These can be great for helping to support your baby while you take the picture, or, could just serve to enhance the theme of the photo (like leaves for a fall picture).
  2. Prepare the camera. Although this seems pretty straight forward, like checking batteries and the memory card, I would also include checking what settings your camera has. This can help greatly if some of the shots are not turning out quite like you thought. For example, my Nikon D40 has a “child portrait” option that is in-between an action shot and a portrait shot to better capture movement. It also has five flash options to help the pictures turn out their best given certain lighting conditions.
  3. Once all this preliminary work is done, and you are all set to start shooting, the last thing to be done is to prepare the baby. This may be as simple as getting them dressed, or, could mean that they need to be fed, put down for a nap, or played with a little to get them in a happy/pleasant mood. The best tip I saw for getting great photos of newborns is to put them to sleep in what you want them to wear, and have the area (like a decorated basket) ready, so that all you have to do is move them into position once they were sleeping.
    4. Tali with her Puppy. Preparation Paid Off Here.

    Tali with her Puppy. Preparation Paid Off Here.

Keep in mind that even after all the preparations have been made, your baby may only be happy for a few shots, so, you may have to get what you can, then wait and try again later. I personally don’t take a whole lot of posed shots because as cute as they are, I find that they never seem to capture each baby’s personality, they look…well, posed.

Candid or Spur of the Moment Shots

If you really want to capture your baby’s personality, I recommend candid shots. For candid shots, much of the same preparations as done for posed shot are needed, with a few differences. As you can imagine, one must be ready, at a moments notice, to take a shot at any angle, speed, and lighting condition. There is no time to prepare the camera with optimal settings as with posed shots. If any opportunities present themselves, don’t pause, just shoot. Here are three tips to keep in mind for candid shots:

  1. Have the camera ready at all times for when your baby makes that “must capture” face. Be prepared to move around a lot because your baby does, so you will not have the luxury of staying in one place waiting. They will roll, turn their heads, move their arms in the way of the shot, anything to block that would-be-perfect shot. Also, as your baby moves around, be prepared to work with odd angles and lighting in order to still capture a face shot. Below is a example of a great shot that got ruined by angle. She actually has the most amazing smile in the picture, but, because of the angle, she looks evil.

    Bad angle distorts smile I was trying to catch

    Bad angle distorts smile in photo.

    If I had been down a little farther, I might have captured a picture more like this one.

    Now the angle is correct, and we have captured a pretty good picture

    Now the angle is correct, and we have captured a pretty good picture

  2. Try again later if the baby starts to fuss. With posed photos, 3 or 4  photos are usually enough to get the look you are after. But candid photos are fleeting and hard to recapture. Babies cannot be spontaneous and show you their lovable personality on demand. All they want to do is their own thing. This includes tantrums. Sometimes you will both just need a little break, and need to come at it fresh a little later.
  3. Be ready to take a lot of pictures. Use this as license to play around with different angles, lighting, or settings on you camera. The more you have to choose from, the better the chances that one truly stands out. Here is one of my favorite photos of my baby, and all the photos that I had to take to get “that one perfect shot”.

    4. It takes many photos to get that one amazing shot.

    It takes many photos to get that one amazing shot. Tali at 16 weeks.

Johanna Faith is a first time mom, blogging about her new born daughter Tali at Baby Times. She had never seen a new born until her daughter arrived and now can’t imagine life without her.

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