DIY Newborn Photography in 8 Steps | Vancouver Photographer
This blog post is dedicated to all of the families welcoming new babies during the Covid-19 pandemic.
I can’t imagine how you must feel, social distancing from your own family and friends when you need them most, and even having to wait for important people to meet your baby. Newborn photography, which lifts spirits for many families during the challenging newborn phase, isn’t even a possibility to you right now.
As a non-essential service, I’m following the current recommendations by the the Professional Photographers of Canada (PPOC) and have postponed all bookings until social distancing measures are lifted. Please see my latest Facebook post on the reasons why ALL types of professional photography should be avoided at this time.
Newborn photography should done by a professional and specialist, for safety reasons and to ensure timeless, high quality photos of this time that passes in the blink of an eye. When the current restrictions are lifted, I will be expanding my availability to allow for as many in-home sessions as possible, especially those who missed out on newborn photos when their baby was younger. Fortunately, I am experienced with photographing older babies, and I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Contact me to ask any questions about how this will work.
In the meantime, I would hate for these families to miss out on documenting this precious age while waiting for their professional photos. Whether using a phone, a point-and-shoot camera, or a DSLR, I encourage all families to try to take their own photos during this time.
Here are 8 simple, easy-to-follow, safe steps that anyone can follow to achieve beautiful photos of their new baby, using any device:
1) FEED BABY RIGHT BEFORE TAKING PHOTOS
It goes without saying that a fed baby is a happy baby. Most newborns have a brief awake window before falling to sleep, which is the perfect time get them settled and snuggly for photos. If you want to try to get photos with baby’s eyes open, bringing your camera out right after a feed and before they fall asleep is your best bet, so they’re not too fidgety or fussy. However most babies will do the best for photos once they’re totally asleep.
2) USE ONLY NATURAL LIGHT
Turn off all the lights in your home – yes ALL of them – and open the curtains or blinds. It may look dark in the room if your windows are smaller or if it’s a cloudy day, but you should still be able to get some pockets of light very close to the windows. If it’s a bright day, for east or west facing windows you’ll want to wait for the time of day that the sun is not shining directly in. For south facing windows, if there is too much direct sun all day long, you can soften the light with sheer curtains, a piece of lightweight fabric, or even a white sheet clothes-pinned over the window will do the trick.
4) DIY “PORTRAIT MODE”
Professional photographers use a specific combination of settings and lenses to create flattering portraits. It’s important that the subjects are sharp while the background is soft, and the edges of people’s faces are not distorted. Most camera phones default to a very wide focal length for versatility in different environments, but this wider view is not great for photographing people up close. You may have noticed when you take a closeup selfie with your phone, one side of your face is disproportionately stretched out… this is not a good look for anyone!
If you have a DSLR and the kit lens that came with it, zoom in to around a 50mm focal length, depending on how much space you have to back up. Most consumer DSLRs come with some type of portrait mode, or if you’re comfortable with manual exposure, try setting your aperture to the lowest number available (for most kit lenses this is f/5.6 but ideally you’ll want a lower f-stop if the lens allows it). If you’re using a camera phone, try zooming in a little before taking the shot. Unfortunately, if you have an older phone, your self-timer may deactivate the zoom. If you’re forced to photograph with a shorter focal length (ie. wider view like your phone defaults to), try to back up further from the camera so there’s lots of space around you in the shot. Then you can crop that extra space out later, in editing.
5) GET SNUGGLY
I often tell my clients that they need to get close enough that it feels awkward, which almost always results in real smiles. Get in snuggly and close, turn your bodies in to one another so you’re not facing the camera square on, and keep your chins pointed forward and slightly down (almost anyone can have a double chin without this step). Look at each other and the baby, and give kisses and nuzzles for a variety of shots. A lot of people wonder what to do with their hands, so the key is to keep them soft and open (not balled up into fists) and placed gently on the baby or each other.
6) FOCUS ON THE DETAILS
Years down the road, you’ll have many photos of your family and kids as they grow up, but the tiny details will be forgotten. Be intentional and photograph your baby’s hands, feet, eyelashes, lips, hairline, nose, and any other details you can think of. A professional photographer like myself would use a special type of lens for beautiful magnified closeups, but at the very least, you should be able to zoom in close with any camera or phone.
7) LEAVE THE NEWBORN POSING TO THE PROS
It’s my duty as a newborn photographer to help educate the public on the importance safety when it comes to newborn posing. Sadly, there have been too many incidences that could have been avoided by ensuring the baby was handled only by a professional in this field. Wrapping, posing, room temperature, and spotting are all executed in a very specific way, not just for baby’s safety but also for comfort so we can achieve the poses without overstimulating the baby. We use techniques that keep pressure off limbs and airways, and to maintain head and neck support at all times. Props must not have ANY risk of breaking or scratching baby, and must be secured so they don’t tip.
I will do my best to accomplish the beautiful poses for you in a few weeks or months when we’re in the clear for your professional photos. In the meantime, I suggest photographing your baby laying comfortably on your bed, or in the crib, in a loose swaddle or naked. Turn baby’s head gently towards the camera, place the hands down so they’re not covering baby’s face, and try photographing down the face slightly (rather than up the nostrils). Without a newborn photography posing bag or props, you can still get simple photos showing just how tiny and precious your baby is at this age.
8) BASIC EDITS WITH APPS OR CAMERA SOFTWARE
Pic-to-Go and Facetune are two of my favourite apps for iPhone photos. Try opening the photo first in Pic-Tap-Go, then going to the Filters tab. You’ll want to slightly bump up the “Lights On” and “Warm it Up” since natural light has a very cool colour, and you may want to deepen or soften the shadows and/or highlights depending on the lighting situation. Avoid the other filters, and keep the edits subtle. You can then save the photo to your camera roll, open it in Facetune, and use the patch tool to remove blemishes or soften under-eye bags. Again, go easy on it, as it’s important that your baby looks like a baby and not a doll with airbrushed skin. You want to preserve natural skin texture as much as possible, since that’s another beautiful trait that is unique to your newborn baby.
If you have a DSLR and are savvy with its manual functions, you can set your exposure and white balance to avoid too many of these steps in editing. Most of you will have some kind of editing software that came with your camera, so there’s no time like now to try it out! These programs are not nearly as robust as those used by professional photographers, however a few slight adjustments can really go a long way. If your program has a curves function, you might want to play around with this as well as your white balance, but remember any changes should be minimal as it doesn’t take much to drastically change the image. Less is more!
Comment on this post if you’re interested in a more in-depth editing tutorial, since there is too much to gloss over in just a paragraph or two.
If you have any questions about the steps in this article, please Contact Me and I’d be happy to share a few extra tricks during this time! Even though I don’t get to be there with you YET, I hope I will be in the near future, and I still want you to capture this time as best you can right now.