When Covid 19 Means You Have to Cancel your Newborn Session
Tips for taking your own newborn photos, written by a professional newborn photographer. Kitchener newborn photographer, Amy Taylor Photography.
We are currently living in unprecedented times. I never would have thought that I would be quarantined inside my home unable to work. I would have never thought that weddings would be cancelled and I would have to take a break from professional baby snuggling. But here we are.
It absolutely breaks my heart to not be able to capture these precious moments for clients right now. That doesn’t mean that parents can’t capture some of these moments themselves though!
Here are some tips for taking newborn photos in your own home, on your own camera.
- Gather a few things around the house – a nice clean white onesie, a stretchy blanket, a pretty blanket, a basket. Nice outfits for any other family members that will be photographed with baby as well.
- Make a plan for when you are going to do photos – clean up your bedroom, put on a nice white comforter if you have one. Find some pretty blankets around the house to pretty things up a bit. If your bedroom is too dark, then the living room will also do!
- Plan to do photos when you have the most amount of light in the room you will be photographing in, you will likely need to open up all the curtains to let in all the light you can. (If its a super cloudy day, you may want to do them another day)
- Prepare baby by keeping them awake for an hour before your “session”, then give baby a nice full feeding and a good burp.
- Use a nice stretchy blanket to wrap baby up nice and neatly. Or dress baby in a white onesie (or another solid colour that you may have)
6. Make sure that you aren’t shooting up baby’s nose – no one wants to see what’s in the cave 😉
7. Be sure that the light is not shooting up babies face (think what we look like when we put a flashlight under our chin at the campfire – this look isn’t cute for babes). You want the light to go from the top of babies face to the bottom (side to side is okay too). Stop for a minute and look at what’s in front of you before you snap. Adjust as needed. When I am photographing in clients homes, I like to be as close as I can to a nice big window. (Without sun directly shining in on baby)
8. Please remember you are not a professional newborn photographer. You shouldn’t be trying to recreate the same poses you see on your photographers website. It has taken us years to be able to pose babies this way, and we are trained in baby safety as well. Stick to simple photos laying on the bed, in their crib, in their bassinet etc. If you want to get fancy and have a basket around the house, you can fill it full with blankets and gently lay baby in the basket. (Make sure their face isn’t covered by the sides of the basked for lighting, make sure their head is supported so it isn’t going to turn anywhere – never have baby’s head dangle off the side – duh, they can’t control their necks)
9. Don’t forget the sibling photos! Put the siblings in a cute outfit, wrap baby up, and wait until they are sleeping. I prefer shooting siblings on a large bed. The following poses are good for young toddlers.
10. Mom and dad- don’t forget to take photos of each other with baby as well.
11. Family photos can always be done after it is safe to do so. When this thing is over, I think we are all going to realize just how important our family members are, and just how precious life really is. Document your days, document those you love!
Stay safe out there everyone and stay at home as much as possible. It’s the best thing you can do to keep your family safe.
