Lockdown: Photographing your baby at Home!

Many lovely families will be facing the sad truth that they will not be able to capture their little baby’s newborn photographs by a professional photographer during the Coronavirus outbreak. 

However I am here to help! I have put together a little guide for those who wish to take some amazing baby photographs at home. These can be taken on your iPhone, so don’t worry if you don’t have the latest camera technology! 

Number one rule: Always use the light, you may not have a lighting kit hidden away in the garage but you have the Sun, the best source if continuous light!
​Natural photography is timeless and dreamy, you can create some fantastic soft images.

Tips for lighting:

• Morning is better, the sun is crisp and bright!
• Your baby should always face the light, never use your natural light source behind your subject, you’ll just end up with dark shadows! 
• On a cloudy day your light source should be great, if the sunlight is too bright and your images are too exposed, you can diffuse the light with a white bedsheet, blinds or a netted curtain will also work! 

Now that you have worked out your natural lighting, lets get baby ready for the shots! Your baby will love cosy and warm spaces, so make sure to put up the temperature before you undress and settle the baby into any position. The room should be 25-28 degrees, don’t forget that mummy’s tummy is at least 35 degrees, so any less than 25 will be too cold! If you use a heater, never direct the heat towards your baby! It should be place at at lest 1 meter away and the stream of heat at an angle away from your little one. Keep an eye on baby’s colour, we don’t want a hot flush! 

Tips for posing
You’ll want to capture your baby’s rolls and details (hands, feet and ears) make sure you get these shots first as the little one is settling into a dreamy sleep. You’ll want to remember these sweet details. 

We’ll keep the poses easy and minimal!
Without training most of the poses you see on Pinterest or on a professional photographer’s website are unsafe without the right knowledge and training. Please don’t place your babies into any buckets and boxes etc. Again, a professional photographer is trained for these specialised shots - do not try these!  If you really want something like that, book a 6 month old sitter session or first birthday cake smash with your photographer later on. 

• Instead we can lay baby on their back or in their favourite and comfortable position, this is simple but you can layer with blankets and add props like teddy bears and named objects. Your baby’s skin is super sensitive, so check if you use a blanket that you have washed it with eco-friendly liquids and if you have pets, check your pet hasn’t been sleeping on the same blanket.​
• A swaddle pose: Wrapping your baby in a cloth is a great shot to capture. To do this, place the baby on your bed or soft sofa, if you aren’t sure on how to swaddle check out this lovely video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GRKtXPvoFc
• Try a pose where baby is on their tummy, with their legs comforabtly tucked underneath. This is a lovely shot - please watch out for colour changes too, if the babies feet start to go red or bright pink you’ll need to move baby, it’s a sign the babys circulation is under pressure. 

Family tips
It's hard to get this right, without a third person - but you can take turns holding baby, cuddling or baby cheeck to cheek. You could also try setting a timer and quickly cosy together on the sofa or bed.
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If it isn't possible to take a photograph, try making a video - set up you iPhone have it resting on something stable and press play - get a lovely video of you all as a family cuddling and playing. You can lay baby down then you and your partner come over top and both look down at baby, smiling or making noises (it won't look silly). 

​Editing Programs
If you are using a phone you have an endless choice of apps.  Snapseed, Instasize, Picsart are all great - you can crop, alter contrast, brightness and colour tones. 

If you are using a compact camera, upload your images and make sure they are formatted as Jpeg or Jpg. Download Affinty Photo or use any photo editing program already on your computer.  There are a lot of tutorials out there! 

I hope you found this helpful, if you have any questions ask me! 
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I would also love to see some of your images! 

Take care and stay safe xxx