How to Help Babies and Mothers Relax During Newborn Photography

If you love babies, then newborn photography must be one of the most pleasurable types of photography in the world. The photographs that you take of a newborn will forever be cherished by the family and that is extremely satisfactory. But newborn photography is also quite challenging, as it can be very difficult to keep babies in poses and mothers relaxed about their newborns. We all know how new mothers are! That is why, in today’s article we’re going to offer you a guide of how to help babies and mothers relax during newborn photography. Here are our tips, tricks and ideas on this subject!

Create a great environment! Firstly, music is something that you must always have when creating the setup for your newborn photography. Both you and the baby will benefit from its soothing effects and it creates a wonderfully calm environment. Try some classical music or get one of those cheap CDs with relaxing music for newborns, they really do work!

Use as much natural light as possible, as lighting is really important when it comes to making subjects relaxed. You all know how important lighting is when it comes to photography in general, not just newborn photography. What you should know is that babies simply adore natural light and they’ll be putty in your hands if you let them have just a bit of it.

Be creative, do a bit of searching on the web and see what else you can do to make the baby and mother feel relaxed. We suggest you go to www.our365.com, a great blog/website where you can find pretty much all you need on advice about newborns and babies in general.

Learn how to make people relaxed! There are plenty of tutorials online about how to make someone feel relaxed. Watch at least one tutorial, take notes and apply what you’ve learned on your subjects. Or you can go to workshops and learn how to do it. A workshop will teach you much more than an online tutorial will. To be honest, everyone’s different and you will not get the same reaction every time you try it. Trial and error is really the key to newborn photography.

Don’t have too many props! Sometimes props can be intimidating to both the baby boy, baby girl and mother. Get some baskets, wraps (a wrap must always be present in any type of newborn photography), some cute little outfits, bean bags, blankets, cute bags with messages on them, a backdrop, a stand, some maternity clothes, some pink, blue, orange-colored toys, DYI props and maybe even some animals. Some dogs are great with babies and you must admit that dogs and newborn twins look amazing together.

Get the whole family involved! An outdoor shooting with some nice poses/posing will get you the money shot. Posing with a newborn baby doesn’t allow you too much space to move, so to speak, and that is why you need to find some inspiration. We suggest you find some photography companies that you like online and follow their work. Be it maternity photos, lifestyle or newborn photography, we all can learn from each other. Read the online reviews about the photo studios before you delve in.

Folks, there are a billion photography studios in the U.S.: there’s one in Portland, Philadelphia, Austin, TX, Houston, San Francisco Bay Area, Dallas, Seattle, Omaha, Orlando, Indianapolis, Sacramento, Milwaukee, Charlotte, San Diego, Atlanta, Denver, Los Angeles, Chicago, Utah, NYC, NY, Miami, FL, Raleigh, Phoenix, Hawaii, Birmingham, Des Moines, Oregon, Baton Rouge, Baltimore, Richmond, St. Louis, Buffalo, Newport, RI, Charleston, Jacksonville, FL, San Antonio, Columbus, Boston, Ohio, Las Vegan, Tampa, Kansas, Northern Lincoln, Tulsa, Long Island, Cincinnati, Michigan, Virginia, Madison, WI, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Washington, DC and there’s definitely one or two in Hollywood, CA.

There’s one in every city, so try to make yours special! Be it through pricing, packages or a smile on your face!

5 Must-Have Newborn Photography Props

Looking for some fun newborn photography props? You’ve come to the right place, because we’ve got 5 must-have newborn photography props that will help you capture the perfect photograph. Before we start the countdown, remember that you should keep it simple! And one thought before you leave to go shopping: newborns are extremely delicate, so buy things that would not pose any threat to them.

5. Animals

We know that working with kids and animals is one of the most difficult things in the photography industry, but if you know your stuff and do it right, you’re got a winning photo in your hands! The secret is to use dogs or cats, that are used to people, kids and noise. They must be very calm, so if you’ve got an old dog, that’s great. Young and energetic dogs are a big no-no when it comes to newborn photography.

4. Fur

It can be faux or real fur, but babies look amazingly cute when placed on fur. We suggest you use fake fur, firstly, because it’s the humane thing to do and secondly, because you’ll need to wash them after every use. And real fur costs a ton to dry clean and it would cost you a small fortune to do this after each use.

3. Hats

Hats and an amazing prop for newborn photography, so buy as many and as diverse as possible. Make sure you choose soft hats that also stretch. If you have trouble finding a spot where to buy them, get someone to make them for you.

2. Blankets

Newborn baby photography wouldn’t be the same without blankets! We know it’s one of the most boring props in the world, but a blankie will forever soothe a baby and that’s what you’re looking for when you’re photographing babies.

1. Wraps

In our opinion, wraps are the number one and best newborn photography props. It’s mainly because newborns generally love to be wrapped, they feel safe and they fall asleep right away. Also, you can photograph infants while awake and in their wraps, they tend to look calm and relaxed. This is because newborns tend to get alarmed and even scared by their own dangling arms and legs, and once you’ve wrapped them well, they calm down. Also, some parents don’t like their newborn babies to be photographed naked, so wraps are a great option!

5 Newborn Photography Tips

Never Place an Awake Baby in a Prop! They can harm themselves, they can get scared and the entire photos shoot is going to be a massive fiasco!
Never Rest a Sleeping Baby on a Hard Surface! Always make sure that the surface on which you are placing the infant is lined with soft fabric. You want the child to be as comfortable as possible, so that they sleep as much as possible.
Never Leave a Newborn Unattended! We just had to mention this one, even if leaving a baby unattended sounds like something nobody would ever do. Their parents will most likely be there with them, but also have someone there whose only job is to keep an eye on the baby so you and the parents can talk.
Never Have Untested Props! Let’s say you got a new prop, a cute and rustic crate. The first thing you should do is to make sure that the bottom can hold a baby’s weight. The last thing you want is an accident happening while moving the props.
Never Use Glass as a Prop! It may be cool, but glass breaks and that is simply too unsafe for a newborn.

Good luck and remember that creativity is the best thing you can bring to a newborn photography shoot!