Babies can be the most challenging and rewarding portraits to take, but can also be the most frustrating.
Babies pretty much live in their own world - they sleep, cry and eat when they want to, and have no clue about posing in front of a camera. Creating the perfect baby portrait, when done right, will certainly be rewarding.
Be armed with the tools of child psychology and patience and photographing babies would be much easier - your chances of success should improve this way. Babies over six months may be shy and won't react well to a complete stranger. This is where child psychology plays a major role, as you put yourself in the shoes of the baby, try to speak its language, play with it, or even IMAGINE yourself as a baby. You can use your car keys in this capacity. But when the baby reacts to your makeshift entertainment, you have to be aware of what you have to do, which is create a baby portrait everybody can enjoy. It can be an especially huge challenge taking a portrait of a newborn baby. At this age the baby will not be active, so it's better to focus on close-up headshots. Adding the right amount of ambiance can be achieved with natural light from the baby's bedroom window.
As for babies several months old, their senses are more developed and thus are more playful than others. The child will get tired easily, so working fast is paramount.
Babies seven months or older can be very tricky to shoot. This is because these babies are prone to boredom and will want to change position in a minute or less.
Baby photography is rewarding, as we have mentioned, so if you've decided to open your own studio specializing in this, you can't do without a lot of toys for babies and toddlers. For the background, pastel colors are perfect regardless whether you shoot in color or black and white.
Parents may be worried about the affect of studio lights on their baby. You have to confidently explain that strobe lights are safe even for babies. Try to explain this before it becomes a concern.
And don't physically interact with a baby unless the parents expressly give you permission. Parents by nature tend to be protective and don't exactly trust complete strangers holding or lifting their infants.
A finger in a baby's mouth looks cute and all, but it should not be shot in such a way that the face gets obscured.
One quick and final advice when dealing with baby portraits - always get the parents' consent before selling the photos to an agency. There is a large market out there for baby pictures but agencies or magazines won't touch them without the parents consent. You may be tempted to show off what you can do on baby portraits, and while that is all well and good, you should also put proper child care at a premium when shooting these photos.
Babies pretty much live in their own world - they sleep, cry and eat when they want to, and have no clue about posing in front of a camera. Creating the perfect baby portrait, when done right, will certainly be rewarding.
Be armed with the tools of child psychology and patience and photographing babies would be much easier - your chances of success should improve this way. Babies over six months may be shy and won't react well to a complete stranger. This is where child psychology plays a major role, as you put yourself in the shoes of the baby, try to speak its language, play with it, or even IMAGINE yourself as a baby. You can use your car keys in this capacity. But when the baby reacts to your makeshift entertainment, you have to be aware of what you have to do, which is create a baby portrait everybody can enjoy. It can be an especially huge challenge taking a portrait of a newborn baby. At this age the baby will not be active, so it's better to focus on close-up headshots. Adding the right amount of ambiance can be achieved with natural light from the baby's bedroom window.
As for babies several months old, their senses are more developed and thus are more playful than others. The child will get tired easily, so working fast is paramount.
Babies seven months or older can be very tricky to shoot. This is because these babies are prone to boredom and will want to change position in a minute or less.
Baby photography is rewarding, as we have mentioned, so if you've decided to open your own studio specializing in this, you can't do without a lot of toys for babies and toddlers. For the background, pastel colors are perfect regardless whether you shoot in color or black and white.
Parents may be worried about the affect of studio lights on their baby. You have to confidently explain that strobe lights are safe even for babies. Try to explain this before it becomes a concern.
And don't physically interact with a baby unless the parents expressly give you permission. Parents by nature tend to be protective and don't exactly trust complete strangers holding or lifting their infants.
A finger in a baby's mouth looks cute and all, but it should not be shot in such a way that the face gets obscured.
One quick and final advice when dealing with baby portraits - always get the parents' consent before selling the photos to an agency. There is a large market out there for baby pictures but agencies or magazines won't touch them without the parents consent. You may be tempted to show off what you can do on baby portraits, and while that is all well and good, you should also put proper child care at a premium when shooting these photos.
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