Taking Joyous Baby Photos

The first thing people do when they bring a newborn baby home is start documenting its existence in photos and video. While this usually follows a predictable pattern – a deluge of completely random images, followed by a slowdown when lack of sleep and repetition takes its toll – one thing is usually true: Most baby photos are pretty dull and uninspired.

There are two reasons for this: On the one hand, everyone’s baby looks extra gorgeous and interesting to them, meaning they don’t always see how dull their photos are objectively. On the other hand, capturing your baby in an interesting moment is harder than it sounds, unless you have the time and energy to keep your camera trained on your baby at all times, ever-ready to snap a photo.

It doesn’t have to be this hard. Here are some quick ways you can ensure your photos of baby have that one essential element: Joy.

Action Jackson

Babies tend to be pretty sedentary until they start crawling and walking, and a lump of sleeping baby isn’t always the most interesting subject unless you’re that baby’s parent.

You can combat that dullness in your baby photos simply: Move the baby yourself. With one parent photographing, toss the little guy up in the air (safely) and capture him in mid-air. Or get him interested in something and dangle it so he tries reaching for it, and start snapping photos as he wriggles and squirms.

Finding Their Bliss

As with adults, sometimes the secret to finding the joy for photos of your baby lies in getting your model to enjoy themselves, so setting up your photo session around something you know baby enjoys – like having a bath or watching the dog – means you’ll get some beautiful natural reactions and expressions. And let’s face it, a smiling baby covered in bubble-bath bubbles makes for a fine portrait of your little darling.

The Element of Surprise

If you want to capture a true moment with your little one, try surprising them. Let baby play in a spot you’ve prepared with a good background and good light. Let them relax and become absorbed in some toys or other activity, and then set up your camera. Then time it so you snap a photo just as a new toy is introduced or the dog or cat is let into the house. The more dramatic the better, as you want to catch that moment of surprise, delight, or shock, all for the sake of awesome pictures.

Babies are unpredictable, but they are reliably adorable and interesting – if you can get them to do interesting things. Luckily, it doesn’t have to be that hard. All you really need is some patience and a little planning. And if that patience and planning results in a great photo, click here and we’ll turn it into something you’ll be proud to hang on your wall.