Newborn Photography Quick Tips & Tricks

Do you see all those adorable newborn pictures and want to give newborn photography a try? Here are some quick tips for working with newborns, plus links to past tutorials on photographing and editing newborn pictures.

Quick tips for newborn photography

A few newborn photography tips:

  • Get the space REALLY warm and keep it really quiet
  • Use blankets that do not show wrinkles and that do not have a sheen
  • Don’t shoot from a perspective that has the camera looking up their nose
  • Don’t get so close to the baby that  you ruin the image for certain image sizes (like 8×10 or 5×7); best to move back a bit and give yourself room for a variety of crops
  • Pay attention to the small details, like how their hands, fingers, feet are laying

Tips for newborn photography and editing

A few newborn editing tips:

  • Make Levels your best friend when editing 😉
  • Get very familiar with the lasso tool and Hue/Saturation adjustment layer for fixing red splotches and purple feet
  • Know how to smooth the skin without smoothing to the point they look like plastic baby dolls
  • Learn the blending trick for the blanket background
  • Zoom in and make sure to erase the little baby zits they have and remove the goop that is often in their eyes

I do have a baby-specific action called Baby Clean, which I use when editing newborns. Baby Clean is available in the Everyday Essentials set, but in October I will have a new set especially for editing babies.

If you want to delve deeper, here are some Everyday Elements posts written on photographing and editing newborns:

**Special thanks to Lisa from A Piece of Lisa Photography for allowing me to use her precious newborn photos!

About Amanda

I am passionate about helping others learn how to use their DSLR cameras and editing programs. More information about me can be found at my About page, or by visiting my personal blog.

Comments

  1. This post is awesome Amanda. Newborn pics can be a TON of work. This is super helpful. Thank you!

  2. Great tips Amanda. I love these photos! So cute.

  3. Thanks so much Amanda. I’m about to have #4 and thought I would give newborn photography a try. I’m not expecting anything huge (if I can get one good picture I will be stoked!), but all the tips and tricks in relation to the actual photography and editing is perfect timing. Thank you so much!!!

  4. Great tips! I really needed some of these. I have a couple friends who want me to take their newborn pics and I always get so nervous to do them. Pinned it!

  5. Sandy Tracy says:

    Can’t wait for your new baby actions! I already love your baby clean!

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