What's the Best Age to Photograph a Baby?
I'm often asked by my current and potential portrait clients - "When is the best time to have you come photograph my baby?"
My quick answer - "Right now before they grow anymore." Okay, so I'm joking a little bit, but I really do think that it's easy to put off things when you're a mom. I mean, you have a zillion things to get done in a day, so naturally it's easy to put off things that seem like they can wait. After you change the diapers, make the meals, clean up the meals that get spilled on the floor, get everyone dressed, get them dressed again since they managed to dirty their clothes the instant they put them on, spend 30 minutes doing something productive, and then put them down for a nap, you're just about ready to start it all over again. Trust me - I get it (all too well:)
In all seriousness, if I had to pick the best ages for a baby, photographically speaking they would be:
*Newborn (preferably in the first week of life, definitely within the first two weeks)
*6-8 months (once your baby can sit up but before they can really start to move fast)
*1-year
I know this doesn't follow the popular 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 month plan that most moms adhere to, but it works VERY well photographically.
Newborn portraits focus on the pure and innocent nature of the baby. We work together to make sure we get detail shots of all of the little baby parts, lots of bareskin images, photos of mom and dad with the baby (and any siblings), and some sleeping images often with the baby in different spots around the house - ottomans, dining room tables, master beds, shelves, baskets - we pretty much use whatever we can and what the baby will tolerate. I think the biggest hesitation I have from clients is that they are so tired and overwhelmed that it's hard to think about portraits. My advice - just get yourselves ready, don't worry about what you look like (your baby thinks you look beautiful no matter what) and definitely don't worry about cleaning the house too much. Whatever your house looks like, I can almost guarantee that my house looks worse. And obviously your baby is already ready because their bareskin works well for almost everything.
6-8 months - we schedule the session once the baby is sitting up well. This allows us to be more creative with our portraits since I can pick where I think will look best and the baby will probably stay there (not for long though - ha!). I can get his/her attention fairly easily and they just look so darn cute with their curious eyes.
1-Year Olds - this is a very popular time for portraits, second only to newborn photos. They are walking, talking and getting into everything! There are lots of possibilities for incorporating your child's favorite things to do, eat and see into this session. If you want, you can have a cake at the session as well that your child can eat at the end. The biggest challenge at this age is usually stranger anxiety, so we make sure that we make time for allowing the child to get to know me before the session really gets going.
My quick answer - "Right now before they grow anymore." Okay, so I'm joking a little bit, but I really do think that it's easy to put off things when you're a mom. I mean, you have a zillion things to get done in a day, so naturally it's easy to put off things that seem like they can wait. After you change the diapers, make the meals, clean up the meals that get spilled on the floor, get everyone dressed, get them dressed again since they managed to dirty their clothes the instant they put them on, spend 30 minutes doing something productive, and then put them down for a nap, you're just about ready to start it all over again. Trust me - I get it (all too well:)
In all seriousness, if I had to pick the best ages for a baby, photographically speaking they would be:
*Newborn (preferably in the first week of life, definitely within the first two weeks)
*6-8 months (once your baby can sit up but before they can really start to move fast)
*1-year
I know this doesn't follow the popular 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 month plan that most moms adhere to, but it works VERY well photographically.
Newborn portraits focus on the pure and innocent nature of the baby. We work together to make sure we get detail shots of all of the little baby parts, lots of bareskin images, photos of mom and dad with the baby (and any siblings), and some sleeping images often with the baby in different spots around the house - ottomans, dining room tables, master beds, shelves, baskets - we pretty much use whatever we can and what the baby will tolerate. I think the biggest hesitation I have from clients is that they are so tired and overwhelmed that it's hard to think about portraits. My advice - just get yourselves ready, don't worry about what you look like (your baby thinks you look beautiful no matter what) and definitely don't worry about cleaning the house too much. Whatever your house looks like, I can almost guarantee that my house looks worse. And obviously your baby is already ready because their bareskin works well for almost everything.
6-8 months - we schedule the session once the baby is sitting up well. This allows us to be more creative with our portraits since I can pick where I think will look best and the baby will probably stay there (not for long though - ha!). I can get his/her attention fairly easily and they just look so darn cute with their curious eyes.
1-Year Olds - this is a very popular time for portraits, second only to newborn photos. They are walking, talking and getting into everything! There are lots of possibilities for incorporating your child's favorite things to do, eat and see into this session. If you want, you can have a cake at the session as well that your child can eat at the end. The biggest challenge at this age is usually stranger anxiety, so we make sure that we make time for allowing the child to get to know me before the session really gets going.
posted by FireFly Images - St Louis Photographer at
4:26 PM
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