How to Pose Babies Safely

When my clients come to the studio, they often have fun ideas they would like incorporated into their newborn photography session. I will be the first to admit that photographing babies on top of daddy’s guitar, ice skate, firefighter helmet, baseball glove, golf club head, baby holding his or her head up inside a fishermen’s net, baby inside a lacrosse net and more are very fun images to capture. What we need to keep in mind when capturing these images above all is baby’s safety.

A very special newborn photography client brought her husband’s firefighter helmet to their baby’s photo session a few years ago. It was the first time a stand-alone helmet pose had been attempted. For a long time, I had been trying to think of creative ways to make my newborn picture sessions more unique. While wondering what I could do with this helmet rather than the typical pose of baby sleeping inside the helmet while being held in dad’s arms, I had a thought. For years, I had been capturing the baby holding head up pose. Why couldn’t any image be captured as a composite? At that moment, I decided to pose baby with arms folded under his chin inside the helmet. Mom spotted baby at all times while dad completed the composite steps to capture baby perfectly sleeping happily inside the firefighter helmet.

This sparked a massive amount of inquiries and new bookings.

Within two weeks, clients were bringing motorcycle helmets, construction hard hats, football helmets and more to their baby’s first photo shoot.

The most challenging pose was of a beautiful baby girl whose daddy wanted a picture of her next to a set of bones. That might sound odd but her daddy is a chiropractor. It goes without saying that clients come to see me to capture images that will be special to them for years to come. Many clients wish to incorporate images from their favorite hobby or their profession into their newborn portrait sitting.

At first I tried laying the rack of artificial bones next to a trencher bowl beside baby. This was not a glamorous or cute picture. Next, I attempted to photograph the bones next to baby sitting pretty in a bucket. Nice, my session would be completed quickly and I could go on with my day. Wrong. When I look at the images I capture, I think to myself, is this an image I will be proud of forever? If the answer is no, then I must start over.

The end result was baby holding her head up on a piece of white fluff in front of the bones, which had been placed behind her against a white background. I placed a tiny flower headband in her hair to show that this was daddy’s little girl.

This is an image I’m extremely proud of. While photographing the image I thought of those dental adds against a white background. My thought was that this would be a nice image for daddy to display in his chiropractic clinic. To date, I am contacted frequently from chiropractors around the world who would like to purchase the image for their clinics.

The very first thought that comes to mind in any image I attempt is making sure a pose is produced with baby’s safety being first. Newborn safety is paramount as it should be with any newborn photographer.

Other things to keep in mind are baby’s weight and comfort level. If baby is very fussy, waking easily throughout the entire photo shoot, jumping at each shutter release, baby most likely is not a good candidate for a pose such as baby hanging in a sling.

Will the item you’re photographing baby in support the weight of the baby? I have a trencher bowl which I love. If I’m photographing a 9 or 10-pound baby to the side of the trencher bowl, the trencher bowl will teeter to the side. Weights are placed under a blanket inside the trencher bowl to support the weight of the baby.

Prior to attempting any prop pose, baskets and buckets are layered with blankets, fluff or padding to provide support and keep baby comfortable and secure while the shot takes place. Baby must be in a deep sleep prior to any prop pose taking place. A spotter should also be within arms length of baby at all times. My technique for keeping baby safe at all times is to have a spotter (usually dad) beside baby keeping an arm right behind baby’s head. When I’m ready to take the shot, the spotter lifts their hand up for only a second. Sometimes the hand is removed during the post editing process. A neutral black or white background is easy to work with as hands and spotter can be removed in Photoshop easily. This keeps baby safe at every moment.

I love creating challenging and complicated baby photography images; however, what I love even more, is detailing and explaining how these particular images are formed with baby’s utmost safety in mind. Never would I attempt a shot with the precious life of a newborn baby if I believed that baby’s safety could be compromised in any way.

For those wanting to learn more regarding newborn safety and posing, I highly recommend investing in a professional newborn photography workshop. In person workshops are the best way to learn the art of safe baby posing. You need to decide in a group workshop or one on one training. Look for workshops or mentoring sessions that offer hands on training. This is the best way to learn and can teach you a vast array of newborn safety techniques.

Baby Safe Photography should be taught in every workshop whether in an online workshop or in person. There are many outstanding workshops to choose from. Please be sure the workshop, which you choose, teaches the importance of newborn safety and also demonstrates how to pose baby safely in numerous poses.

I highly recommend investing in a valuable education.

Please visit the Toronto Newborn Photographer | Baby and Maternity Photography portfolio for more newborn, baby and maternity pictures.