Tips for Taking Pictures of Newborns

Taking pictures of a newborn baby is something that you will want to do, saving fond memories of a friend or family member's precious little one or your own precious little one. However you may be frustrated in the quality of the prints, because you turned off the flash because you wanted to make sure that the newborn baby was comfortable while you were taking the pictures. There are some things that you can do help the chances of getting quality pictures of the newborn baby as well as making the occasion of taking pictures pleasant to the newborn baby.

Turn Off the Flash
Newborn babies' eyes are very sensitive to bright lights, therefore you do not want to have a camera flash going off as you take their picture, so be sure to turn it off. When the baby is asleep you can turn it on, any time that the baby has their eyes open just remember to turn it off.

Turn Off Red Light
Some cameras have a red eye reduction that shines a red light on the subject of the picture that you are taking. You will want to turn this off as well because it would be very unpleasant to the newborn baby.

Avoid Windows as Your Backgrounds
When you are taking pictures during the daytime, when the sun is shining, avoid taking pictures in front of a window. Since you have no flash turned on your camera the pictures will not turn out well, the sunlight will be too bright and the subject will be too dark. Now if the window has blinds or a curtain you should be able to take the picture and the sunlight will not dominate the picture. If the day is kind of gray you might be able to get away with an uncovered window.

Use Natural Light
Don't shine a light in the direction of the newborn baby, have the overhead light in the room on to cast a gentle amount of light on the newborn baby that they will not be overwhelmed with. You can use outside light as well, you won't likely be taking pictures of a newborn baby outside but you can take pictures where an uncovered window can shine into the room. Keep in mind though that the sunlight that is coming from the window is not too bright and overwhelming for the newborn baby.

Maximize Your Chance of Getting the Perfect Picture
If you have a digital camera you should take as many pictures as you can. That way you will be more likely to get a great picture, a picture in which the lighting is good so you can see the baby well and the picture is not blurry. If you don't have a digital camera and will be taking pictures with a 35 mm camera keep in mind that you get a four pack of rolls of film for about twelve dollars and get the rolls put on CDs at about three or four dollars per roll. Then you can just pay to print out the ones that you want.

Hold the Camera as Still as Possible
Since you won't have a flash on your camera you will want to make an extra effort to keep it still while you take the picture to help insure the chances of the picture not being out of focus and blurry.

Taking pictures of your newborn baby is a great way to remember the memories of the time that your child was that young and it is nice that you can make the picture taking experience a happy memory for your newborn baby too.