So you have a new baby or a toddler and you are trying to figure out how to photograph them, huh? Believe me! I’ve been there. Photographing babies and toddlers is a whole world of it’s own. They don’t listen, don’t stop moving and think that they are playing a fun game by running away from us! I’m here to help! I want to help you by giving you some tips of how to photograph your baby or toddler!

Something I realized after being a professional photographer for a few years was that if I wasn’t intentionally taking photos of my babies and kids, I would forget. I loved taking photos, but after shooting 3 weddings in a weekend, I just wouldn’t naturally want to get my camera  out and take pics of my kids.

Also, I realized that if I only took photos with my phone, I would be missing out on some beautiful photographs of my kiddos. So I had to choose to photograph my kiddos on purpose, with a purpose! I wanted to capture my kids doing everyday things in a beautiful way!

Photos taken with my phone were just less appealing than the photos taken with my SLR. I love the beautiful bokeh created with my favorite lens and I feel like these capture our lives so much better.

I mean, look at those precious toes!

Capturing everyday moments in a beautiful way is one of the reasons I love my SLR more than my iphone camera (don’t get me wrong, I take photos with my iphone camera all the time, but I don’t love the photos as much! 

How to take great photos of your baby or toddler

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1. Get a Good SLR Camera.  You will be using this for a long time!  There are a million different ones to choose from. Generally, I recommend buying the best you can afford, but only purchase the body without all the extra kit lenses. Those lenses are OK, but will not produce the beautiful images like the ones here. Save yourself the money and purchase an SLR body only and then purchase the best lens you can afford!

I took these images with this camera. I’ve had this camera for 8 years and have loved it! I’ve shot hundreds of weddings, families senior portraits and my own family for the last 8 years with it. Thousands and thousands of images. 2. Buy the best SLR fixed lens you can afford. I own some top of the line canon lenses, like the Canon 50mm 1.2, the Canon 35mm 1.4 and the Canon 85mm 1.8  but I recently purchased a less expensive lens to bring on my recent trip to Honduras and I used that to create the images that you see here. I love the way this lens worked and I’m so thankful that the price was more affordable! This is a perfect lens to start with! Its under $100 and works like a a charm! Perfect for taking photos of babies, toddlers and kiddos! 

3. Put your camera on Aperture Priority. Most cameras will have some kind of aperture priority mode- you might need to look at your camera’s manual ( or the easier way is to google it or watch a youtube video tutorial!). Crank your aperture as wide open as you can get it and let the camera do the rest.

Here is a quick tutorial on how your DSLR camera works:

There are 3 elements of creative control-

Aperture: the size of the hole through which the light comes (controls the depth of field or blurry background)

Shutter Speed: How fast the shutter opens and closes to allow light in (controls either blurring motion or capturing a still image)

ISO: the sensors sensitivity to light (controls the amount of brightness bring absorbed by the sensor)

When you put your camera in Manual mode (ideal for pros, not so ideal for new moms), you have full creative control of all the 3 elements of your image.

When you put your camera in Aperture or Shutter Priority mode, you control the element of creativity that you care about, and the camera sets up the other 2 parts of the puzzle. If you care about capturing bokeh, or that wonderful blurry background, set your camera to Aperture Priority mode and then let the camera do its magic! There are tons of tutorials about this on youtube as well!

4. Capture your baby or toddler in their natural environment! I love to capture babies on the floor on blankets, snuggled up, or toddlers in their high chairs. Toddlers are typically a moving target, which is why I love taking photos of them in their chairs! The are stuck and doing something that they do at least 3 times a day. So you are capturing the everyday, while they are still! 🙂

5. Get down on their level. When taking photos of babies and toddlers, getting a perspective change and getting down on their level helps you to capture them in a new way and how they view the world! It makes for way better images, so get on the floor, get on your knees or whatever you need to do to get on your baby’s level to capture him in his world! Here are a few examples: 

6. Shoot straight down! This is another perspective that gets overlooked. But it is easy with babies!  This perspective also captures kids and babies in a new way! Here are a few examples of what I mean:

7. Photograph your Babes, toddlers and kids doing things they love to do everyday. My son brings us books all the time as a request to read to him. It is so precious. Morning snuggles happen almost everyday, so it would be easy to overlook these moments for photographing, but once they are gone, they are gone (soon your “baby” is going to be 14!) so capture these everyday moments while you can!

What to do with your Photographs of Baby & Toddler

1.Get them on the wall! One of the easiest things to do to get your images out of your computer and onto the wall is to order a canvas print. Just start with one or a gallery (3-4 smaller images from a scene) and get it on the wall!  Easy Canvas Prints is offering a great deal right now!ORDER NOW for 75% OFF all Canvas Prints and FREE shipping!

2. Get your baby images in a book- Another really simple way to get your baby amazing face out of your computer and into your life is by putting it into a book! These books are easy to make and are so much fun to look through from years to come! They are perfect gifts for grandparents and aunts and uncles! Make a baby photo book with Blurb 

3.  Get your images printed! Sometimes the easiest thing to do is to just get those photos off your computer and on your fridge, wall or in a frame! Get a deal on printing here at shutterfly.com!

Still need help photographing your baby or toddler?

If you still need help with how to photograph your baby, try one of these great online courses by some incredible artists!

I hope you enjoyed these 7 tips on how to photograph your baby or toddler! I would love to know if you have any questions or what worked for you! Let me know in the comments below!