When you are studying to become a Newborn Photographer, one of the biggest decisions you have to make is if you are going to venture towards the lifestyle newborn photography world (taking portraits in client’s home using their natural light and furniture like beds and couches) or the posed newborn photography world in the studio. While some photographers choose to do both types photographing their clients in their homes as well as in the studio, most photographers gravitate towards choosing one to specialize in. By specializing you can spend more time on education and perfecting your posing and lighting that reflects your environment.
As a Posed Newborn Photographer, I prefer creating “sets” in the studio, as I call them, where I have shown each parent where I want their hands and faces so I take away all the guesswork for them and they can relax knowing they are in capable hands. In a posed newborn session I will often put parents together into two different sets, as well as 2 individual sets with variations on the poses. My clients prefer to have a variety of poses to choose from because I create proofing galleries so they can choose which expressions they love best for me to edit. They feel like they are actively involved in their session and are going to receive exactly what they love best. This makes for happy clients!
Because each baby and parent is different, no two poses look exactly the same. Sometimes baby’s naturally want their head to be faced a certain way, and it’s my job to go with the flow of baby. Their comfort and safety is paramount and because clients almost always choose parent/baby portraits as part of their package, I spend a great portion of the time with clients creating different looks for them.
Let’s look at some different parent posing options that you can incorporate into your session:
Cradle Hold
This position is a go to pose for me! I will always recommend it to my clients because it’s a natural way that each parent holds their baby. The perfect pose to look down at your new baby in awe! This pose also works really well when baby is awake, wrapped or unwrapped, because the primary holder can help control any squirming. Often if baby is awake but not wrapped it can be troublesome because baby’s will naturally fling their arms about, but if you are patient you can wait for that sweet moment where they have eye contact with their parents or the camera with their arms down. And while this may not be technically perfect with the fists clenched because he was awake (pictured below), his parents loved it and I loved the connection with his eyes as you don’t often get wide-eyed newborns!
I always start off with this pose if parents like the idea of it, with one parent holding the baby. Then you can get individual portraits of each parent in this position. It’s best to start with one parent holding baby in this position and then go to another pose before switching to the other parent and their chosen poses.
Same position wrapped. Definitely the easiest parent pose when you have two to hold!
Cradle Hold with sibling added is a great pose especially with younger children who may be extra wiggly, then you don’t have to worry about baby’s position when you’re trying to pay attention to the other child. I’ll be speaking about newborns with siblings in a different post to come but just had to slip this sweet image of Mama with her two boys in here.
On Chest
Another go to pose. Babies love being on a parent’s chest as it’s so warm and comforting. This pose usually looks different for each baby because they all like sitting in a certain way and I like to do baby led posing for it. So sometimes a foot is out, sometimes they are all tucked in. There is no wrong or right pose, it’s what’s best for that particular client and again this pose is a client favourite. Again I would pose both parents individually in this position if it’s their favourite choice and get portraits of them together and separately.
A little bit of a variation on the one above
When Dad is in this position I like to transition to the next portrait I’ll share with you because it’s a very natural way of leaning baby back.
Baby in Hands
I like this pose for Dad’s because it always makes their babies look so tiny in their big hands. I pose Dad to the side and do variations where Dad is looking down at baby, looking towards my camera, and depending on their mobility leaning down to give butterfly kisses or a kiss on the forehead. This pose can also work great for Mom’s who want to give butterfly kisses too!
We can then transition to this variation on that pose where you add the other parent in and get them to look down at baby, look at each other and even look at the camera. The more variety in each pose we can give you the better choices for your gallery.
Up Close
This is a great pose to get really close knit parent portraits. I love how baby’s face is right next to Mom or Dad’s. You can get a variety of portraits from this pose including looking down at baby, looking up at camera, looking down with eyes closed like you are sleeping soundly together and kissing baby on forehead or cheek wherever the parent naturally reaches.
Looking up with baby by themselves and with partner.
Giving baby a kiss.
Baby On Arms
This pose I tell clients is best done when baby is sound asleep otherwise they turn their heads, start rooting and squirm and we are not able to get the desired pose. This baby led, so sometimes arms and legs dangle, sometimes they are tucked, we play it by ear and what baby naturally settles into and what feels comfortable for the parent too.
A great variation of baby on arms.
Baby in Prop with Parent
Some parents bring in props that mean a lot to them like this handmade Cradleboard or a Firefighter’s helmet. We work closely with parents to see how we can safely place baby in the prop or have it near by if it’s not possible. Safety first!
Of course there are lots of variations on each pose to fit each baby’s size, flexibility and parent shape. It’s important to remember that no matter the pose you choose for your parents portraits, you will love them because they are of you and your sweet new baby!
I hope this helps with any questions you have on Parent Posing! If you are ready to book your newborn session into the calendar or have more questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me through the Become a Client contact page.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you!
~ Jen
You can see a shorter version of this blog post as a published article on the Accredited Professional Newborn Photographers International (APNPI) website. I love to help other photographer’s be the best version of themselves by helping to create resources for the APNPI community. I am also the Vendor Liaison for APNPI and if you are a newborn photographer who is interested in learning more about Accreditation or Newborn Safety, I encourage you to check out the website for more information!
