I thought we could talk about some of my most common newborn photography poses. These are poses I do in nearly every session. Sometimes I’ll swap one out for something else, but these are my favorite, my tried and true.
First up is parent posing. I love this toes out wrap for mom poses. It contains baby, keeping them secure and warm. But also allows mom to snuggle up close to their baby. After this wrap, I add a few layers and turn it into what we know as the potato wrap. Because they look like a little potato, clearly. This gives a great hold for dad’s, and allows me to incorporate mom into the poses while keeping them snuggly together.
Here I have a potato wrap in a basket, I took my wrap from the dad pose, and changed out the wraps to be a different color. This is a great wrap for baby’s that come in awake, or have a strong startle reflex. They feel so safe, snuggly and warm, they almost always relax into a deep sleep in this one.
Newborn photography poses: prop poses
The next one is just like mom’s wrap, called toes out. This is how I usually capture a ring photo if I’m doing one. I love the criss cross of the wrap, it adds so much dimension to my sets.
Everyone loves a bucket pose. It’s one of my most chosen images. There’s just something about a cute little baby sitting in a bucket that pulls at those heart strings. I love that it shows off their fingers and their adorable little faces.
Newborn photography poses: table poses
Froggy. This is my absolute favorite pose. I will wait out the touchiest of baby’s to get it. I think in my 10+ year career, I could count on one hand the number of babies that I couldn’t get to fold into it. This one takes the longest usually. Getting their feet up, their hands relaxed and against their cheeks. Here’s my newborn photographer PSA: this pose is a composite. That means it’s two images put together later in Photoshop. Froggy should never, ever, under any circumstances be done in one photo. Someone’s hands should ALWAYS be on baby. Their startle reflex is so strong they could seriously harm themselves if they are made to support those big heads alone. Also, their wrists should not be relied on to support baby’s head. Ok, I feel better. Let’s move on.
We call the pose on the left bum up. Because, well, you can see why. I love this one. Lately I find that babies don’t love it as much. But it can be hit or miss. It’s so sweet to capture those back rolls. The pose on the right is sometimes called egg wrap, or huck pose. I love it to showcase how curly babies are. I’ve had some babies that will put their toes in their ears they are so curly.
This is sidelay. I love it. It’s like they took a little couch nap while they were at the studio.
The session wouldn’t be complete without honoring some of mom and dad’s favorite things. Mom loves Harry Potter and brought in her own crocheted set for a harry potter look. Dad likes Star Wars, and I had just gotten in this little set. I couldn’t resist making them both smile. Mom and Dad ordered this trio in a storyboard, I can’t wait for them to see it finished!
