How to Take Your Own Baby Photos at Home

Babies are only small for such a short time and most parents want to capture there tiny cute little selves in as many pictures as possible! Before Christian was born, I knew that I wanted to have his pictures taken as a newborn and then again at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 1 year. 

I did some research into various photo places and options for having these pictures taken. At up to a few hundred dollars per session, I was not liking how much this would cost us for just his first year of photos.

I got a few recommendations for doing a sitting at Walmart, but they just recently went out of business....so I was left at square 1! We did find a great Groupon deal for a sitting at JCPenny. We weren't completely thrilled with any of the pictures, but did get a few cute ones! However, it seems our baby is not a fan of being moved during his sleep, so he was awake in all of his newborn pics (except a VERY few that I was able to snap during my DIY photo shoot). 

After watching a 3 day online course on newborn photography and attending a photography class on photographing babies and kids, I felt fully prepared to take my own photos. I knew about ISO and setting up for perfect lighting and had found some good ideas for props and back drops. 

Then I headed to Joann Fabric and picked out a yard of several different pieces of fabric. I think when I need new ones or want to add more variety I'll maybe try for a 2 yard piece instead. But for an immobile newborn, 1 yard was perfect.

I also picked up some wood from Menards. You can choose to get unfinished plywood and then add your own tiling, but I opted for 2 $10 pieces of finished wood instead. I place them together and so far I haven't been able to see the connections in the photos.

You will also want a piece of molding to set on the back of the wood boards where the fabric hangs down.  This will give your fabric more of a wall look.

After ironing out my fabric pieces, I then hung them on the back of our couch which is right next to a big sliding glass door that lets in plenty of natural light. Then slide your boards up to the bottom of the fabric and position your molding and props.

Ta Da!

For newborn photos you will want to try to do them around the 7-10 day old mark. We had family in town and were quite busy so Christian's weren't taken until he was 3 weeks old...ooops. 

You will also want to remember to crank the heat up. I forgot this step. Be sure to also play a heart beat monitor and/or white noise to help with keeping baby asleep during positioning. 

Since Christian was a bit older, he was also a bit more awake so we didn't get the typical sleepy newborn photos. 

Be sure to position your props so that you won't see any parts of where you are hanging your back drop. I really liked this photo of Christian but unfortunately you can see the couch where the back drop was hanging. 

This is just a snapshot of the 3 week old newborn photos I got. They aren't super professional looking and the lighting could have been better, but they captured him just fine I think. And we were able to work around his feeding schedule with no pressure. 

Click here to see more of Christian's 3 week photos. 

We also invested only $40-50 in supplies and this will allow me to take all of his milestone pictures. That's a major savings when you think about $150-200 per session with a professional photographer! 

Christian's 4 month photos. 

Click here to see all of Christian's 4 month photos. I ended up doing 4 month photos instead of 3 months so that I could get some good tummy time shots. 

How often do you get professional photos taken? Who's your favorite photographer?

 Or do you take your own photos like me? What tips do you have?