Newborn Posing | Calgary Baby Photography

Baby photography is an absolutely amazing job. I not only get to snuggle with adorable little newborns, but I also get to create lasting memories for families of the most incredible time in their life. I started photographing exclusively babies about 4 years ago. There was a lot more to it than I originally thought and the learning is endless. The biggest challenge to photographing babies is the posing. You not only want to be able to get beautiful poses, you also want to be able to do them safely; no pose or image is worth risking the safety of a newborn. Each pose in baby photography actually has a name (which I am sure most of my clients have heard me using and most likely thought I was crazy). Here are some of the newborn poses that I do along with a couple of tips and tricks.

1. TACO (also known as the womb pose)
This pose is one that I do not do very often unless it is requested by the parents. Getting the toes peaking out makes this pose absolutely adorable!

2. TUSHIE-UP
The tushie-up pose is one of my favorites to do. Babies tend to curl easier into this pose and it’s very cute to see the little back rolls on your baby. To get those adorable little baby rolls, you need to have the elbow and knee closest to the camera touching. In order to get the elbow and knee touching, you need to slightly curl baby towards you. You also need to put a poser or stuffer (the “beans” from photoblocks props are my favorite) under baby’s head and bum so that baby isn’t laying flat.

3. SIDE LYING

The side lying pose is usually a favorite of parent’s. It is one of the easier poses to do with babies; the main challenge is getting their hands stacked with fingers flat. This pose can be done with either one hand together or both. I have even seen side lying done with baby holding a cute little “lovey”.

4. FORWARD FACING / HEAD ON HANDS

Forward facing pose is my personal favorite beanbag pose. I love the way baby is posed on their arms because it perfectly frames their beautiful face. For this pose I like to have their whole body in the photograph rather than just their arms and face. I also like to have their little foot pointed out which makes this pose very cute.

5. WRAPPED ON BACK

Babies love being wrapped up – making this pose a baby favorite. The key to this pose is getting their hands to frame their face and their toes poking out of the wrap in the background. I love how curly a baby is in this pose.

6. FROGGY

I love this pose because it focuses on baby’s beautiful face – framed by their little hands, and then their tiny toes are peeking out the sides. This pose should be done as a composite (meaning two images put together to create one image) with hands on baby at all times.

7. POTATO SACK

In the past year, this pose has become my most requested. It also happens to be my personal favorite in baby photography. Getting the potato sack pose perfect is all in how baby is wrapped. I traveled to Ontario a couple of years ago specifically to learn how to do this pose correctly and safely (read about my trip to Sandra Hill here). I love this pose because every single baby loves it since they are wrapped so snuggly, and you can get a lot of variety without having to disturb baby. I try and save this pose for last because once you unwrap baby they tend to wake right up and are harder to settle.