Lockdown is putting strain on us all, but parents with a new baby are missing out on all those exciting plans for the new arrival, including professional photos.

Here are some tips and options that you might not have considered from Bristol photographer and educator Nick Church

My sister’s baby arrived last week - and she’s beautiful! But along with the stream of loving and supporting family and friends unable to visit due to COVID-19 restrictions, Jen was also disappointed that I would not be able to do the newborn photoshoot we had planned for her and Florence. As a family and wedding photographer and new uncle, I was disappointed too. The first few days and weeks are particularly precious as the baby changes so much in this time.

But don’t worry, there are always options available, even in times like these.

Socially-distanced professional shoots..

After giving it some thought, I figured I could do a quick shoot for Jen and Florence and still fall inside the government guidelines on activities and social distancing. By adjusting my daily pushbike exercise to go past their house I was able to take some socially-distanced photos of her and baby. With my longest lens attached, we were never less than 5 metres apart and yet I was able to get some beautiful shots of them both together, all in the space of about 10 minutes.

The front garden can be a beautiful spot when shot in the right way. If you have space that would allow distancing and you would like to consider this, please contact us.

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Take your own pictures…

Many parents resort to taking their own photos which can be successful depending on experience and equipment. Nick Church Photography runs a ‘Newborn Home Photography Webinar’ which helps parents get the best quality photos of their new baby with the kit they have.

Here are some extracts from the Webinar for you to make an immediate improvement in your photos:

Baby Position:

So we have baby in their crib or maybe on a soft mat. We want to angle the crib / mat so that ideally the light is coming to them from the side, and slightly from above. If you imagine baby at the centre of a clock, then you want the window at about 10 oClock. You should now have one side of their face nicely illuminated with the other side a bit darker. To get a really lovely shot, you now need to tweak things so that a bit of light spills onto the ‘darker’ side of their face.

Camera Position:

You can now shoot from directly above for a ‘whole baby’ shot, or move down more level with the baby to capture their expressions - come down to the side with the light on, not the other side. You want the background to be darker than baby if possible as this will make for stunning photos.

We tend to hold our phone upright, but usually you can get better photos by holding it widthways. That’s what we do with cameras without thinking about it, so a landscape orientation shot rather than portrait already looks less iPhone-y.

Close-ups:

Don’t forget to capture details like hands and feet in close-up. Don’t be afraid to FILL THE FRAME with baby’s face, feet and hands. Get your camera close to the area you are photographing, and get down at the same level so that there is a good distance behind the area. For example for hands, get right down and shoot towards the baby’s face. Touch the screen on the hands so that the camera focusses there. Because you’re close you should get a bit of a narrow depth of field where the bits around the area you’re photographing are creatively blurred out.

Take LOTS of photos…. LOTS!

Us professional photographers cheat. We take 1000s. Do the same, you can always delete all the duff ones later.

newborn home photography webinar - More information?

These tips and many more to really take your baby photos to the next level are included in our ‘Newborn Home Photography Webinar’ along with example images and diagrams to explain exactly how to setup the various scenes.

Bristol wedding photographer and training provider Nick Church

There are sections on colour and black and white images, and even how to get some lovely shots of mum or dad with baby and advice on how to shoot outdoor scenes.

Nick Church Photography Webinars are 50% the usual price at the moment so the 60 minute session is just £25, and I will also donate £5 of each ticket sale to the Official NHS COVID-19 Charity.

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Contact us now to get more information and a list of webinar dates