I regret not taking more photos of the twins in the very early weeks after bringing them home from the hospital. Babies are only that tiny once; however, with two babies, I didn’t know what to do, it was just simply too hard to find the time, and someone was always crying. But 6 weeks later, I’ve figured out a routine and I’ve learned how to take great photos of my babies (nearly) every day and I’ve partnered with Baby Dove to teach you How to Take Great Photos of Your Newborn, even if you’re just taking photos with your phone camera!
First, you have to figure out when your baby is happiest. And by happiest, I sometimes mean simply not crying. In those very early weeks, a baby is either awake and wants to eat or they’re asleep. So, you may need to experiment and have your photo op set-up and ready, and if your baby wakes up and isn’t crying and you can snap a few photos, great! If not, feed your baby and wait for the next chance, which might even be the next day. Or take photos of your sleeping baby! Once the baby gets a bit older, the amount of time that they are awake will increase and you’ll be able to figure out when they’re happiest. For me, I take photos first thing in the morning before feeding the twins their 8 a.m. bottles, when there is no chance at spit up (oh reflux!) and when both babies are happy and alert.
At 8 a.m., I walk into their room, shut off the sound machines, open the curtains and blinds, spread a white blanket out on the rug, grab a couple cute outfits, make sure my camera and phone are ready nearby and then cheerfully say good morning to the babies as I get them out of their swaddles. I then change each baby into a clean diaper and fresh clothes. While I do this, I clean their faces with Baby Dove Sensitive Moisture Baby Wipes to wipe away any milk residue around their mouths from the night before, grab any boogers from their noses, wipe off any eye goobers, and any loose, dry skin. I then apply some Baby Dove Sensitive Moisture Baby Lotion to any areas of dry skin – usually their eyebrows and around the nose. 
I use Baby Dove because Baby Dove cleansers and lotions are made with 100% skin-natural nutrients for delicate baby skin. Baby Dove is created with no dyes, no parabens, and no phthalates and is fragrance-free. The Baby Dove Sensitive Moisture Tip to Toe Wash is great to use for bath time. When I first brought home the babies, I would give them a bath in their baby bathtub once every 4-5 days, but as they got older, I now give them a bath every other day and Baby Dove Sensitive Moisture Tip to Toe Wash really helps to replenish the essential moisture and nutrients of the skin lost through bathing. After their baths, I use Baby Dove Sensitive Moisture Baby Lotion, which contains nutrients that are 100% identical to those found naturally in skin and helps provide moisture all day.
When I first started taking their morning portraits, I would take the photos of the babies from above when they were in their cribs. Their cribs have a lot of natural, bright light and I have fun, bright, and colorful sheets on the mattresses which provide a good background.
But when I want to photograph them together, I put them on a white blanket spread out on the rug in their nursery. This way, I don’t have the crib rails getting in my way or my photograph and there’s enough room to add props. Using a doll or stuffed animal in the photograph can show just how big (or how small) the baby is and how the baby is growing. Other props can include signs (letterboards and chalkboards are popular right now) with sayings or information about the baby or monthly stickers or notecards saying how old the baby is.
For my monthly photos, I put the babies in DIY onesies with numerical sayings on them such as “Buy One, Get One Free” or “Two Peas in a Pod.” I’ll continue with this monthly number theme until they’re a year old!
I usually have a pacifier nearby in case someone gets a little fussy (because big brother hit his little sister in the face) and I already have their bottles prepped and I’m ready to feed them as soon as I’m done so there is no crying. I never push them to take photos – if they get hungry, I stop and feed them. There’s always the next day to try to take photos.
A few more tips on how to get that great photo:
- Use natural light! Turn off any room lights and open up the curtains and blinds and use natural light only. Trust me – it will make for a better photo!
- Photograph your baby on a light background. A white or light-colored towel, sheet, blanket, rug, will do.
- When they’re only week-old newborns, you can swaddle them in pretty muslin blankets in order to get those cute, sleepy newborn photos. Shirts with sayings are hard to photograph because little hands often get in the way (trust me, I’m an expert on this – see my monthly baby photos above), but brightly colored clothes are great for photos!
- You can also grab a pack of the fancy diapers with cute designs printed on the bums to get some cute diaper photos. I don’t diaper my babies in those diapers all the time, but I’ll buy a pack or two just for some cute photos.
- Personally, I like to photograph my babies when they are lying flat – I don’t like to use pillows to prop them up, it just doesn’t look natural.
- Just keep clicking! I have to take SO MANY photos just to get the one photo where both babies are in focus, looking at the camera, smiling, etc. Remember, it’s digital, you can always delete the bad photos.
And all of this applies whether you have an expensive fancy camera or you’re just using your phone’s camera. My rule is that whatever camera is in your hand is the best camera! But one last step: run your final photos through an editing program or app in order to lighten the photo and brighten the colors. Don’t worry, you’re not Photoshopping your baby, you’re simply color correcting. There are several free or inexpensive apps available to help you with this and it makes a lot of difference for that final photo. Just make sure to keep it natural and don’t go too far.
And no matter what, just take photos of your baby! They’re only teeny tiny once, so grab those photos while you can.
While there’s no one right way to parent, there is a superior way to care for baby’s skin. Find out more about Baby Dove products by visiting BabyDove.com and click here to print a coupon for Baby Dove products.
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Baby Dove.