In a time where you can’t bring a photographer to the hospital or your home, I want to make sure that you don’t miss out on capturing the memories of your sweet newborn. I am here to share with you 7 tips on taking your own Lifestyle Newborn photos at home.

1. Be Patient : don’t put too much pressure on yourself, your “photographer”, or you’re newborn. If your little one wants to nap, let them nap. If they want to eat, let them eat. Maybe take photos for 10-20 minutes and then give it a rest and come back to photos later. Deep breaths, you’ve got this!

2. Natural Lighting: shut off all those artificial lights (overhead lighting, lamps, etc) and open up the shades and blinds. Use an area with soft, even lighting. What I mean by this is to avoid putting your subject in areas with spots of harsh lighting to dark shadows. Move around and find that gorgeous, natural lighting. A little trick of mine for some gorgeous, dramatically-lit shots is this: have your subject go stand by the window. On your phone, tap the subject so that little box with the sun comes up. Then, drag the sun down to darken the harsh light on your subject and also darken the rest of the room. This will give you a gorgeously lit shot like some of the ones shown below (if you’re a visual learner like me, head over to my instagram @lydiajoyphotography and check out my IGTV video)

3. Little Details: don’t forget to shoot their tiny little features. Their little feet, squishy nose, ears, hair, tiny hands, and belly button *oh my gosh I’m melting just thinking about it*. Your newborn change so quickly and you’ll be so happy that you took the time to capture these sweet little details of them.

4. Timing: in the morning, you’ll most likely have the best lighting in your hospital room or home. I usually recommend sessions around 9:00am or 10:00am. This is also usually a good time for little ones. That being said, you know your baby much better than I do. After a good nap or feeding is when your baby will, most likely, be happiest.

5. Sound Machine/Music: if you’re newborn get’s fussy, no worries. There are many apps that have calming sounds, lullabies, and noises that will help calm your baby down. Also, just talking the time to gently shush them, sing to them, or run their little faces (forehead to nose) will help.

6. Simple “Backdrop”: I personally recommend limiting the props and keeping things simple. Maybe use their rug or crib sheets as a good background for photos. Also, I’m always a sucker for things with meaning, so think about incorporating a blanket, shirt, fabric, or item that was made by someone or belongs to someone who loves that sweet little one.

7. SHOOT THROUGH THE MOMENT: you’ve heard me say it before and you’ll hear me say it again. Don’t just photograph the shot you planned. Shoot through the moments that unfold. Photograph the interaction between parents and baby, siblings and baby, the yawns, crying, etc. All of those moments are worth documenting and will give you a genuine, authentic, lifestyle newborn session.

I hope that these tips were helpful for you! If you are bringing a little one into the world during this crazy, Covid-19 pandemic, please know that I am thinking of you and praying for you.

If you use these tips for your photos and end up with a gallery full of images but no clue how to edit them, shoot me an email at lydia@lydiajoyphotography.com and I’d love to help you out!!

You can see some importation for posing and lighting on my Pinterest board by clicking HERE.

You can also see a few examples below. Check them out: