Baby Portraits
One of the questions I get asked more than anything else is, “What’s the best age for a baby portrait?” I could argue that babies are so precious, any time it is convenient for you is a good time to have them photographed. But there are a couple of milestones that I love as a photographer.
Milestones
Some people think “even” months mark important landmarks, like 6 months and 1 year. I do think there’s some fun in this because it’s the way we recognize all important things in our lives, anniversaries, birthdays, half-birthdays. But babies develop differently, and 6 and 12 months don’t necessarily correspond to any personal milestones for them.
Other people don’t go by the calendar, but rather achievements, like when baby starts to crawl or walk. The trouble is, this can be impossible to schedule, and even if the timing is right, the child may not feel like crawling or walking once the camera’s there — it doesn’t give a lot of leeway for moods, and for the baby to be him or herself. Parents and the little one feel the pressure for the “achievement” to happen on camera, and pressure isn’t great for creating a comfortable, enjoyable atmosphere to generate natural expressions.
2 Best Ages for Baby Photos
For me, there are 2 ages you won’t want to miss recording as parents. Which affords you the chance to plan, as well as leave space for collaboration with your child’s personality. Yes, I consider it a collaboration, even when it’s a baby I’m photographing. Everyone involved can sense the energy around, even though they might be small.
Newborn
The first age you will want to capture is, newborn. Ideally a few days to 2 weeks old. The number one regret I hear from moms and dads is that they wish they had professionally captured their baby when he or she was very tiny. There can be deterrents to making this happen. (Mainly the fact that new parents have their entire world turned upside and no one in the house is sleeping.) So I recommend you get an in-home newborn session on your calendar around the time you’re completing the nursery. That way, when the baby arrives, it’s just a matter of adjusting the scheduled appointment – something you can do on auto-pilot.
If you didn’t schedule it in advance, don’t worry! But do make the time to book it. There’s no way to reverse time, which will become more and more obvious to you as the years go by. I promise any stress you might feel will be worth it when you have these photos to cherish when your little one goes off to pre-school.
Around 9 Months
The second age I recommend for a baby portrait is 8-10 months. Again, every baby is slightly different, but somewhere in the 8-to-10-month range, most babies become very smiley or at least engaged. They are somewhat mobile but not walking. You’ll notice they are interested in what’s going on, and respond to people smiling and laughing. They seem to want to participate. And they’re curious about the camera. This makes for great eye contact, with positive expressions.
We can’t control what the baby will feel like doing that day, so I hesitate to suggest all 9-month-old babies will smile for portraits. But in my years of experience, many of them do. And the ones that don’t look fantastically photogenic anyway. They look interested and thoughtful and curious, and show loads of personality.
It’s also a wonderful moment to capture because they are still truly babies. Once a child turns one, we begin to think of them as a toddler. The weeks and months used to mark milestones start to morph into years. I agree that a first birthday is important to capture, but if you want proper baby photos, a few months earlier will get you beautiful results.
Documenting Your Baby’s Life
If you only do two photo sessions for your baby, I recommend you do a newborn session, and another one at 8-10 months. This way, you’ll have a document of the sheer tininess in the beginning, and some that capture the tenderness of babyhood when they’ve developed to be more engaged. I won’t discourage you from booking a cake smash when they turn 1, either.
