Photograph your newborn baby safely

When I first started researching newborn photography, I found out everything that I could about doing posed and propped baby sessions.To create pictures with some of the really popular newborn poses the photographer needs to have someone assisting them – the "froggy pose" being one of them. These assisting hands are later photoshopped out of the pictures.

I love that documentary photography allows me to create natural pictures of the baby in a safe manner – without all the extra.If you do want to take some pictures of your baby safely, here are a few options to consider:

Lay your baby down safely

One thing you can do is to put your baby in their bassinet or on a soft blanket – any place you can safely lay them down on their back. Then you wait for them to do cute things - which is all the time really - and take pictures from above or from the side. Yawns, smiles, cries – they all are cute things to photograph.

Make sure that your camera strap is around your neck, so that you don't drop it!

If you are placing your baby down in a bowl or basket for pictures, place some weights at the bottom under a bunch of soft towels and blankets to make sure the item is sturdy and won't tip over if your baby moves around.

Hand baby off to trusted hands

Another safe option is to photograph your baby as they are being held – by your partner, by a family member, by friends, by older siblings. With siblings, it may be best someone is close-by to supervise and support.The bonus with these pictures is, you get pictures of your baby with the people you love.

Be in the pictures

Hand over the camera to someone else who can get pictures with you and the baby. It  could be a partner, family member, friend – or photographer.It doesn't matter who takes these pictures; the important part is having pictures that you are a part of.

Keep baby warm

If you are taking pictures of the baby without clothes, make sure that baby is warm enough. Usually this means around 80 degrees or a bit warmer.