Photographing Babies – Ages & Stages

Photographing your 2 week old baby

This is the age photographers class your baby as a “newborn” and like to have photographed your baby before its 2 week old birthday.  Between one and two weeks of age, your baby spends quite a large portion of the day sleeping and tends to doze off if they are content.  Newborn up to this age are also still curly and as a photographer, I love to curl them up and show just how small they are, as they are not this small for very long at all!

Photographing your 4 week old baby (1 month old)

Your little baby is growing at a rapid rate, they are starting to get those gorgeous squishy rolls.  With most one month old babies, I don’t expect they will sleep for their entire session, some babies choose not to sleep at all – they are becoming more interested in their surroundings by the day.  I still like to wrap them up, it makes them feel secure and in many cases it helps get them off to sleep a little easier for a few sleeping photos.  Babies are not nearly as flexible at this age, it’s never a problem, but parents need to be aware that some of the “newborn” poses they like, simply won’t work on a 4 week old.  That being said, your 4 week old will still fit in many “newborn” props and in the studio I’ve got plenty of beautiful outfits to fit these “older newborns”.

Photographing your 6 week old baby

By 6 weeks of age, I personally classify your baby as a baby, not newborn.  Their personality is starting to shine and you can get some great facial expressions during your session.  It’s also a week where some babies chose to have a “wonder week”, they can be unsettled for no obvious reason and at times can take a bit more comforting to settle.  It’s never an issue, I always work with each individual baby and go with the flow, ensuring baby is happy and settled throughout the session, sometimes this means having a little extra cuddle time with mum or dad before we start photographing again.  It’s a great age and if you haven’t had newborn photos as yet, make sure you book now before they grow up too much more and loose that “little” baby look.

Photographing your 8 week old baby (2 months old)

Look out world, here I come!  Your baby at 2 months is great at giving eye contact, in most cases can handle small amounts of tummy time (not all babies like this at this age), and will be awake for their session.  Very few babies at this age will spend any time sleeping during their session – there are too many interesting things going on!  It make for gorgeous images of parents and baby interacting.  We still break as needed throughout the session as bubs will work up an appetite with all the interaction and changing poses etc.

Photographing your 10 week old baby

Your baby is starting to explore the world and in most cases has discovered their hands and feet.  They have better muscle control and can spend a few extra minutes with tummy time.  They are wide eyed and love having a chat whilst we create some beautiful portraits.  A beautiful age.

Photographing your 12 week old baby (3 months old)

Smiles are becoming more and more frequent and at 3 months of age, it’s a lovely age to capture.  Still a couple of months from sitting up, we spend time alternating from poses on the back to tummy, as well as photos with mum and dad.  I tend not to wrap babies at this age, they are far to strong to be held with a wrap, instead I’ve got a large range of both boys and girls rompers to use throughout the session.  Some families like to dress their babies in a special outfit for the photo session at this age.  Choosing clothes that have stretch, fit snugly and are comfortable for baby is extremely important.  Babies that are lying down during their session look uncomfortable in clothing like cotton shirts or denim jeans etc as it restricts their movement, and inevitably we get a great expression, but a shirt is not sitting right (they tend to scrunch up or gape constantly – and bub gets annoyed quickly when we are constantly adjusting a shirt instead of having fun).  The studio has a great range of appropriate clothing for your session, we have a chat prior to your visit to discuss your style and preferences to ensure you will love your baby portraits!

Photographing your 4 month old baby

The world becomes hilarious – well for this little one it was!  Very similar to the 3 month old in terms of the variety we can include in your photography session, however at this age, you can sit some babies up with support for a brief time to capture just how clever they are!