Stay Ready
You can never know when your baby will do something entertaining or do something for the first time. For that reason, you always need to have your camera nearby and ready to go. That means making sure you have plenty of film if you use a film camera and making sure your have enough room on your memory stick or card if you use digital. You will also want to make sure that you have enough battery life in your camera at all times. Many parents use more than one camera, too. You can even put a disposable camera in the car or diaper bag for times that are just too cute to pass up.

Get Candid Shots
Some of the sweetest pictures of babies are candid shots. You can take memorable pictures of your baby taking a bottle, sleeping and smiling. Candid shots look much more relaxed and natural than posed shots and you will only feel frustrated trying to be posed shots anyway. Babies are notorious for not cooperating for posed pictures. Do not waste your time and take candid shots instead. Do not forget all to take pictures of every part of your baby, such as those fat little fingers or those tiny toes. Those are always sweet reminders of this young age. If you have a good zoom lens, you can often take great candid shots of your baby from a distance. These are great because your baby will never even know you are there.

Take Pictures in Black and White
You cannot get very many adorable pictures of your baby taken in black and white or in sepia tones. You can guarantee that grandma and grandpa will be gushing over those, too. Most digital cameras come with black and white and sepia settings, so take advantage. In addition, when you take black and white, you do not have to worry about what your baby is wearing, because everything looks good. The more natural the pictures the more fun you will have looking at them in the future. Kids caught doing what they do best is always a showstopper. They offer hours of enjoyment and catching all the excitement counts.

Take Many Shots
You should take many shots of your baby doing the same thing. You may take twenty-five of your babies crawling of the first time, but may only get two or three that are worth using. The more pictures you take, the more you have to choose from the better. It is always best to take more than not enough. A professional as well as armatures know, that not all pictures turn out, especially if you use a high-speed camera. Just keep taking pictures to ensure you capture the moment.

Do Something with Those Pictures
The last tip is to make sure you actually do something with your pictures after you take them. So many people leave undeveloped rolls of film sitting around for months or never print their digital pictures. Babies grow and change too fast. You should make it a point to print and share your pictures every week. In addition, if you use digital pictures, you should always make sure you back up your pictures onto a disk on a regular basis. You certainly do not want to lose these irreplaceable photos. This has happen too many successful photographers and does cause quite a commotion when you lose all your precious moments that you never again will see.

Jerry J. Jansen
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The first rule to live by with baby photography is that, as a matter of face, they ARE the boss of this shoot.  The entire process has to be built around that fragile mood of this child.  But there are a couple of tricks of the trade you can use, professional or amateur to get the best shot of that sweet baby.

Baby’s respond well when they are fed and rested, with people they know and trust and when they get all the attention.  So right off the bat, you as mom and dad can see to it that the shoot happens when requirement number one has been met.  Now, that is not always easy.  If you have an appointment to take the baby to the get his or her portrait made at the local photography studio, that mood may not be the way you want it to be.

That is why, if at all possible we would discourage taking the shots in a studio.  If you can set up a shoot at the baby’s home, where there is a comfortable setting and much that is familiar around, you have many more opportunities to get that smile that will make the portrait of a lifetime there.  Now that calls for a “house call” by the photographer but if he or she is a photographer that wants only the best shot of the child, they will work with what you want.

Another advantage of scheduling the shoot at home is that you know when the baby usually is at his or her best so you can schedule it when that time of day is just right.  In fact if the photographer can show up during nap time, there is plenty of time to stage the shot before the angel awakens.  And by eliminating the car ride to the studio, you take away a huge risk of that fragile mood going south en route.

A second tip comes from the fact that babies like people they know.  So if the photographer has time to meet the child, play with him or her and get a rapport started, then they will be more receptive to playful direction to get the shot you want.  You will have to be clever how you introduce the camera as it can either be an object of fear or looked upon as a toy and the baby will want to play with it.

As far as the camera goes, think about the kind of equipment you will utilize to get that perfect baby portrait.  You want it to be portable, so you can do those on location shots that work so much better.  It should be small, both for portability and to not alarm the child.  Digital is best because you can shoot lots of shots and never have to reload.  But make sure it’s a good quality piece of equipment that will shoot at a high resolution so when you get that prefect shot, it will transfer to a portrait printing nicely.

By setting up the room with the kind of backdrops that will create a good portrait, you can then have the baby begin to play with her or her toys and interact with parents, siblings or the photographer in a happy way.  Before long that sound of the camera clicking and even the flash will become familiar and the baby won’t pay it any mind. 

The best shots are of the baby laughing.  Try to get on the same level with the child as he or she plays.  Mom and dad know the notices or games that always get a giggle so exploit their inside information extensively.  The baby will enjoy getting to know you and hearing those familiar games coming from you should do well at getting that sweet laugh or smile you want.

By learning the baby’s personality and how to get in sync with the child, you can coax pictures from the shoot that might other wise be impossible to get.  And that is what you want if a portrait of a baby that you want to last a lifetime.

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Jerry J. Jansen
http://jsdigitalsales.com
http://qualitybinocular.com
http://qualitybinocularsstore.com
http://nikon-digital-camera-accessories.com
http://websitesbyjs.com
http://jerryjansen.name