Photography Poses
In a typical birth, I’ll take hundreds of photos, and narrow your album down to 30-60 images, depending on your preferences for things like having copies of images with color variations, preview images, edited images to redact identifying patient information, and more.
But sometimes, babies don’t want a typical birth. They’ll decide they’re ready to come out in a matter of 35 minutes, or stubbornly stay in a breech position despite multiple attempts to turn them, or you may have complications that require emergency intervention.
When we need to think on our feet and change plans, we may find ourselves in a situation where I’m not available to capture the “typical” un-posed birth images, and we may need to supplement with some posed images. Or we may have plenty to choose from, but perhaps some of the images below are exactly the type of images you’d like to have in your album!
I’ve compiled a few sample images from my own portfolio, and reference images from other photography blogs shared on Pinterest and Google Image Search. You’re certainly welcome to browse “birth photography” or “fresh 48 photography” to find more inspiration images, and send those to me to show me what you like. Even if I wasn’t the photographer who captured the image, I can tell you about the image composition to determine if we can capture these photos at your birth photography session.
Gallery 1: Snuggles with Mom & Dad
We’ll get plenty of photos of mom holding baby, but some of my favorite images are the ones where dad comes in close to get in for some forehead kisses, gentle touches, and quiet words just for the two of them. I may pose you enough to make sure there’s not large uncomfortable gaps between you. “Dad, I want your left shoulder behind her, and I want you to lean your heads in together… and dad, can you tilt your chin up just a bit?” I’ll put you into position, and then I want you to relax into each other, breathe your baby’s scent in, and make the moment your own - count fingers and toes, point out that baby has mom’s nose or dad’s chin, talk about your favorite moments from the delivery, smile at each other, give a gentle touch, and let the magic happen.
Gallery 2: Fingers & Toes
These poses might take a bit of experimentation to get the framing and lighting juuuust right. But it’s worth the few extra minutes and posing adjustments to see these cute little fingers and toes, the way they squeeze around your finger, stretch, and wiggle - it’s always exciting when these come out well in editing. It may require some lighting adjustments with curtains or blinds, some creative positioning with blankets and swaddles, using extra lights or a flash, and crumpling up blankets on the bed around them to make things look extra snuggly and cozy. I don’t bring props with me like backdrops, blankets, and swaddle sacks, so we’ll work with what we’ve got! The shots where mom and/or dad have their hands in the photos can be the more tricky ones to get right, especially if the lighting isn’t very bright in the room.
Gallery 3: Dad Was Here, Too!
Sometimes in all the hustle and bustle, all the focus is on mom and baby, and dad can feel a bit left out, like maybe he’s in everyone’s way, and dads can often feel like they’re out of place. I try to stay alert to wait for the sweet quiet moments where dad is hovering over his sweet baby at the warming table, getting weighed in the newborn exam, or fighting back tears as he watches over his beautiful family.
These are the moments I try the hardest NOT to interfere in - some men can be really skittish about showing their sensitive nurturing side, and I don’t want to ruin a beautiful moment if I said something that might make them feel self conscious. But if your partner is comfortable embracing guidance or direction, these are almost ALWAYS the big hits of the album that make mom happiest, and every album deserves to have a few of them!!
