Best Ages for Baby and Infant Professional Photography
A baby’s first year is an important time to start documenting their life with professional photography. Even though the parents may be snapping away, a portrait professional can capture the baby in unique, artistic ways and produce professional archival prints that will last for generations. Understanding the importance of the task, many parents wonder when are the best months in the first year for professional infant photography. The following are some guidelines that identify what can be expected at the different stages of the baby’s first year or so.
Newborn - Newborn photography session should ideally be done in the first three weeks - particularly the first 10 days. In the first 10 days, the babies are easier to work with as they are less fussy and they will not have their baby acne yet which usually sets in around day 16. Beautiful images of naked newborns laying down or in their families arms are an incredible beginning to documenting a person’s life, and should not be missed.
2 to 3 months - This time is still considered newborn, but the babies are often much harder to work with at this age as they tend to be very fussy. They will have better head control than in the first month, and they usually can smile at this point, but do not count on getting a smiling portrait at this age. Most posing will involve the baby laying down on back or stomach, being propped up, and being held in arms.
4 to 5 months - Most infants are quite chubby by this time, and are much better at smiling and making faces. These babies are still not able to sit up, but they are more able to interact with people and toys. This is a perfect time to capture chubby arms and legs, and bare bottoms - and you may even be able to get them to smile on camera.
6 to 7 months - Finally! The baby can sit up and has much better body control, and there are more option for posing. Sessions can be done outdoors for the six month old portrait, but choose the location carefully as these infants love to put everything in their mouths. Because they do not tend to be mobile yet, this is a golden age for infant portraits to capture them sitting and smiling with pets, siblings, and a great age for family portraits too.
8 to 10 months - Often by this age, the infant is crawling and the sessions get very active! Consider a white background session in studio for a clean, classic look - but be ready to bring toys to distract the baby to stay in the area of light and continually reset the baby to the right spot. for very active babies a better choice for professional photography may be at the home if these is plenty of natural light so that the baby can roam and the photographer can follow.
11 to 14 months - Within this age range, most babies are pulling up, standing, “cruising” along furniture and then walking. This is a great age for location sessions to give the baby more room to move around than in the studio. A One Year portrait session should be done sometime in this age range to document the milestone of turning one and starting to walk. This is another key session to document a baby’s development.
Now then - what are the best ages for professional baby and infant photography? Based on my experience as a baby photographer, I would recommend doing the newborn session (5 to 10 days old), a 4 month session (chubby baby parts), a 6 to 7 month session (sitting), a 9 month session (crawling, expressions) and then a One Year portrait session when the baby is standing and just starting to walk (12 to 14 months). The one to skip would be the fussy 2 to 3 month old. If you only do three - make sure to do the newborn, the 6 month baby portrait and the One Year Baby Portrait. When ordering prints, order professional archival prints that will last for generations. This is the best gift you can ever give this baby (they will treasure them as an adult) and your future generations.
