The perfect newborn photography posing flow for stress-free studio sessions

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I’ve been photographing newborns for ten years and have been doing posed newborn portraiture for about nine of those. Over this time, I’ve developed a standard newborn posing flow to help keep my studio sessions moving along while photographing the greatest variety of poses possible. I generally do 10 to 11 newborn poses, in addition to family portraits, so having a plan and flow is extremely important. If you’re new to newborn posing, I highly recommend that you create a plan and flow for yourself. Pick out the poses you want to do, write them down, and then arrange them in the order that makes the most sense. For example, you don’t want to remove a baby’s swaddle only to have to put it back on for a pose later. Having a plan in place makes everything more efficient and allows you to create easy transitions. Write your plan on a sticky note that you can reference during the session to remind yourself of the posing flow. I’m going to share my perfect newborn photography posing flow below, along with instructions for how I achieve each pose and how I move from one pose to the next. You’ll see how I create easy transitions and allow for a variety of newborn poses while keeping the session moving along.

1. I start with family photos.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how I capture family photos during a newborn photo session:

The perfect newborn photo session posing flow

The perfect newborn photo session posing flow

The perfect newborn photo session posing flow

The perfect newborn photo session posing flow

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Swaddle the baby for family photos.

For family photos with a newborn, I like to swaddle the baby for efficiency (and less mess). I give parents the option of swaddling their newborn or having the baby nude in the family photos, and I’m comfortable posing both. However, I also let the parents know that there’s a 50/50 chance their baby will pee or poop on them if nude, and I always recommend swaddling if there are siblings. Around 90 percent of parents choose the swaddle for their family photos. Here are some benefits of a swaddle:

A swaddled newborn in a back-lying pose.

2. Next, I do macro photos.

After the family photos, I capture a quick swaddled-baby photo, and then move to a prop where I can get close-up shots of all of baby’s features (hands, feet, mouth, eyelashes). I do a modified swaddle with the baby lying on his or her back (in a diaper) for these photos. The swaddle usually has a twist in the middle so that both hands and feet are showing.

A newborn baby in a modified swaddle in a back-lying pose.

Macro details of a newborn in a back-lying pose.

3. Now, I’ll transition to my first three blanket poses.

Once I have my macro images, it’s time to move on to the first three blanket poses: side-lying, tushie-up, and elbows-out. I always remove the diaper first, as these are nude newborn poses.

PRO TIP:

Always change the baby’s hat into whatever you’ll use for your next pose before moving them. This way you don’t have to jostle the newborn’s head out of the new pose you want to photograph while putting on a new hat.

Side-lying pose

For my first blanket pose — the side-lying pose — I need to move the baby from the prop I was using for the macro images onto a blanket backdrop. To do this gently, I tuck baby hands into a prayer position beside the cheek that will be up against the blanket and gently roll baby to that side, while lifting and supporting the baby with my body, neck and cheek so that the baby feels supported and snuggled. Then, I lay the baby down on the blanket backdrop with his or her head closest to me (bum closest to the backdrop) and tuck the hands under the cheek. I adjust the height of the baby’s head and feet with posing cloths under the blanket.

Tushie-up pose

For the tushie-up pose, I cross the baby’s feet so that the back foot rests on top of the leg closest to me, and then I turn the baby’s bottom up into the air with the knees tucked up under the belly. Knee placement is super important to keeping baby from getting fussy here. You want to keep the baby’s body tucked in a ball. Next, I move the newborn’s face and top hand closer to me, while moving the bottom hand (which is farther from me) out from under the baby and placing it on the blanket beside the baby so it is out of sight. Lastly, I adjust the cushioning to raise the head and bum, which creates adorable back wrinkles.

The perfect newborn photo session posing flow

Elbows-out pose

This is one of the toughest transitions for babies, so don’t be surprised if it takes you a while to master the elbows-out pose. I recommend taking the baby’s back hand and moving their arm all the way around until it’s in front of their face. Then, lift the head and front hand together to move the baby up onto that back hand. The elbows should be pointed out with the arms making a triangle shape. Next, position the baby’s chin over the hands so that you don’t get squished cheeks or lose the lips. Adjust the foot closest to you so that it points outward (bonus if you can also keep the back toes showing as well) and adjust the cushioning so that the hands and head are lifted and the foot is perpendicular to the baby’s body.

The perfect newborn photo session posing flow

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4. Next, I move the newborn to a prop.

For the easiest transition, use a prop where the baby will be in the same elbows-out position. To lift the baby while keeping the pose, use one of your hands to hold the baby’s hands and head and the other hand to hold the baby’s bum and feet. Simply pick up the baby and place him or her down onto the prop in the same position. Sometimes a baby won’t do the elbows-out position on the blanket but will like it in a prop just fine.

If you want to spice things up, try a different prop here where you can do another pose, like tushie-up on a bed or sitting in a posing pod. Just imagine where baby’s head and bum need to end up so you can pick her up and support her in a way that you can easily lay her down into the right pose without much adjustment.

My fave places to shop for props

PRO TIP:

Look for scarves at H&M, TJ Maxx/Marshalls, Target, etc. to use as wraps and other added textures.

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5. Now, I change backdrops for a second round of blanket poses.

The first blanket backdrop I use is always off-white. It’s timeless, goes with every color scheme, and looks great with every baby. But for the second blanket, I let the parents choose the color. Most stick with another neutral, like gray or taupe, but some go for colors. The most popular colors for my clients are blush, pale blue and navy blue.

On this second blanket, I do taco pose, froggy pose and fallen froggy pose. Now that we’re over halfway through the session, the baby is much more used to being handled while sleeping and has often drifted into a deeper sleep. When this happens, it’s usually easier to do these “difficult” poses (which will be just as easy for you as the other poses with practice!).

Taco pose

Place the baby onto the blanket facing you in a seated position with his or her legs straight out in front of them. Cross the foot that is closest to the direction the head will go over the other foot. Do a forward fold, bringing the baby’s head down to the side with the front hand under the cheek and the back hand resting on the blanket behind them, out of sight. I like to do taco pose with the feet stacked behind the arm and elbow of the front hand, others do this with the feet under the wrist. Try both and choose your favorite. Lastly, move your cushioning to raise the baby’s head and support any floating knees.

The perfect newborn photo session posing flow

Froggy pose

Use an assistant for the froggy pose and plan on compositing two images together. This is the safe way to do this pose, which I demonstrate fully in the video below.

Before moving the baby from taco pose, add the cushioning where you want it to be for froggy pose, with a lot of support in the front and center and smaller ledges to either side for the feet. From taco pose, take the baby’s hand that is under his or her cheek, move it out and tuck it so that the hand is cupping the jaw with the baby’s fingertips on their cheek. Hold that position with one hand, while gently lifting the baby up and placing their other hand under the other side of their jaw. You should then be able to hold both wrists and the baby’s head with one hand, while you use your other hand to gently pull the baby by their ankles up onto the little hill you created with the cushion.

The baby’s legs should have a slight bend and open feet. Bring the elbows of the baby down to rest on the top of the cusion hill. The farther out the elbows, the more supported the baby will be. When the baby pulls his or her elbows back, he or she is more likely to topple. But if the elbows are too far out, the baby will be looking up (which can be cute, too). Play around and see what you like. Do a set of photos with the newborn’s head supported by the assistant first, then a set with the assistant supporting the baby’s wrists/hands. The first photo will be your main photo. From the second photo, you only need the top of the baby’s head.

The newborn froggy pose should always be done as a composite.

Watch my froggy pose video demonstration

In this froggy pose demo video, I’ll show you step-by-step how to safely do the froggy pose with a newborn. I created this video during a session to show you the posing transitions, little adjustments that make all the difference, and how I have a parent assist me in creating the composite image.