We have a brand new baby (7 weeks old!) and are having a hard time getting good pictures of her. In addition to our lack of experience and “eye”, we have a digital camera so we have the “lag” to deal with as well.
Please give me some tips / advice on how to get some beautiful pictures of our beautiful daughter?
I find the best pictures are taken without the flash. (But make sure there is enough light from other sources.) Flash is too harsh and glaring. Also, make sure to get close enough so that the baby fills most of the frame. (And congratulations on your new baby!) 
Congratulations!
Take a series of pix, one right after the other, moving the camera just slightly. Work fast, don’t overthink it. Use ambient light, flash light is nasty - early morning sunshine is the best. Or just lamplight, I’ve got some good ones I took of my twins sleeping in bed.
Are you trying for poses? Or to catch that perfect cute moment? I think just taking lots & lots of pix & ignoring the duds is the easiest way to go. Getting it “just right” is more a matter of luck than anything else.
I think that’s part of the problem … we’ve been relying on the flash and leaving the camera on the “Auto” setting.
I’m going to search for the manual and find out which settings are best - that will probably help immeasurably!
(Plus then I’ll learn how to turn off the flash …).
Does your camera have a “red eye” flash setting? It’s a series of tiny flashes that last about 3 seconds, then the actual flash. That series of flashes really gets a baby’s attention, and they get real still.
If your camera has a “portrait” mode, use that.
Better still, if your camera is slightly more advanced and has aperature-priority, open the aperature as wide as possible (smallest F number).
This will shorten the depth of field, making stuff behind Baby pleasantly blurred. In a very closeup shot, this really looks nice.
Auto is fine, if the flash is going off just move somewhere brighter. Or set your exposure time to something fairly fast (1/125 as a minimum, I think) and keep the aperture on auto (if your camera doesn’t let you do this just turn off the flash and let it decide for itself what to do). If you are somewhere bright, like outside and the sunlight is casting shadows on her face you can use a “filler” flash - turn on the flash even though your camera says you don’t need it. But never, ever use flash indoors with the baby in front of a wall because that just looks ass. Post pictures!
Yes, no flash. The best natural light is 1 hour after sunrise or 1 hour before sunset.
If you’re going to use house lighting, check to see if your camera has a white balance setting - move it from “Auto” to “Incandescent” You may need a tripod to avoid blurring from camera shake.
The others have already given a lot of good tips. As far as lag goes, you should be able to cut that down somewhat by holding the button down halfway. When you do that, it gets all ready and focused. Then all you have to do is wait for the right moment. The best part of digital is that you can see your photo right away and don’t have to worry about blowing a whole roll of film to get one good photo. Snap away. You’re bound to get something good!
Do you have a window on the south side of your home? Southern facing morning light plays beautifully on translucent baby skin. Example 1. Example 2.
Your baby should take up 90% of the picture. See how this one is better than this one?
I’m nowhere near a professional photographer, and my camera isn’t a fancy one, but I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. For me, the two biggest things are to remember to turn off the flash and get close.
From experience: remove the lens cap.
Those are adorable pix!!!
Here’s that one of my twins sleeping, the light was just a nearby lamp and I took about 15 shots to get this one that I like
Also, there are some backgrounds that will ALWAYS look good - like a pumpkin patch. The kinds of things they use to show off how well cameras & printers work, those things photograph well w/a baby in them, too.
fessie, that’s a great shot - and wonderful use of available light!
(And sweet little baby cheeks!)
Just a suggestion here…
Find some spot outside where you can take a picture of your kiddo about the same time each year. Believe me, the time will go much faster than you expect, and it is really cool to see how much the kid sprouts over the years.
I’ve got a picture of my son each year at the same place: a big rock where the Minnehaha Creek empties into the Mississippi River (one year I had to carry him out there through shin deep ice water).
Used to be, he was much shorter than the rock. Now he’s twice as tall as the rock.
I love those pictures.
Enjoy your little one. Tomorrow she’ll be asking for the car keys.
There is a series of books called something along the lines of “How to Photograph your Baby” and “How to Photograph your Family” that are excellent at explaning how to get really good pictures from any camera and any skill level. I noticed they aren’t available from Amazon now, but I know I’ve seen them in big bookstores recently.
Let me summarize all my photography training in one paragraph - “Fill the Frame” is an excellent rule. But, remember to get a variety of shots to create visual interest in the photo album that these pictures will go into. So, do a lot of close up shots, but also get some “big picture” scenes. Take horizontal and vertical pictures. Pay attention to the background (and the foreground) because you dont want a lot of clutter in the picture. A solid colored sheet can be used as a backdrop when needed. Also - as said earlier, placing the baby near a window will almost always give you nice diffused lighting. Try to get down to the baby’s eye level, don’t make all the pictures looking down from adult level. I second everything mentioned earlier about avoiding indoor flash when you can and using outdoor fill flash when necessary. Most importantly, take A TON of pictures. Especially with digital, there’s just no reason not to.
Also: try placing one of her eyes on a diagonal. This isn’t really a rule but is helpful when you’re trying to decide how to compose a picture. I think it is more important than the rule of thirds when doing close-ups.
Get down on their level. The giant parent shooting down at the kid gaurantees a bad angle for the shot.
And, as has been said, fill the frame. Unless the setting is the primary focus *ha( of the pic.
Don’t be so quick to give up on the auto flash. Often, esp indoors, a flash will make the difference betweeb a sharp pic and a motion blurred pic.
The problem with a really young baby, as I’ve found out, is that they don’t really do much. It’s difficult to get a photo which isn’t just of some family member holding the baby. So, I just take a gazillion photos, and zoom in to try and eliminate the background.
I find the flash is fine. Sometimes you can get a nice effect with the flash if the background is quite dark it will end up being under exposed to the point of being black, but baby will be nicely lit, such as here. I quite like that effect, ymmv of course.
Also, using photoshop or some other editing software to change the image to black and white can turn an ordinary photo into something a bit different.
I am no great photographer at all, but I have a great time taking photos and seeing the results. good and bad.
Some more tips with examples (I’m really just using this as an excuse to put up some of my baby pics :).)
I have a lot of fun with little Emily resting against my legs like this. Then I take as many photos as I can hoping to get various different expressions. She’s pretty young, less than four weeks in the photos so I’m lucky if she just has her eyes open.
Don’t be afraid to get in close, and feel free to experiment with editing software, just make sure you always keep the original as is.
It’s always nice to have Mum in the shot. And lastly, always include your dogs in your photographic activities, or they’ll feel left out :).
Lots of good advice here. Shoot LOTS of photos, use ambient light when possible…get down to their level. Sometimes the most interesting photo is NOT the one you were planning.
A couple of years ago, I wanted to take a photo of my toddler next to a pumpkin. I tookthis one while I was getting her in position. I did not tell her to lick the pumpkin 
I entered the photo as a lark in a local competition and won honorable mention .
This is an obvious example of using ambient light…and then editing into a B&W image.
I’ll pimp out the rest of some photos while I’m at it
Have fun!
