Baby Milestone Photo Tutorial

Monthly baby pictures are all the rage nowadays, with little chalkboards and number stickers being sold everywhere you turn, and with good reason. I absolutely love to see my friends and clients post growth pictures with little snippets about their kids' personalities each month. While I'm not typically one for extra frills with my photos, I do indulge in the monthly growth pictures as well, and after a full year of photos with one, and now four months into photos with another baby, I've picked up some tips and tricks along the way that I knew I just had to share in this baby milestone photo tutorial.

Shooting Location

If possible, shoot at the same time, in the same location, every month. The sun and lighting color and direction changes throughout the day, and shooting around the same time is the only way to see how your baby has truly changed. I wasn't consistent with this at all with my first, and I really can never tell if her skin color is changing because of the lighting, or because it's actually changing in her photos. With my second, I've tried to be more consistent, and as you can see in the photos below, the color of the blankets is exactly the same, but her skin is slowly losing it's rosy hue as she grows up, and I know it's not just lighting!

Lighting

When possible, use indirect, natural window light and turn off any overhead lights. I shoot in the brightest time of day in my apartment (10 am), and we have sheer curtains that give us a nice soft light at that time. As you can see above, I put my daughter facing that window, and the results is a bright light, with catch-lights (the little light reflections) in her eyes and flat, pleasing light on her face. Natural light also has the bonus of giving you the best color and skin tones in your photos.

Choose Your Location Wisely

With my first daughter, I decided to take her monthly photos with a bunny, on the floor from overhead. I did not even consider when she was just one month old, that by the end of all of this, she would be crawling away and too large for me to get in the frame on our rug. Halfway through her first year, I had to switch rugs (a totally different color), and by her birthday, we were up on the bed and I couldn't get her to lay flat for longer than 10 seconds, so it was always a circus. This time, I've gone with our bed, which has good light, will allow for growth and sitting (which is generally the best position for all ages), but we could still prop her up when she was younger so she wouldn't just fall over.

Consider More Than Just Monthly Photos

I have a confession, I actually take milestone pictures every week, in addition to every month. Sure, it's a bit of a pain sometimes, but I have an alarm on my phone every week, and every month on her birthday, and we just snap away first thing in the morning. I loved having 52 pictures of my first daughter, and it's so fun to have the tradition continued with the second. I also use this opportunity to get less traditional shots, like her little toes, her with her binkies, or any new tricks she has learned in the last week. I also always take a few sibling shots and daddy-daughter shots during this time as well.

Get in the Photos!

I will probably say this in every article I ever write, but it's so important! In addition to our standard monthly photos, we take family photos once a month as well. This ensures that I have at least one photo where everyone is in it and hopefully looking, but also makes sure I'm in the photos, which is rare. Our monthly photo shoots are some of my most treasured pictures from our oldest daughter. We never take these shoots too seriously, and just set up a tripod and mess around, and I would recommend that approach to anyone. It really lets the kids' personalities shine through.

Do you wish you had a better handle on the photography basics with your milestone pictures?

So many professional family and newborn photographers get their start when their kids are born because people realize how rewarding it is to document little ones. If you are wanting to learn to take better pictures of your kids, Tenley Clark and I have a great online photography course for parents callled Capturing Everyday Magic.