Oshawa Newborn Photographer | Posing

As an Oshawa newborn portraits photographer I pride myself on only producing newborn images that are safe baby led posing in other words photography health and safety.  There are a number of poses I will create with the newborns I photograph.  I will only create poses that are within the capabilities of not only my skills but within the babies limitations, therefore I will not take images of certain poses if a baby is in anyway uncomfortable or un-safe.

Babies will protest if they are uncomfortable. For example, if uncomfortable a baby may squirm more than normal, may cry, or may not settle enough to get into that deep slumber that is necessary for posed photography.  If this is the case in any of my sessions we move on to the next pose.

I have created a list of poses that I am trained in producing with babies and have done many times in the past.  Some of which are more difficult than others but all within the safety and capabilities of babies and myself.

Oshawa Newborn Photographer | Froggy Pose

The froggy pose tends to be a family favorite as well as a favorite of mine.  This pose is actually a composite of two images put together in photoshop, therefore allowing me to never have my hands off of baby.  I merge the images together and edit out my hands to create the perfect image.

This pose can not ever be completed with taking hands off of a newborn.  They don’t have the bone density or muscle development at such a young age therfore can not physically hold there head up on their wrists.  A newborn’s head weighs the majority of their weight and as such they can not physically hold that up even leaning on their wrists.

Positioning of this pose is essential.  The wrists for example need to be closer to the outer edge of the chin.  I always think of it as I should be able to see the outer edge of both hands.  The reason for this is due to asphyxiation.  If their wrists are too far back that may constrict their tiny throat therfore preventing them from breathing properly.

The feet should not be under the body as this prevents blood flow to those tiny toes.   At not point should skin be purple or bright red as this may mean blood flow is restricted.

This is a pose that baby must be asleep for.  This is to prevent movement and keep baby as safe as possible.

Oshawa Newborn Photographer | Sidelying Pose

The sidelying pose is loved by some babies and hated by others. This pose has the risk of having a startle reflex which is why my hands don’t leave the baby until they are asleep and they have relaxed.  While I’m not far away taking the image I do also ask my assistant to spot right beside the baby.

 Newborn Photographer | Head on Hands

The head on hands pose is liked by many babies.  It tends to be soothing for babies with tummy aches or gassy.

For this pose I take the picture from front of baby and side of baby.  The baby is laying on their tummy therfore the head faces forward or slightly to the side and legs go straight to the back.

With this pose one must be careful to not have chin digging into those tiny fragile fingers.

Oshawa Newborn Photography | Bum up

The bum up pose can be difficult for some newborns as the legs are bent and placed underneath them as well as one variation is with ankles crossed.  Some babies don’t mind this at all where as others are very uncomfortable in this position.  The hands are placed under face or very close to the front and the body is slightly angled with bum more to the back or the view.

Newborn Posing | Egg Wrap

The egg wrap is a pose that may only be completed when baby is asleep, therefore, harder to complete with babies that are unsettled or light sleepers.  It is achieved by laying them partially on the back with feet aimed towards to back of the drop.  The legs are bent at the knee and crossed over to cover their private parts than a wrap is placed aroung the outer surface of the body and tied at the back.  Hand placement and feet placement can vary, therefore sometimes the hand can be placed under their cheek, on their feet etc.  This pose can be a bit more difficult due to a babies startle reflex thus needing an asleep baby.

The wrap simulates feeling secure and curl into a ball just like in the womb therefore most babies love this pose.

Newborn Posing | Wrapping

Often when parents are in the studio they  marvel about my ninja wrapping skills.  I even sometimes get asked for a lesson on how I achieve the perfectly sleeping baby.  I have another blog post going over How to Get a Newborn to Sleep that parents have found extremely helpful. It is a learned technique that takes patience and lots of practise.

Wrapping a baby is a beautiful way to show case the babies perfect little features.  It makes for an artistic and cozy way to feature a beautiful baby.  Wrapping also can aid a photography session with smaller babies, babies that don’t like to be touched as well as if parents don’t like naked table poses.

There are a large number of variations of wrapping. Some wrapping techniques involves toes out and hands out, some babies are swaddled completely, some have bows or knots.

A number of babies will protest during the wrapping and that is ok.  Once the wrap is complete they usually settle in and decide this is a great place to be.

With any wrapping photographers must make sure the wrap is not too tight.  There definitely needs to be some firmness for the baby to feel secure and not bust out of the wrap.  Wrapping should not change body parts a purple colour resulting in lack of blood flow.  Breathing too tightly may also restrict breathing if it is tightly compressing the chest of a baby.

Potato Wrap 

My favorite wrapped pose is the Potato pose.  This pose is a composite just like the Froggy pose.  One image is of my assistant holding by the body and the other is holding the top of the head.  Safety is so important to me and I do not ever hope the baby balances on their own and leave it to chance.  The wrapping in this pose helps to hold babies head up, as a result this  prevents them from having to hold their head up on their own.

Criss Cross Wrap

The Criss Cross wrap is achieved with feet out or feet in as well as hands in or hands out.  This pose is adorable to showcase the precious little toes and fingers. This is a wrap I like to use while being in props due to the versatility of movement.

Straight Jacket Wrap

The Straight Jacket wrap is very similar to a swaddle parents are taught and therefore use at home.  This tends to be the best wrap for babies that are sensitive about having hands and feet touched and the very awake baby that just wont settle or sleep.

In conclusion, there are many poses that newborn photographers complete and some of these poses are known by many different names.  These are the poses we do at Lori Roberts Photography.  We only do poses that we are trained to do and feel confident we can do  safely for newborns.  Alway research your photographer before using them, ask questions, be sure they are adequately trained to perform the poses as well as understand that photographer will not always make demands for certain poses as they may not be trianed to do so or may not feel comfortable doing them safely.