Bedroom Lifestyle Newborn Photoshoot Poses
Lifestyle newborn photoshoots take place in your home a few weeks after you give birth - or really any time you feel up to it. The beauty of lifestyle newborn sessions is that the baby doesn’t have to be asleep and perfectly posed. Baby can be awake, swaddled, and is usually calm because they are being held by parents. It is important during a lifestyle (in-home) newborn session that you find the rooms with the best lighting. In North Carolina, our weather can go from sunny and 70 degrees one day to rainy and 40 degrees the next, so sometimes that poses a challenge when photographing newborns in home. When I arrive at a client’s home for their newborn session in Raleigh, N.C., I first ask them to show me where they envisioned having their photos taken. You can always ask a client to send you photos of the rooms they have in their home during the time frame that you will be shooting too. This may help with your planning of the session! I am looking for rooms with great natural light and neutral color tones. Not all rooms will be optimal, but you can always work with what you have and produce beautiful images. The first room I usually start in is the primary bedroom. When I do lifestyle newborn sessions in Raleigh, N.C., I try to make sure I get some standard poses each time. From this room, you can get a lot of variety in images. These are my top poses I always do for lifestyle newborn sessions in the bedroom.
I start with parents sitting on the bed. Usually I have mom sit with her legs to the side, which is why I also suggest she wear a long dress. I ask spouses to sit close to mom and put their legs at an angle - no criss-cross-apple-sauce or straight legs. I pay attention to whether they are wearing socks too - I ask them to go barefoot. From sitting, you can have them look at the camera, look at baby, look at each other, etc. As they are sitting, you can move around and get different angles of the same set up. I try to get a pull-back shot of the room, and then up close pictures of baby. I will vary my position to get different views.
An easy variation is to have them switch baby from a cradle to where they are looking at baby straight on. I like to also get the angle from behind them on the bed and see baby’s face between their heads. One thing I always try to do is curl baby a little bit. You can take their legs and have them almost sitting on whichever parent is mainly holding baby, and have the parent lift baby’s head a bit to make more of a curved shape. The other parent can place their hand behind baby’s head, hold baby’s hand, or tickle baby’s feet.
Once I have gotten all of the images of the parents together with the baby, I always do each parent with the baby. I do these poses sitting on the bed and standing. One of my favorite ways to pose mom during a lifestyle newborn session in Raleigh, NC is to have her lay across the bed and just look at baby. This is very flattering to every postpartum figure since the legs are outstretched and behind providing length to her body. I usually always have dad hold baby so he is looking directly at them. You can have dad go “nose to nose” with baby or even give them a little kiss on their forehead.
Before we leave the bedroom, I usually ask parents to stand take individual photos with the baby and then together. I always make sure to get wide angles and close up angles.
If you are planning a lifestyle newborn session in your home or are a photographer looking for simple variations in one room, I hope this was helpful! Above all else, lifestyle newborn sessions in N.C. are best done with ample natural light (diffused, not harsh), and sometimes that means that you are confined to using one part of a client’s home. If that room is a primary (or even guest) bedroom, you can really capture the beauty of a newborn during the photoshoot by trying these poses.
If you are looking for a newborn photographer in the Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, Garner, Fuquay-Varina, or Clayton area, reach out! I’d love to discuss how we can create beautiful images of your newborn in your own home!
