Looking back on my journey as a newborn photographer I have come to realise that there are four elements that when all done well, combine to create a beautiful newborn image in camera. If one is missing your image is always going to suffer.

 These four elements are:

• Posing
• Camera angle
• Composition
• Lighting

Now that is a lot to think about in a newborn session, especially when you are starting out! It took me close to four years to bring all of these elements together in my work consistently, but I think If we really focus during the process of creating our images, we can achieve that much sooner.

You can pose the baby correctly, find the best camera angle and compose the image just right, but if your lighting is wrong, the image is always going to fall flat. So, let’s talk about light and how we can get that right from day one.

Here are four simple things to remember when lighting a newborn baby.

1: HAVE THE RIGHT GEAR

You can’t get the light right if...