“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still”

 Dorothea Lange

Let’s talk for a minute about the moments that make our hearts flutter, the moments that we just want to relive, the ones that are so small but feel like life’s greatest accomplishments.  Milestones.  Milestones mark the accomplishments in development and growth made by your baby.  Recognizing these stages paired with a little toolkit of helpful tips and tricks can ensure that you record some of your baby’s greatest moments.  And although I believe booking a baby plan of professional photography sessions throughout the first year provides an unmatched record of your child’s growth, there are so many “in–between” moments that all parents need to be ready to snap for.

Important Milestones:

Download this checklist so that you can be watching for these major milestones! Everything You Need to Know about Your Baby’s First Year!

3 Key Tips for Shooting Milestones:

Environment: You guessed it…the best location for capturing baby milestones is most likely your home.  Always keep in mind the idea of capturing imagery just as your heart sees it.   If you were standing over your child’s crib looking down at their perfect little features in awe of how they could be so small and sweet…that is the image to snap.  At home your baby knows their setting and will be most playful, relaxed, and natural.  Keep the environment simple, relatively prop-less, wear logo free clothing, and minimize household clutter so that the attention is drawn to your baby and their actions.  It is a less is more situation and always think about simplifying the frame.  Most milestones are captured in context.  Be camera ready in the bathtub, at the high chair, and even on the floor mat.  Finally, one of my favorite locations for home milestones is the master bed…this is a safe place for your baby to play and for you to easily get within their plane of sight.

Light: If you asked my kids what my favorite thing is they would most certainly yell “light!”  Knowing the direction of light is important in accomplishing your vision.  When you walk into a room, take a moment to notice where the light is coming from…Which window is providing the strongest light source?  If you are looking for a good sense of illumination across your baby’s face, place them in the direction of light flow and shoot along that same line.  If you are looking for an image to show more of a shadowy glow, shoot towards the window so your baby is illuminated.  For many, natural light is the best option and it is important to become more acquainted with he beautiful light that surrounds us…My best advice, shut off your camera flash and turn off the wall lights.  Be more aware of the natural surrounding light.

Perspective: This is where it gets creative!  Where you stand and the position you shoot from can be used to enhance the story you are trying to tell! Experiment with shooting from above, below, shooting through a doorway, through a crib rail, from beneath a table, through a hanging mobil, and so much more!  So grab your stool for a bird’s eye view, or lay on your belly to get a worm’s eye field and see how it can change your perspective.

4 Tools for Recording Milestones:

Big Camera Use:

• The 50 mm camera lens is a great starter lens for portrait use.  It is wide enough to incorporate environmental context, great in low light, and sharp as a tact.  It is also budget friendly.  Since this is a fixed lens you will need to come closer and further away from your subject to your artist desire.
• It is really important to learn to use your camera.  With a little investment in camera education you will change your imagery dramatically.  I highly recommend reading the manual, taking a class, or meeting with a professional for some camera usage mentoring.
• However, you can also start with Aperture priority…I wrote these settings for my husband…who needed a little camera help.  It is a good way to take a small step toward manual mode and experiment with improving your imagery.

iPhone Camera Use:

• Most people do not realize that they can actually focus & set exposure on with their phone camera!  Yes, when you hold that little camera up, tap the image in the spot that you would like your camera to expose for…if you would like a bright image, tap a dark spot!  If you would like a darker moodier image, tap the brightest spot on the screen!  You may even see a pretty silhouette.
• Try to avoid using the zoom….just get closer to your subject so that your image is of better resolution!
• Be sure your picture quality is on the highest setting
• HOLD DOWN your shutter button to take multiple pictures in rapid sequence
• ALWAYS Edit your iPhone images
• Backlighting tilt: when shooting into the sun, tilt your camera forward and back and observe how it can filter in or out more light…this may impact how soft and hazy, or sharp your images may appear.
• Clean your lens….lol, not sure anyone ever does!
• SNAP OFTEN to experiment!!

1SE: This is a video Ap…a moving photograph providing a quick snapshot to “relive” the everyday moments.

Collect: This is a great ap for collecting and organizing one image everyday.

3 Tools for Editing Imagery: Touch every image in a special way, just make it a habit!

AfterLight: I love this ap because of the straight forward and quick editing. Begin by avoiding the use of presets, you will learn by editing your own images.  There are 15 tools for manual adjustments that are easy and intuitive.

Snapseed: This tool has more features and filters than Afterlight and allows you to be more creative in editing styles.

Lens baby creative mobil kit: I love this kit, its really a fun toy for mommy!

3 Places for Printing Imagery:

Instagram and Facebook: Chatbooks are inexpensive books designed from the social media platforms that you use to share your images.  I love that these books serve as a collection of the everyday activities that you capture on the go! 

Camera Images: The best commercial grade printer around…www.mpix.com

Phone Images: artifact uprising, Postal pics.

MOST important Advice:

Get in the photo…many of the milestones can be captured with you and these images will savor the memories of love & connection.

Why get a professional photographer:

I call it the Messy of Motherhood…when the best intentions can get cluttered and we give way to the everyday distractions of errands, the chaos that appears as we try to stay organized, and wild of keeping up with the flurry of school related and sports activities. Even with the best intentions, it can be so difficult to actually capture everything you want to save.  Make a plan for capturing these moments before they happen.  As a professional photographer, I can honestly say that my clients have better pictures of their families than I do of my own….because i thought i could grab it all on the go…

Amy Buelow is a portrait & lifestyle photographer specializing in maternity, newborn, child, and family photography in the Greater Boston, North of Boston, North Shore of Mass, Eastern Massachusetts, Southern New Hampshire, and Seacoast of New Hampshire. Please contact Amy today to schedule a newborn session and talk about creating a Baby Plan for capturing the most essential milestones in your baby’s first year!

978.697.1345 | hello@amybuelow.com | Inquiry