lighting — Goodnight Fox

Ahh yes, baby milestone photos! If you’re here it’s because like me you aspired to have the most coveted Pinterest-worthy baby milestone photos for your new little one. But you’re just a super exhausted mom to a newborn (and maybe older kiddos too) and you don’t have time to lug out your expensive DSLR to snag those monthly milestone photos. I knew before I even had my first baby that there was no way I was going to be able to keep up with the milestone photos with my real camera and that I was going to have to find a way to get great photos with just my iPhone. Of course, they’re not perfect, but I think they turned out well considering they took me less than 5 min per session!

5 Tips for Consistent Milestone Photos

Tip 1: photograph at the same time & place each day

This is tip number one for a reason. Consistent lighting and placement of the baby or so critical to ensuring it looks like the only thing changing in the photo is your babe. For my photos, I laid Sofie at the bottom of my bed on a blanket because my bedroom got the best morning light in front of the window. Light changes quite a lot season to season and throughout the day. And while you can’t change a gloomy day outside, you can at least limit the other factors. I recommend natural light (no inside lights turned on) and taking photos in a brightly lit room in front of a window. Morning light is great, you want is void any harsh shadows that might look strange or inconsistent day to day. And if the lighting doesn’t look great that day or you’re too tired to set up the scene, see tip 5!

tip 2: use a consistent background or object

once you’ve chosen a color palette, you’ll want to choose a consistent object, setting, or look that you know you can replicate over and over again. It’s easy to solve for baby laying flat but as baby grows and can sit up on her own, she might not be so cooperative with the laying down pose. So if you want to accommodate sitting up, think about what you’ll need to make that set up work.
for example, if you want to use baby milestone cards in your photos, you’ll need something to prop them against (or ask a teddy bear friend to hold them up for you). If you want to go for laying down photos, then a consistent blanket works great. Pro tip on the blanket front — make sure the blanket is big enough for when baby gets bigger so that they still fit on the blanket and you can stand over them and fit the blanket in the photo. Or using a. Layered effect works great too — swoop a blanket over top the bed spread and lay the baby overlapping both for a nice layered look.

Here are some of my favorite props ideas:

A blanket or swaddle: there’s nothing sweeter or simpler than seeing how baby grows with her special blanket. I used a super fluffy pink fur blanket that I found on Amazon. With the lighting and presets that I used it' really looks like a very soft almost off-white peach color. So I definitely recommend practicing ahead of time to make sure you get the look that you want.
Baby milestone cards: these are so great for tagging photos so that you don’t lose track month over month. You can also find milestone stickers, pennant flags, or wooden milestone cards. I don’t love the milestone blankets just because I find them too busy and distracting and they look funny as baby’s size changes over the months.
Teddy bear: how cute is it to watch baby grow up next to her super special lovey! I did Sofia’s half birthday theme all around her Slumberkin’s Honey Bear / Bumblebee Theme and we took our newborn photos with him as well. But bear bear didn’t make it into our milestones photos because it was too distracting for Sofie and she kept covering her face.
Letter board: If you can find a cute sign board that matches your aesthetic, it can be the perfect way to capture more details about each milestone. You can add baby’s favorite things, likes and dislikes, height and weight, month and year. The possibilities with the letter board are endless!
Unique clothes or simple white onesies: My biggest tip here is just to plan in advance the outfits you want for each photo. I chose a simply white onesie because I knew I could quickly and easily find it in her size as she grew. And it wouldn’t be too expensive to have the same one in every size. But remember babies age don’t always align to size so even if you buy in advance, you don’t know which ones will fit at which months. So just plan ahead and make sure you have outfits you love in each size range.
High chair or laundry basket: You’ll see in some of the photos below that momma used a cute little basket & high chair. Once baby is standing or walking and no longer wants to participate in a lay-down style photo, using something to hold baby propped up can be great! We had this Stokke TrippTrapp High Chair which would have been perfect because it’s got a clean white design that would fit with pretty much any aesthetic. I also love photos of baby’s in water tubs, and we did a couple of shoots in these awesome white drink tubs. Or a soft woven laundry basket like this one can be perfect for getting that super cute and dreamy photo of your little babe as he/she goes from lying to sitting to standing!
Favorite object / theme: I’ve seen some really great photo inspiration over the years with rainbow colored toys, slices of pizza, you name it! As long as you know you can consistently execute and the object will look similar each month, go for it! But also know that if you go with something super unique, you might run the risk of it being too trendy and you not loving the look later on. So when in doubt, keep it classy, simple works best in my opinion!

tip 3: choose a color palette up front

So I definitely recommend doing some research up front to find a look that you love before diving in. It will be easy to want to change midway through because maybe you’ve gotten better at taking photos or your taste or style has changed, or now you hate the blanket that grandma gave you. So find a look you love that you know you can stick to. It helps to draw inspiration from your nursery since hopefully you chose a look that you adore that baby is in all of the time.

If you’re stuck, a neutral black and white or grey and white can be a great way to go. You know you’ll always have a white onesie on hand in baby’s size so you won’t be scrambling each month to choose the perfect outfit. If you have a bouncer or high chair that you plan to use on a regular basis, consider finding a color scheme to match. Don’t you just love boho milestone color scheme in these photos?

tip 4: use a Lightroom filter

I resisted this for the longest time because I thought it would be extra work, it wouldn’t look the same in all my photos and I figured if I had natural lighting that would be good enough. But after trying Lightroom filters for my iPhone photos, I can safely say that I won’t be going back. You still have to consider lighting and time of day, but the boost you get with a filter is pretty awesome. My favorite is called “Add to Cart” by Six Little Babes Presets but you can find a ton of others out there depending on your style and mood. You can find light and airy photography filters, moody and boho, etc. And they’re usually between $2-$8 and the Lightroom app is free!

tip 5: be flexible with the dates

when you have a newborn life is exhausting. And there two month milestone might fall in the middle of a work week or while you’re baby is sick and you’re super stressed out. It can be easy to just say forget it and snap a quick photo or not even take on at all. Give yourself a break and some flexibility — if you have time a week or so before or after the actual milestone take the photo then, don’t worry about it being on the exact date. Trust me you won’t look back and go “Hmm that wasn’t exactly 3 months was it?” Plus if baby is fussy one day, there’s nothing you’ll hate more than looking back at a sad pouty little face.

So there you have it! 5 Tips for amazing and consistent baby milestone photos. And one little bonus tip in case you missed it — Practice Practice Practice! If you practice your set up before baby arrives at different times of day, you’ll know exactly what you’re going to get and how your filter will look so you won’t be caught off guard when you go to take your first photo.