Dallas newborn photographer poses newborn baby in dads arms in a football hold, portrait is finished black and white

How to Pose Newborns with Parents

How to pose newborns with parents in profile portraits

  1. Nothing is cuter than a profile shot of baby with mom and dad together or with each parent alone. I love to get a variety of shots with this pose. Spacing the subjects apart and then having mom or dad bring baby in and do a nose to nose shot.
  2. How to achieve the pose. As always, make sure baby has 3 points of contact with whoever is holding her. Start with her bottom flush against the parent’s chest with feet tucked up. One adult hand should be supporting the baby’s bottom – I make sure this is the hand closest to the camera. The other hand should be supporting baby’s head.
dallas newborn photographer poses baby like a football in his dad's arms, baby is swaddled and dad holds him in his arm just like a football

How to achieve the football portrait with dad

  1. Have the father turn and face the camera. Have him position his arms so that they are bent with elbows at his sides and hands in front pointing out with palms up. Place baby against his chest, face turned out towards camera with his back resting against Dad’s chest and bottom securely in dad’s hands.
  2. This pose is great to take with Dad smiling up, dad looking down at baby, and also you can focus in from dad’s shoulders down. To pay more attention to baby and make dad more of a prop.
Newborn photographer poses baby in dads arms and has mom come in with her hand over baby protectively showing a great how to pose newborns with parents
For variety bring mom in to the side and lay her hand over baby too.

Adding mom’s hand into the portrait is a simple way to show how to pose newborns with parents.

New dad pictured holding his infant baby boy like a football in classic football pose dad is wearing jeans and dark blue shirt on white background during Richardson Texas newborn photography session.
Another fun variation on the football hold. This dad understood the assignment.

How to showcase mom and baby with a closeup snuggle

  1. For this shot I like to have mom bring baby up close to her face while seated. This helps me to position the baby so that I can get a downward angle. With this angle we can disguise any post pregnancy concerns. Mom and baby become the focus. We place one of mom’s hands on her shoulder and cross the other over so that her other hand rests at an angle across her body on the other side. Baby’s head is placed in the hand by her shoulder and bottom is placed in the other hand. A good reminder to mom is to not drop her hands down when we position the baby. This pose feels strange but it looks very sweet. The natural inclination is to drop baby down into a cradle hold but that is too far away from mom’s face.
  2. For variety have another chair positioned near mom for dad. You can have him come in from the side. Have one of his hands around mom’s back while the other comes under her lower arm to support her while she holds baby. Tilt the parents heads together for this portrait. This is one of the most classic shots for newborn photography poses for parents.
How to pose newborns with pare holding baby girl swaddled in green dad is wearing golden yellow fedora and leaning over to kiss mom on the cheek
I just loved the styling on this newborn portrait. Bring me all the hats!

How to pose newborns with parents above – adding dad into the frame is an easy way to expand on the simple pose with just mom.

Dallas maternity newborn portrait photographer

How to pose newborns using a before and after shot

  1. This is one of my favorite newborn photography poses for moms. But it really only works if you have a maternity photography session first. During the maternity portrait shoot you have mom lie on the floor of the studio with her belly pointed at the ceiling. I like to keep her legs bent and different heights and arms can be bent at different angles too. From here you take a profile shot of the belly.
  2. The second step of this is for the newborn photography session. When mom and dad bring baby back for their photoshoot you have mom lie down on the floor in much the same position and in the same outfit but this time you place baby on her belly.
  3. From here you need to have some photoshop skills. Taking both portraits you merge them together so that they look like a reflection of each other. The top one should be of the baby on mom’s belly while the bottom is of her pregnant.moms

Have I missed any of your favorite newborn photography poses for parents? If so comment below. If not, what is your favorite newborn photography pose with parents? I would love to hear which are your favorites. Check out our newborn photography page for more inspiration.

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11 Responses

  1. These are awesome tips! I love the photos too – I’ll pass these on to a few friends who I know will love them too! Thanks for sharing!

    1. Thank you for reading and visiting my site. I hope your friends like the tips about how to pose newborns with parents.

  2. I just love the picture of mom and baby snuggling faces with dad kissing mom on the cheek. So special and sweet!

  3. Thank you for posting this, friends of ours had their baby yesterday, as it happens, a little girl. I think she would love this post.

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