Parents of newborn babies hold photoshoots to capture the cuteness of their precious angels. Apart from a quality camera, newborn photography props can help parents and professional photographers produce images that will serve as treasures for years to come.
In this blog, we share an extensive list of the most fun and useful props that could inspire you or help you bring to life your baby photography ideas.
Creative Newborn Photography Props for Your Baby’s First Photoshoot
1. Headwear and Diaper Cover
Different types of headwear like hats, headbands, and bonnets are a cozy way to add color to your photoshoot. If you’re keeping your baby’s diaper on during the shoot, match the headwear with a diaper cover for extra cuteness.
Headwear and diaper covers for infants typically come in different fabrics and designs, so it will be easy to find a design for your photoshoot theme.
2. Swaddles
We often keep newborns in swaddles to keep them warm and comfortable. Your baby will most likely stay peaceful during a photoshoot if they’re kept in a swaddle. Pick a swaddle with a nice color or fabric and make sure to wrap the swaddle beautifully.
You can use this prop to make it easier to take pictures of the baby. For example, you can add a headband as an accent or place your swaddled baby in a basket.
3. Blankets
A blanket is an all-around item that you can use to add texture or color to your shoot. Use the blanket to prop up or cover up your newborn, or as a background. You could use it as a substitute for a pillow to make other props comfortable for your baby.
For a cozy setup, opt for fluffy blankets or a fur one.
4. Pillows
Pillows are a must in newborn photoshoots. For simpler shoots, you could lay your newborn baby on a nice pillow or add a blanket on top.
If you want something more dramatic, a pillow could serve as a functional prop to support your baby in various positions. You can then have the pillow removed in post-prod.
5. Rompers
Rompers are another versatile prop for photography with newborns. There is a wide variety of cute and stylish rompers for babies. There is surely one to fit your vision.
If you want to be more creative, you could look for a romper that resembles a costume, such as a superhero or some other fictional character. Then, with a high-end photo retouching service, you could make it look like your tiny superhero is flying or fighting bad guys.
6. Baskets and Wooden Crates
Rustic-style photoshoots are a popular choice among parents, and baskets or wooden crates are the most cost-efficient ways to achieve this style. Placing your baby in a blanket-adorned basket or crate is always swoon-worthy. Also, let’s not forget how baskets also offer versatility.
You could design the basket to look like other things, such as a nest or an air balloon. You could also style it to fit other themes, like a nautical theme, an autumn theme, or a picnic theme. The possibilities are endless!
7. Stork Sacks or Hammocks
Invoke the myth of storks delivering babies to parents with a sack or hammock. Your baby should be snuggled inside the stork sack, then hang it from a branch. However, you may need help to get the baby safely in and out of the stork sack; consider how it may be easier to lay the baby on a hammock instead.
8. Balloons
Balloons are a universal symbol of childhood, so it makes sense to have them as a newborn photo prop. Balloons will add a fun, youthful vibe to your shoot. They can be any color or size you want.
You could also use balloons to represent a specific setting to provide context to your theme. For example, you could use blue balloons to represent the sea for a mermaid or nautical theme.
9. Seasonal Fruits
Was your baby born in the summer or rainy season? Embody that season by surrounding your little one with the fruits we enjoy during these months. Your shoot is sure to be vibrant with these fruits. You may also accent the setting with foliage, as well as baskets and blankets for a more rustic vibe.
10. Miniature Furniture
Wouldn’t it be adorable to see a baby in a miniature chair or bed? It would be unexpected but also quite amusing. Plus, they could be easily decorated with blankets, foliage, balloons, and so on.
If you don’t have access to miniature furniture, regular-sized ones could also work. You could experiment with angles, for example, to highlight the smallness of your little baby.
11. Musical Instruments
Are you musically inclined? If so, consider incorporating musical instruments in your baby’s photoshoot. As for the props, you can lay your baby on a real instrument or pretend that your baby is using a miniature or toy version.
12. Knitwear
Knitwear is one of the most important must-have props for newborn photography for its versatility. One online search will direct you to various shops selling various knitted items specifically for infants. You’ll find cute and costume-style knitwear to match your photoshoot idea.
13. Baby Toys
Your newborn probably doesn’t play with toys yet, but they are a fun and colorful prop as well. Surround your baby with toys they may work with once they grow a little bigger such as baby-sized tools and toy computers or, for a more nostalgic shoot, you may use your old toys.
14. Toys for Grown Ups
We love seeing babies do things adults typically do. Having them play with toys you play with as an adult would surely be amusing for the adults who will see it. Examples of these would be game consoles or Funko Pops.
15. Books
This prop idea for newborn photography is for the bibliophiles. Since your child is bound to be surrounded by books as they grow up, you might as well use your collection as a prop. You could showcase the sheer number of your collection or feature only your favorites.
16. Fiction-Inspired Props
Take your book-themed newborn photoshoot up a notch by dressing up your baby as a character from one of your books. Alternatively, you could include a toy version of one or a few characters beside your newborn.
17. Pop Culture-Inspired Props
If you’re more of a movie buff, you would surely have a kick at a movie- or TV series-inspired newborn photoshoot. You can focus the shoot on one movie or a bunch of your favorites. You could focus on characters or, if you want a challenge, iconic scenes from those films.
Newborn photography props of this kind may be a little hard to come by and may have to be custom-made. Surely, it will be worth every penny.
18. Career Tools
Another adorable idea is to showcase what the child’s parents do for a living. This is sure to produce sentimental photos. You could lay the infant on a briefcase, hard hat, helmet, or a pair of work boots.
A more light-hearted direction here is to dress your newborn to look like they’re working, complete with the tools typically used for the job.
19. The Parents
This is not exactly a prop, but the parents’ hands could be useful during a photoshoot. You can assist the photographer with posing your newborn or supporting them in certain positions. If you’re visible in the image, you can have yourselves removed by an expert in newborn baby photo editing.
But, of course, you could also have a parent or both parents hold their baby in the photo to make it more meaningful.
Make Your Newborn’s Photo Extraordinary with Paper Boat Collective
Taking pictures of newborn infants poses endless creative possibilities. We have collected some of the most creative photography props for newborn photoshoot that could inspire parents as well as professional photographers.
As a photo editing company, Paper Boat Creative’s goal is to help you deliver your vision for your newborn photoshoot exactly as you imagined.
Get in touch with us today to learn more about our services.
