Month by Month baby pictures are becoming quite trendy these days.  You can find the stickers everywhere (Target, Babies R Us, Etsy, etc.) and a bunch of links on Pinterest for cute ideas.

The problem is, where do you start?  Here are a few tips that I have learned now that I have made it through all of the months.

So I started with 8 different poses because I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do.  I don’t recommend it!  I say pick one and stick with it.  Use these steps to help you choose.

  1. Think about lighting – decide how and when the picture will be taken and stick with it.  Are you going to use a flash?  Will you take them during the day or at night?  If you are not going to take the pictures with a flash you want to use the same natural light each time. I am guilty for being the parent that realizes half way through the day that I needed to take the pictures and rush around to get everything ready.  You will see all of the pictures side by side so to me it is more important to take them at the same time of day (with the same natural light) than on the exact day.  So, on those days I realized too late, I would wait one or even more sometimes (if it was a gloomy day) to make sure that I had good lighting.
  2.  Choose a pose in the sitting position – When you are taking the first picture, it never seems easy to prop the baby up but it is much easier than getting a child with a mind of their own to lay down.  One option might be to pick a location you can do sitting or laying the baby down in the same background that you will use for each one such as a rocking chair.
  3. Think of an active child when you pick your spot. – You may want to do it on the floor or someplace an active baby won’t fall from.  One of the places we chose was the rocking chair and I always had to wait for my husband to help me so he could make sure that Carson didn’t fall out of his chair.
  4. Pay attention to the little things – How far away are you from the subject?  Are you looking up or down?  Is the background the same?  Is there clutter in the background? It helps keep the pictures uniform if all of the shots are the same.
  5. Consider adding milestones – One of my favorite sets of pictures of my son is just him laying on the carpet and writing all of the things he can do that month around him
  6. Use something to show size – A stuffed animal or something small really helps to show the growth of the child.  When choosing an object make sure it is something safe for your child to play with, there will be lots of playing in the older months.

Hope these help in your picture taking process. Good luck!

Any tips that I missed?