Last Updated on 09/06/2025 by Armands Sprogis
Newborn family photos with siblings and dogs
Today, I would like to talk about the importance of taking newborn family photos. I pretty much always get resistance from parents when I say I would like to create these. I have made this almost mandatory in my studio and I always take family photos with a newborn baby.
In this digital age, I always say, ‘I would rather take a portrait for you than you regret later that you didn’t get one’. It doesn’t cost you anything to get a beautiful family portrait. You can later decide if you love it, but at least you will have it.
If you’ve chosen the right photographer, someone who understands how to use light effectively for family portraits, you’ll walk away with beautiful images to cherish for years to come.
Posing families isn’t always easy, especially with young children involved, but like anything in photography, it gets easier with experience. The more you practice directing and positioning families, the more confident and natural your sessions will feel.
How to create a family portrait.
- First of all, prepare the family. Tell them that you will be taking a family portrait. Explain the importance of it.
- They can decide what tone of clothing they will be bringing with them. On this page, you can see various tones of clothing. I have also made a whole what to wear guide where go more in-depth on clothing.
- Print out some inspirational ideas for family portraits. Especially if you are new to this. I always pose family members close in. I like to see how family connects with their little newborn baby.
Want to see how I pose families during a newborn session? Check out my Newborn Beginner’s Guide, where I’ve included a behind-the-scenes video demonstrating my approach to family posing. It’s a great resource if you’re just starting out or looking to improve your confidence in directing families.
Newborn baby and family photo ideas with different combinations.
Family photos with newborn and toddler.
I will start with newborn family photos, including a toddler. This one is the most challenging and probably the hardest to do very well. I created the whole article talking about newborn sibling portraits. Adding parents into the mix sometimes can make things easier, sometimes…
The key here is to play the game. If the toddler is having none of it, then I would recommend thinking about adding some sort of bribe. You will see here that I hide little smarties or some sort of more organic snack, so toddlers engage better and stay longer with a newborn baby.
If a toddler doesn’t want to sit but stand instead. Parents would sit down and leave the space between themselves so the toddler can stand and give cuddles. This family combination would need to be done pretty quick as a toddler will try to get away.
Larger family portraits with a newborn baby.
I have had the honour of photographing larger families with a newborn baby. I love it as these portraits will be so important in many years to come. Proper heirlooms.
Love how older siblings can help younger ones to listen and pay attention when portrait will be taken. Very often toddlers would copy their older siblings and stay longer in portraits.
Newborn family photos with dogs.
Want to add more challenges to your mix? Try to deal with a dog and newborn baby during the family photo :) Sometimes it works fine, but if you have a larger dog, it really can be challenging to get the dog to cooperate and at the same time look decent in the photo.
To keep the dog longer with you, I always recommend breaking the treat into smaller pieces and keeping it in one of your hands. The dog will know the treat is somewhere around and will keep sniffing around. The reason for smaller pieces is to get the dog to eat it fast so there is no chewing happening.
TIP: Bring a sticky roller to your photoshoot to clean your clothes
Newborn with parents only.
I would normally ask parents what kind of family photos they would like. Something darker or lighter, something more artistic. I have a few examples in my studio and in my newborn portfolio. Parents normally would like a couple of looks. Something that their parents would enjoy, like looking into the camera and something more artistic for their own wall portrait.
Newborn and mum photos.
Mums can be very self-conscious. In ten years of experience, I have never met a mum who would not complain about something that is wrong with their body. If the photographer knows what they are doing, you will look gorgeous.
Posing well, using light correctly and with the help of a little bit of post-processing, it is totally possible to have amazing mum and baby portraits. You can do more artistic look or more standard look into the camera. I normally do two looks. One looking into camera portraits and one looking away.
Newborn baby with dad portraits.
If mums are a bit shy or unsure about being in photos with their baby, dads are usually even more hesitant. Often, they are not sure if they want a portrait at all. But interestingly, after I take their photo with their newborn, I usually notice a little change. Suddenly, their Facebook profile picture becomes one of the portraits I captured. That always makes me smile.
I always ask dads if they have any tattoos and whether they would like to include them in the portraits. Many do, and it adds such a personal touch. Mums especially love the skin-to-skin portraits with dad holding the baby, showing off those meaningful tattoos. With the right dramatic lighting, the detail in the ink really stands out and creates powerful and emotional images.
Including only hands into newborn photos.
One of the most requested poses would be including only hands and newborn. Some sort of comparison to show how newborns fitted only in your arms. These can make some beautiful artistic portraits. Love details shots.
I hope this gave you a good idea of what you could plan for your own newborn family photos.
Enjoy more educational content on my blog.
