Baby photography is definitely a joyous exercise, but it’s equally challenging too. When the reaction of your portrait’s subject is unpredictable (in this case a little infant), the right selection of backdrops becomes pivotal in setting the expected mood.
These backdrops can set diverse varieties of ambiance as per your client’s demand. They can create premium finesse to your final photographs, breathing life into these photos. But most importantly, these backdrops are a must for highlighting those adorable expressions that a little baby tosses at you.
So, here’s a complete guide for choosing the right backdrops for baby photography. This guide will give you all the required skills to understand the very demand of a baby photoshoot and the importance of backdrops in answering that demand.
What is Baby Photography?
Whether it’s their baby’s smile or walk or sleep – parents wish to treasure every little memory of their baby. No wonder, the demand for baby photoshoots is skyrocketing worldwide.
Baby photography or newborn photography is an extremely patient exercise of capturing memorable photos of a baby. These kids belong to a delicate age group of one month to five years. Therefore the comfort of the child is considered as the core of baby photography. In fact, maternity photography can also be seen as a form of baby photography. This equally requires care, caution, and kindness.
Baby photography is one unique genre where your expert assistants are actually the child’s parents. They can help the photographers to make the baby giggle, laugh, crawl or sleep. Accordingly, you can steal your best shots from these natural reactions of the baby.
However, what completes a baby photoshoot is the right ambiance. And this is where the right choice of backdrop becomes important.
Are Backdrops Important for Baby Photography?
Today, many parents simply use home-based props and sheets to create a setting for baby photography. However, a proper backdrop has the ability to freeze time like no other alternative.
These backdrops have almost become a necessity now as they are the standard practice to create timeless photos.
Defining the mood
Backdrops determine the vibe of a photo shoot. Vintage-styled, fairy-themed, or vibrant candids – the correct choice of backdrop will give you the exact mood you wish to set.
This is particularly important in baby photography because unlike adults, documenting babies is fairly unpredictable. The child might not respond in the way you wish them to be photographed. So, the backdrops become essential in setting the mood where portraits come out wonderfully, irrespective of the subject’s expressions.
Framing emotions
Another major role of backdrop in baby photoshoots is to create splendid close-ups for capturing baby’s emotions. Backdrops can create an effective depth and highlight the child’s expressions. No doubt, these backdrops are basic ingredients for a timeless portrait.
The comfort of the child
Photographers specializing in the genre of baby photoshoots are not just experts in the photography domain. They also excel in understanding how crucial the comfort of the baby is.
They understand that outdoor photoshoots can become taxing for little babies. Weather can occasionally get harsh and create unease. However, with backdrops, you can ensure the comfort of an indoor setting while maintaining the required background.
For instance, printed backdrops with a sky theme can produce pictures that are even better than photographs taken in an actual outdoor setting.
Image by Chitra Vora
Telling a story
Backdrops have a unique way of storytelling. This is precisely what parents expect. They wish to see a story of their child spoken through the pictures when the baby herself or himself cannot speak. Your backdrop sets a context to your images giving base to the story you wish to show through the pictures.
Choosing between Paper and Fabric: Pros and Cons
Different kinds of backdrops create different effects on your photographs. Therefore, it is important to closely understand these effects and choose the most suitable one for yourself.
Image by Anup Srinivas Reddy
Paper Backdrops
Paper backdrops come in seamless paper rolls. They can simply take your portraits from plain amateur to pure professional grade. They offer multiple advantages as discussed below. The diverse varieties of colors available in paper backdrops and their non-reflective nature have made paper backdrops, a must-have tool for photographers. The rolled nature of the paper and a decent thickness make the setting-up part very convenient. More importantly, the smooth texture of the paper is very comfortable for the baby as well. However, paper backdrops can be relatively fragile. Walking on the set can be harmful to the sheet. Especially during baby photography when you are supposed to keep the comfort of the baby as a priority, some wear and tear become unavoidable.
Fabric Backdrops
As the name suggests, fabric backdrops are cloth-based, available in different kinds such as canvas, muslin, and polyester. Advantages offered by fabric backdrops have made them reliable support for photographers worldwide.
The storage and portability convenience of fabric backdrops, especially muslin is unmatched. The depth and texture given by canvas can make you fall in love with the portraiture. The wide varieties available in fabric backdrops have made them useful in both product and portrait photography. When it comes to baby photography, fabric backdrops help you get those classy professional shots you desire and their long-lasting nature makes them a wise investment too.
However, one must remember that the fabric should not be uncomfortable for the baby. Moreover, Canvas backdrops might be a little expensive. The easily wrinkled textures on muslin can be a trouble to handle as well.
Despite this, professional photographers understand how precious these pictures are for the parents. Therefore, they always highlight the importance of the right backdrops in baby photography for delivering what these parents deserve.
The perfect backdrop for baby photography
While paper and fabric backdrops both have their pros and cons, Vinyl backdrops are the one that easily win. They are made of a top quality 13 mil substrate vinyl and give you a smooth, seamless surface to shoot with. Vinyl backdrops have a matte finish and give you the same non-reflective surface like paper and fabric.
But unlike paper and fabric backdrops, they are very easy to clean. You can even wash the backdrop and it will remain perfectly fine. The material is made to endure and once you purchase it, you can keep using it regularly for years. It can even handle rough usage and you can hang the backdrop and forget about it.
So when it comes to baby photography, vinyl is easily one of the top choices. Its easy to clean nature makes it helpful for any shoot with babies. And its durability ensures that it is a very sound investment for every photographer.
We hope this extensive blog helps you make the right choice of backdrop while getting ready for baby photography.