Baby yawns and stretches are sometimes caught on camera. During a typical studio newborn session, we do a combination of posed and baby led posing. So while I love to use wrapping techniques to position babies in a particular pose, both myself and parents love a little newborn “do what you want” posing. My favorite pose for this is the “tucked in” pose. Sometimes babies are awake and sometimes they are asleep. They do what they do. They stretch out their arms, they yawn, and they position themselves. This natural posing is often very sweet.
I think the beauty of controlled posing is that babies tend to look a little more relaxed and content, even if awake. But sometimes newborns fall asleep and position their own limbs in the most natural, yet artistic way, that I say I couldn’t have done it better! Subtle baby led posing is my favorite, like in this image below. She positioned her own arms and hands and I didn’t need to adjust anything. Baby yawns and stretches often become part of the photo gallery.
The theory behind posed newborn photography is that babies look so cute in a curled up position. When their arms are gently resting against their body and legs are tucked in, it does have a certain feeling of contentment. Flailing arms and legs can tend to look chaotic sometimes in certain poses. But outstretched arms and legs can sometimes make a portrait look nice if captured at just the right second. So we see what we can get in the moment.
Capturing baby yawns and stretches add some movement and authenticity to newborn photos. As newborns grow, they need to stretch out and sometimes the photo can be quite funny. See the image of the newborn in the pink pajamas on a newborn sized bed. Though I took this photo a few years ago, I do remember giggling in the moment. She wasn’t going to keep her legs bent, so we just let her do her thing. And the result was cute and funny.
Sometimes I catch a yawn on camera. While most images that parents choose for their portraits tend to be a sleepy newborn smile or relaxed sleepy faces, other expressions are also appreciated.
Have you ever looked at someone who is yawning and then felt the urge to yawn yourself? It might even apply to looking at photos of yawns, which I just found out as I scrolled down the images in this post. Interested in seeing some more cute newborn facial expressions captured on camera? Check out this previous post that will make you smile.
