Me Ra Koh's Water Baby Photo-Recipe

Before your baby was born, she spent nine months in utero surrounded by the peaceful ebb and flow of water. It comes as no surprise that a newborn feels natural when brought into a swimming pool for the first time. Without prompting, she may naturally start to splash and kick, and most important, she has her first swimsuit to sport down the pool deck! Get your camera and dive into this month’s Photo-Recipe, a shortened excerpt from Your Baby in Pictures, so you can capture all the wonderful aspects of your Water Baby!

1.   Consider Light. Before you start shooting, you always want to think about where the light source is. For indoor pools, put your back to the window and have your baby close to the window with her face in the window light. If you’re outside, put the bright sun behind the baby. If the sunlight is soft, treat the sun’s positioning like a window and have your baby face the soft light.
2. Get a Fresh Perspective. Every mom's first instinct is to get a shot of our baby’s cute face—but by simply changing the angle that you shoot from (whether you stand on the diving board and shoot down or squat on the pool deck or beach and shoot straight on), you can get some different and unique photos. 
3. Take Turns. It’s no secret that mom and dad both bring out different sides of the baby, but I especially notice this when photographing water babies! Moms often have a more calm energy - singing songs, twirling the baby slowly in the water, helping the baby float while holding him close. Then dad gets in the pool, and I have to laugh because the baby goes from being calm, to splashing and kicking with squeals of delight as dad pulls him through the water. Take turns with the camera and zoom in on the different dynamics! What wonderful memories to capture!

Take this simple Photo-Recipe with you to the pool this summer and shoot away! I can’t wait to see what moments you capture and submit to the Water Baby photo contest! Click here to enter the Water baby photo contest.

Me Ra Koh loves cameras, kids, and moms and spends her life bringing them together.  She is the regular photo expert contributor for The Nate Berkus Show on NBC, and her work and popular photo-recipes have also been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Lifetime Television, and VH1.  She is the author of the bestselling book, Your Baby in Pictures; The New Parents’ Guide to Photographing Your Baby’s First Year (Amphoto, 2011), as well as an inspirational speaker holding her CONFIDENCE Photography Workshops for women nationwide.  Me Ra is proud to be a SONY Artisan of Imagery, as well as host her annual SOAR! Scholarship Program for aspiring women photographers.  She is honored to be a guest blogger for Our365.  You can learn more about Me Ra at www.merakoh.com.