The team at Frame My Name have been busy this year, expanding the range of personalised cards, including baby thank you cards and birth announcement cards. We now have a wide variety of cards for customers to choose from including photo cards and non-photo cards. Customers mostly choose these cards for special occasions such as announcing the birth of their child, or as Christening invitations. Recently, it has become evident to us that our customers are embracing their creative sides, as more and more, we are impressed by the standard of photographs that customers are sending us. By taking time to create the perfect photographs, their personalised cards look wonderful. So, we want to encourage all our future customers to do the same.

And, to encourage this creativity, we have shorlisted some top tips for taking the perfect baby photograph:

1.  Firstly you want to take your pictures in the correct light. Try to use as much natural light as possible,taking the pictures during the day in an area with plenty of natural light e.g. beside a window. This will give you the best results and provide a natural soft effect. If you are taking the pictures at night or with little natural light, you should use a flash, but be aware that the flash may cause the images to look flat.

2. Find an appropriate backdrop. Consider your backdrop carefully as you want your baby to be the centre of attention rather than everyone distracted by the washing line in the background. Also think about the card design you have selected, and your chosen colour. Select a neutral backdrop that doesn’t clash with your card design.

3. Use props. This allows you to be creative and even set a theme. You could have your child holding a flower, cuddling a teddy or playing with a ball. By doing this you can capture some fantastic moments of your child playing.

4. Think about what your child is wearing. Again, you don’t want your child’s outfit to clash with the background and invitations, so try to dress them neutrally or along the same colour scheme as the cards. These extra touches just bring everything together to make the perfect card.

5. Choose the right time of the day for your baby. Time it right, so that your baby is well fed, happy, awake and playful. This will minimize restlessness when taking the photo.

6. Try to make them laugh/smile. Again this will minimise restlesness and allow for some really adorable photographs. Also by going down to the child’s level, this will make them more comfortable when getting their photo taken and you are more likely to get some really good snaps of them looking directly at the camera.

7. Choose your camera carefully. Try at all costs to avoid using mobile phone cameras. Although they are good for taking quick snaps, they do not provide the quality of image needed for printing. Your camera must be over 5 megapixels to ensure a good print quality. Also get to know your camera, explore it’s different functions and take as many photos as you can.