Rule One: Background

It's time to declutter your photographs and you won't believe how simple it is going to be.

Take a bedsheet, preferably a white one, or a blanket, again preferably white, or a nice pale shade (pink/blue/yellow will also be fine, providing it doesn't clash with baby's clothing!). 

Lay the sheet down on the floor, and lay your baby on top of it.  Stand above with your camera and, voila! - you have a photo of your baby.... not of the stained carpet, or the toys on your floor, or the ironing board in the background, or a bookcase sticking out of your babies right ear. 

If you want your baby sitting up, throw the sheet over your settee and sit the baby on it and voila, again!, - you have a photo of your baby, not your shiny flash-rebounding leather sofa, or your crazy floral print cushions. 

The sheet on the sofa also works for photos of baby on their front, for baby lying down for side shots as well as for the birds-eye shots you'll get on the floor.  Just think about exactly what will be behind your child - the focus needs to be on baby, not on the background.

 Keyword for Rule One: Bedsheet

Rule Two: Lighting

Lighting can make or break a photograph but this doesn't mean you require fancy lighting equipment.  There's no better lighting, than the sun!  

Which room in the house gets the best daylight seeping through the windows?  Whichever room that is, that's the room you will be taking your photographs in. 

Lay the bedsheet down on the floor directly in front of the window and the chances are that the sun will fall nicely onto baby's face for you to take birds-eye shots. If you are taking photographs on the settee, make sure it is facing the window and light. 

Important: DO NOT take a photo facing towards the light source. Make sure its YOU with your back towards the light, NOT your subject, otherwise your baby will be in shadow and it's hard to have it edited appropriately. 

Just move yourself around until the light is falling onto the front of your baby and onto your back behind the camera.  Try turning your flash off, and seeing what happens! 

Keyword for Rule Two: Sunlight

Rule Three: "SMILE!"

This rule is to do with capturing as many different emotions as you can - do not keep forcing your baby to smile. 

If you've spent all day taking photos, and haven't got a smiling one... it doesn't mean it's all been a waste.  I can guarantee that if you look back through the day's photographs you'd find plenty of beautiful shots. 

While photographs of your baby smiling might be great to look at, four near-identical pictures on one invitation won't really look that fantastic.  Try and capture all sides of your baby's personality - a smile, a cry, an innocent gaze, a hand-suck, a frown, a tongue, a looking-away-from-the-camera, a sleeping baby, a laughing baby...  a mixture of different photographs will make for a great invitation. 

The wonderful thing about digital photography that you can take as many photos as you want.  The more photos you take, the more likely you are to find that perfect shot - just keep snapping away! 

Keyword for Rule Three: Personality

Rule Four: Frame It

This rule is irrelevant in terms of designing an invitation itself, as designers can always crop as required.  However,  if you're looking for a great photograph to keep as a personal memory, this one is important. 

Framing a photograph well, really makes a difference to the final outcome. The photograph is of your baby, so take it of your baby and not the surroundings. They're only little things and can be swamped by everything around them, so get in close! 

Looking through the eyepiece or on your LCD, is the photo of your baby or is there tons of background?  If there's background, move closer... your baby should fill the screen. 

If you're doing close up shots, get close up!  Take some photographs of your baby's hands and feet while you're there.  Try different angles too. 

Keyword for Rule Four: Close-up

Rule Five: Posing & Arranging

Here's where it gets fun - you need to let your imagination run wild!  

Poses vary from age to age.  For newborn babies you could lie them on their belly, on their back, cup their head in your hands, wrap them up in a little ball in their favourite blanket... experiment with different poses. 

Regarding clothing, if you're comfortable with it, try naked or just a nappy.  These photographs are always really natural and really beautiful. 

Maybe wrap a bow around your naked baby or lay a flower on them to cover their bum.  If you like the black and white photographs, with one item in colour, then give your child a flower, bright coloured bear, or a cute coloured nappy cover. 

If you're feeling particularly adventurous, try baskets, tin baths, fairy wings... go wild and have fun!  

The older the child, the more likely they are to do their own thing... so just follow them round, make monkey noises to get them to look towards the camera and, again, have fun - photography is not meant to be a tough task, so enjoy it! 

Keyword for Rule Five: Experiment