Just about everyone enjoys looking at baby photos but what is it about a baby that is so appealing? And what makes the little bundles of joy so very hard to capture on film? This article addresses some of the reasons that we swoon over baby photos and it provides some suggestions for capturing the right picture at home.

Babies are naturally cute (though some may argue that a newborn is a little unattractive) because they are helpless. Cuteness may be a survival mechanism built right into your little one. Anyone who feels warm while looking at a baby photo understands that there is a drive to nurture and cuddle this little creature. There is a purpose for the cuteness.

An artist who specializes in portraits will assert that babies are cute because of their eyes. The eye is the only organ in the human body that does not grow. Your eyes are the same size as they were on the day you were born.

Don't believe it? Look at your baby photos and see. Better yet, hold an infant next to you while looking in a mirror. You and the little tyke will have eyes that are about the same size. This also makes infants a challenge for artists to draw because they are relatively disproportionate.

It is the lack of proportion that makes the baby photos so appealing. Think about the cute cartoon characters you have known and loved. Most of them have large, wide eyes. The most appealing characters have bigger eyes just like the big peepers found in baby pictures.

Okay. We know they are cute but we still need to find a way of capturing the cuteness on film or on our digital cameras. The first thing we need is patience. Babies are not natural models and they don't particularily care about their baby photos. They have other things on their minds. Bear with them.

Luck is also handy but you can work around that. Make sure that the focus is on the infant's puss. The cutest baby photos are close-ups. Avoid using extravagant backgrounds because they may pull the focus away from the subject.

Getting the infant to smile can be one of the biggest challenges. Here is where luck and fortune would do wonders but we all know that they don't always work in our favor. You have to use what you know about your little one in order to catch those perfect smiles for your baby photos.

Remember what makes your baby make those precious faces and engage the infant in that activity. Someone else needs to take the baby photos while you encourage the smiles.