The inspiration behind this photo has everything to do with the fact that the new dad here is a youth pastor who daily tries to model what it means to have a loving Father in Heaven.
The lighting technique involves a 30″ overhead softbox spilling onto a styrofoam reflector angled in front of and slightly below the doting parents and child.  The key was to have the studio nice and warm and to top the baby up with a tummyful of the good stuff just before the shoot.  The set up is adapted from something gleaned from a Joe McNally Workshop held in Bryan Adam’s sound studio in Vancouver, BC.  Thanks, Joe.