2nd Newborn "Shoot"

sillyphaunt · Sep 2, 2005

A friend of mine had a baby in July, and I offered to take some pictures for her so I could practice.

We ended up talking for a long time, and by the time I took the pictures, Caleb was a little cranky, but I did get a few good ones. He has an older sister that I think I'll take pictures of next time, she kept wanting to be in the pictures and I had to tell her to move. :lol:

I converted all of these to B/W, then did a little blur and used a Soft Light layer to up the contrast. I always gravitate towards more contrasty images.

I know the cropping isn't perfect on some of these, I messed up on a few for getting everything in the frame. I was paying attention to catchlights, and I think I did pretty well on those.

For lighting/backdrop I have some white material that I put on the ground and put him near a window (on the right). There wasn't quite as much light as I would have liked, I had to keep moving him. I know the background isn't that great either.

Does anyone have some suggestions on good material to get for newborn shots? I'm not to the point where I want to buy a background/lighting, so I want to be able to use natural light and something that is portable for a backdrop.

Also, if you're going "on location" for a newborn shoot, what do you do for lighting? Just hope they have big windows? :lol:

Thanks everyone for looking!

Alison · Sep 2, 2005

Yup, hope for good light and if you don't have strobes get an off camera flash to help fill in if needed

I like the contrast on these! Only thing I can suggest is getting down and viewing the baby from different angles. Most people tend to shoot babies from above, so getting them on their side, and the photographer laying down on the ground next to them give a unique look. I've also found that clients like it if you can change clothes, makes it almost feel like a whole other shoot with a different outfit. I really like the white onsie here though, it works very well!

I don't mind the background at all! Try it with black material if you have some

You can get muslin (which is what a lot of backdrops are made of) at any fabric store. Fleece is nice too becuase it's soft for the baby

terri · Sep 2, 2005

I like the contrast, too! You captured some nice expressions here, Kylie. :thumbup: I'm sure she is going to love them.

ksmattfish · Sep 2, 2005

Good job. I like them.

mentos_007 · Sep 3, 2005

yeah I like all of them

cute

Vmann · Sep 6, 2005

I like the first and the last the most. Really like the last.

I agree with Alison on changing the angle. I will definatelly add a bit a variety to these shots