babies.

[Haya.H]

I know this is a repetitive thread. But I wanted to ask again with specific questions.

My cousin just had a baby, curently 3 weeks old. In a few weeks they want me to take pictures of him. (free of course, no where near ready to charge) They really really like my pictures, so I know they will happy (hopefully) but with the portraits they have seen they were all outside, natural light; Which I know I can handle pretty well. But of course we wont be taking the baby outside, SO here are my questions.

- What is the best set up for a baby shoot?
- How do you handle an orange based room fighting against the natural light coming from a window?
- What Should I use as a backdrop? Should I even use a backdrop?
- What are the best settings for a baby shoot?
- I of course, will have the babies safety as a priority, and I will ask the mother to be near by at all times, is there any other
safety precaution I should take?
- Anything else I should know?!
Gear:
- Canon T1i
- 18-55 Kit lens
- F/1.8 55mm canon lensThank you in advance!

 

[table1349]

Katherine Marie – 10 Tips for Photographing Newborns
How to Photograph Babies | PhotographyBLOG
Newborn Photography: How to Use Light When Shooting Newborns | MCP Photography Blog

 

[KmH]

- What is the best set up for a baby shoot?' set up.There is no one 'best' set up.
- How do you handle an orange based room fighting against the natural light coming from a window? By 'orange based', do you mean incandescent/tungsten? (See below)
- What Should I use as a backdrop? Should I even use a backdrop? It would depend on the camera angle you use.
- What are the best settings for a baby shoot? There are no 'best settings'. Settings depends on the light and your artistic goals.
- I of course, will have the babies safety as a priority, and I will ask the mother to be near by at all times, is there any other
safety precaution I should take? Liability insurance.
- Anything else I should know? Lots.

When using light sources that have different color temperatures - this is where strobed light (flash) comes in very handy.
First the built in flash and hot shoe mounted flash units (strobe lights) have just about the same color temperature as sunlight. So, color casts from mixed lighting are more easily avoided.
When using indoor lighting flash can be gelled to match the color temperature of the indoor lighting to make the flash the same color temperature as the indoor lighting.

Note, more and more in-the-home lighting is florescent (CFL) lighting rather than incandescent/tungsten lighting.

 

[WhiskeyTango]

I know this is a repetitive thread. But I wanted to ask again with specific questions.

My cousin just had a baby, curently 3 weeks old. In a few weeks they want me to take pictures of him. (free of course, no where near ready to charge) They really really like my pictures, so I know they will happy (hopefully) but with the portraits they have seen they were all outside, natural light; Which I know I can handle pretty well. But of course we wont be taking the baby outside, SO here are my questions.

- What is the best set up for a baby shoot?
- How do you handle an orange based room fighting against the natural light coming from a window?
- What Should I use as a backdrop? Should I even use a backdrop?
- What are the best settings for a baby shoot?
- I of course, will have the babies safety as a priority, and I will ask the mother to be near by at all times, is there any other
safety precaution I should take?
- Anything else I should know?!
Gear:
- Canon T1i
- 18-55 Kit lens
- F/1.8 55mm canon lensThank you in advance!

Shooting newborns isn't so much about your "set up" as it is managing the session. You want baby warm and fed, in which case he'll be happy and likely sleeping. Moms, and most others, really like pictures of baby naked. If that's the case, you want the room warm. Very warm. 85+ would be great. Baby will be the only one comfortable, but that's all that matters. Try to have mom feed him right before you're going to start. If you're doing naked shots, be sure to warn Mom & Dad that they're going to get wet, and possibly worse. It's really bad form to drop the baby. Put down a plastic backed table cloth and suggest they simply hold baby at arm's length when the event occurs. You don't want to interrupt the shoot more than you have to, and if Mom needs to change because she's gotten wet, you're going to have down time. OTOH, it's still very much preferable to dropping the kid...

Don't worry about your gear, other than lighting perhaps. Worry more about the other things that will be in the shots. Do you have blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, etc.? Play around with a doll and use the above as posers.

 

[Bink]

If your goal is to use Natural light, my best advice is Patio Doors, windows and even the front door. I just recently did newborn and used the patio lights, they came out beautiful!

Also, 4 Weeks is a little “Old” for a newborn shoot, assuming the shots you want to take to not require much posing, you should be fine. Newborns are usually best shot UNDER 14 Days old.

Good Luck!

 

[KmH]

All light is 'natural light'. Many use the term natural light when they are referring to ambient light. While light can be made in different ways, each way of making light makes the same thing - photons.

Light from the Sun, what many call natural light, is made by nuclear fusion. 20% of the electricity made in the USA is made by nuclear fission. So any lights that plug into a wall may also be nuclear powered.

A huge advantage of using strobed light (flash) is the amount of control it gives the photographer - direction, height, intensity, diffusion, etc. Plus, unlike when using so called natural light, the photographer doesn't have to wait on weather, or nightfall.

 

[Solarflare]

Light from the Sun, what many call natural light, is made by nuclear fusion.

Just for the record, the "light" that is created in the suns nuclear fusion, at 15 million kelvin, is x-rays and invisible. What we actually see is the light caused by the temperature of the suns surface, which is something around 6k kelvin. Technically the light is caused by the energy of nuclear fusion, but in itself it is NOT light from nuclear fusion, just the light caused by heating hydrogen gas to 6k kelvin.


P.s.: Checked Wikipedia, its 15.7 million kelvin in the sun's core and 5.7k kelvin on the surface.

 

[Haya.H]

Well I plan to use "natural light" light from the sun lol. I dont have any backdrops. What should I use as one?

 

[Beaner96]

The photographer that did my daughter's used a big piece of fabric over a what looked like a big bean bag but it was from a photography prop place so it was bigger and more sturdy.

 

[slackercruster]

OP...dunno.

But i will say my fav shots of babies are when they are being milked. They get warm milk, cuddles and not a care in the world! (well maybe if mom just ate some kimchi they are not so care free?) It will be a all downhill from there as they grow up.

Get some milk fed shots. Diffuse them, high key or low. Post em.

Good luck!

 

[slackercruster]

Well I plan to use "natural light" light from the sun lol. I dont have any backdrops. What should I use as one?

linen sheet. Far away with for no show and close up for show.

Natural light is tops. Experiment before the shoot.

 

[WhiskeyTango]

Since the original post said no outdoors, and the latest mentions sunlight, is it safe to assume you're going for window light?

If you've got a southern exposure with bright mid-day sun, drape the window with a white sheet and use white poster board as a reflector for fill. You can do the same for a Northern exposure, but you're going to need longer shutter speeds and/or ISO's, so you may want a tripod...

 

[KmH]

Light from the Sun, what many call natural light, is made by nuclear fusion.

Just for the record, the "light" that is created in the suns nuclear fusion, at 15 million kelvin, is x-rays and invisible.

In physics all electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is considered light. Humans see a very narrow slice of the EMR spectrum, and we call that thin slice - 'visible light'.
The hydrogen, proton-proton chain reactions at the core of the Sun generate gamma radiation initially. Gamma radiation has more energy, and a higher frequency than x-rays.

The Gamma rays are absorbed just a few millimeters from where they are created there at the Sun's core, but the gamma rays are immediately re-emitted in random directions, but at slightly lower energy and frequency levels. Thus, as the energy/frequency level is reduced by the repeated emission-absorption-emission-absorption process, the 'light' changes from gamma, to x-ray, to ultraviolet, to visible, to infrared, to microwave, and humans only see the 'visible' light frequencies emitted at the Sun's surface.

The light created at the Sun's core takes a long time to propagate to the Sun's surface by that emission-absorption-emission-absorption process. The time it takes light to get from the Sun's core to the Sun's surface has been estimated at 10,000 to 150,000 years or so. The Sun has a radius of about 350,000 miles. Earth has a radius of about 3500 miles.

So you're using ancient, really old light, when you use sunlight to make photographs.

Regardless what makes the light, light is made of photons. So once made, all light is the same stuff.