Baby photo shoots

[Catchmo]

Yesterday I went and shot a friends baby and it didn't quite work out the way I would have liked. I got some alright pics but I didn't achieve what I set out to do. I have another shoot tomorrow and I'm looking to get some pointers or suggestions if anyone has any. Anecdotes welcome too, just errant to know what your guys do/use when shooting babies.

 

[gsgary]

What lighting have you got ?

 

[imagemaker46]

Difficult to offer any suggestions when all the information we have to go on is " How do you shoot babies" Light, camera, action?

 

[Catchmo]

I have a430exii and a canon 60d with 50mm 1.4 and a kit 18-135mm. I'm really just wondering if anybody has any sort of routine they do when shooting babies.

 

[mommy-medic]

Not sure if you are doing newborns, 6 month olds, or what, but safety comes first. Never try to hang baby in a net of some sort, put them in a glass container or bowl, and don't prop their head up in their hands until you read and understand about composite shots.

Don't shoot up the nose.

Try to engage them- getting a genuine smile and some good catchlights goes a long way.

Not sure what else to say without writing a novel. If you'll give us more info we can respond better.

 

[WhiskeyTango]

I have a430exii and a canon 60d with 50mm 1.4 and a kit 18-135mm. I'm really just wondering if anybody has any sort of routine they do when shooting babies.

It varies bigtime with age of the baby. If you're talking about newborns, you want them "just" fed and you want them warm. Everything else is pretty secondary. As long as they're warm and full, they'll pretty much just sleep. For older babies, spend some time "engaging" them before the shoot. Warm up to them while they're in Mom/Dad's arms. See if they'll respond to a stuffed animal. During the shoot, keep Mom/Dad super close (within arm's reach of kid just out of the frame), and try to keep baby focused on you with toys, sounds, etc.

Shoot on a tripod if you can. If you're face has to stay burried behind the camera, its really hard to stay engaged with the kid.

 

[Catchmo]

All great suggestions. Some of my issues were in the creative area. The two shoots I just did were one month and two months. There's not a while bunch that can be done a far a posing so I was just wondering is some of you guys had certain poses or shots you try to get when dealing with newborns like that

 

[Khaelbee]

i used to work in a photo studio, and with 1 month babies we did a lot of "sleeping baby" pictures... but to get some variety into your shots, do some of what my studio called "bits and pieces"... put mom's finger in baby's hand and take a close up shot of it, close up shots of baby's feet, etc... with babies that small, its all about creativity since they don't typically do much

 

[DiskoJoe]

Pictures?

 

[photolodico]

i used to work in a photo studio, and with 1 month babies we did a lot of "sleeping baby" pictures... but to get some variety into your shots, do some of what my studio called "bits and pieces"... put mom's finger in baby's hand and take a close up shot of it, close up shots of baby's feet, etc... with babies that small, its all about creativity since they don't typically do much

bits and pieces! That's such a great way to put it. Talk to the parents ahead of time and figure out when the baby is most active. Usually this is after a nap so if you can do part of the shoot while the baby is asleep and part while the baby is awake you can get a good variety. Obviously this works best if you are going to the families home, which is what I do. I try to be there mid afternoon to golden hour for great natural light.