First Newborn shoot

SoulfulRecover · Nov 7, 2016

My sister wants me to do a newborn shoot this weekend with my niece and I was wondering if anyone has tips for lighting. I have two strobes, one hot lamp (super cheap LED thing with a softbox my wife got me) and I also have a window that faces West in my studio.

I have never thought about how to shoot a newborn so I have no idea what I should be doing for light. Im assuming nice soft light, nothing direct like a camera flash.

For modifiers I have a beauty dish, small shoot through umbrella and a huge (64 or 86 inch) shoot through umbrella. The soft box for the led thing, I can use a white sheet to turn the window into a soft box as well.

Derrel · Nov 7, 2016

Ehhhhh...just create a large, soft light source that does not require a second fill light....so...maybe fire up the big umbrella, or bounce a strobe off of a wall/ceiling junction, so you have a slight bit of direction to the light, yet still maintain light, open shadows. Keep the light 7 to 10 feet distant, so there is NOT a lot of fall-off over the width of the shooting/posing area. You might be able to use a ceiling/wall/corner junction, which will give a LOT of bounce off of the walls for fill, and plenty of simple bounce to create your main light.

Your large umbrella could be used similarly...with one, or two flash units bounced into it, then reflected off of a wall, ceiling/wall, or wall/ceiling/corner. This will negate the need for a dedicated fill light.

For electronic flash: f/11 to f/13, ISO whatever...shutter at 1/160...baby!

For incandescent light, you'll need ISO elevation to get good depth of field unless the camera back is parallel pretty much, with the shooting table/baby's pose. Do NOT get closer than about 7 feet!!! Too much apparent perspective distortion inside of 7 feet. Stay back, crop in later! If you must use daylight and artificial light, keep in mind color temperatures of each light source. Obviously, I would shoot this digitally, not on film. Just watch your DOF if using apertures wider than f/7.1 or so.

I follow you on Instagram: you could shoot this in your sleep.

Advanced Photo · Nov 7, 2016

Near a window with a southern exposure and a white shear curtain.

SoulfulRecover · Nov 7, 2016

Derrel said:
Ehhhhh...just create a large, soft light source that does not require a second fill light....so...maybe fire up the big umbrella, or bounce a strobe off of a wall/ceiling junction, so you have a slight bit of direction to the light, yet still maintain light, open shadows. Keep the light 7 to 10 feet distant, so there is NOT a lot of fall-off over the width of the shooting/posing area. You might be able to use a ceiling/wall/corner junction, which will give a LOT of bounce off of the walls for fill, and plenty of simple bounce to create your main light.

Your large umbrella could be used similarly...with one, or two flash units bounced into it, then reflected off of a wall, ceiling/wall, or wall/ceiling/corner. This will negate the need for a dedicated fill light.

For electronic flash: f/11 to f/13, ISO whatever...shutter at 1/160...baby!

For incandescent light, you'll need ISO elevation to get good depth of field unless the camera back is parallel pretty much, with the shooting table/baby's pose. Do NOT get closer than about 7 feet!!! Too much apparent perspective distortion side of 7 feet. Stay back, crop in later! if you must use daylight and artificial light, keep in mind color temperatures of each light source. Obviously, I would shoot this digitally, not on film. Just watch your DOF if using apertures wider than f/7.1 or so.

I follow you on Instagram: you could shoot this in your sleep.

More than likely. I just like to have some clue as to what I am doing before hand. Ive never considered doing this before so Ive never thought about it. Itll be with the D600 and 85mm. I think my "studio" is 10x10 or maybe 11x10. Small space but I can make it work. If I need to, I can setup in the living room.

smoke665 · Nov 7, 2016

Just a thought, but do you have a work table safe enough to lay the baby on? Saves the photographers back.

vintagesnaps · Nov 7, 2016

Another thought - you don't have kids, do you?? The lighting might be the least of it! lol (I didn't think so but maybe you do.)

Anyway just in case you haven't spent much time with babies, let me mention from my professional experience as an EI Specialist, ignore most of the baby photography videos out there and you should be fine. Let your sister position the baby, and take a break as needed but don't do one of these sessions that go on for hours, especially since it's family and presumably you can finish up another time if need be.

I found working with babies doing an assessment I had to have everything ready and when the baby was awake, get in the skill assessment I needed to do. Then when the baby was nursing or sleeping I could get info. from the parent and record notes, etc. You may have a certain window of opportunity so it probably will help to be prepared and use the time efficiently. Get in, get done! lol

SoulfulRecover · Nov 8, 2016

We don't plan on shooting for an extended period of time and no I don't currently have kids/babies though the wife is certainly trying.

My sister was thinking mid day as my niece is sleeping through the day for the most part currently. Shes 3 or 4 weeks old? Im deathly afraid of babies so my sister will be the one to move her around.

Braineack · Nov 8, 2016

I'm doing one on Friday. I planned to use a huge 48"x36" softbox for main and an umbrella or reflector for fill if needed.

Braineack · Nov 11, 2016

3 hours later and I think I got one keeper

Braineack · Nov 12, 2016

The mother just wanted this top-down flower ring shot.

Scarlett Annie Allen by The Braineack, on Flickr

Derrel · Nov 12, 2016

Braineack said:
The mother just wanted this top-down flower ring shot.

Turned out nicely!

SoulfulRecover · Nov 14, 2016

No image on my end just an X.

My sisters props/clothes didn't get shipped till Friday so we are going to shoot this up coming weekend.

Braineack · Nov 14, 2016

Fixed the image. unsure why it broke.

crude sketch of the setup:

it went really bad: the baby was sleeping when i arrived, but I brought lunch over to the mother and we ate beforehand, then i setup, like the instant we put her down to start shooting, she woke up and it took about 2 hours to feed and chill her out again.

I wanted to try to get her more shots, but she was mostly interested in getting the above for her announcements, so she was happy, so im happy.

For this shot I aimed the softbox almost vertically above the baby, but enough angle so there was clear shadows being cast, then i setup the umbrella opposite to fill in shadows; could have easily used a reflector here.

I also did this shot:

Scarlett Annie Allen by The Braineack, on Flickr

I positioned the softbox so the edge of the box was just in front of baby. I just wanted to kiss her with light, and I used the umbrella straight on for fill.

SoulfulRecover · Nov 21, 2016

Probably the only photo I liked haha. There may be another one or two I can use but we will probably end up shooting again.

My sister did not purchase all of what she had told me so we made do with what we had. No strobes, we used the dining room table which has a window behind it, white wall on the right, and windows to the left. Shot at about 3pm or so.

vintagesnaps · Nov 21, 2016

Soulful that's lovely, beautifully done. I think that faux sheepskin is a nice choice, lots of babies seem to like the softness and it looks cuddly in a picture. And it's good that the fabric is loose around the baby's legs because it's necessary to allow room for leg movement. (If you want to know why, look up hip dysplasia.)

Brainy I can tell you after just your first paragraph what it sounds like the problem was! lol You can't just plunk a baby down on the floor which maybe feels cold, even if on a blanket - it needs to be a more smooth transition, mom getting on the floor, being next to the baby and gradually moving her to the floor. Even then, that could wake the baby and then you need to start over again, hold her, gradually transition again... Basically if you're trying to work against the baby's typical schedule it may not work. The younger the baby the more us grownups are on their schedule. Doing assessments I got tasks done in maybe 20 max. And sometimes the visit would be all consult because the baby slept the whole time.

The legs look rather awkward and it could have been better to try side positioning so the leg underneath was tucked and then the hip would come forward with the other leg forward with the foot on the surface --- BUT --- she's on a sofa so you can't do that and risk her going forward and onto the floor. So floor time is better... I don't know if she's rolling over yet but it's better to not leave a baby on a sofa unattended. If a baby's not even rolling yet, why would it be a concern? because on a soft surface like this if she managed to move enough she could go over and off the couch.