first shot at baby photography

morganleigh · Dec 6, 2008

I met up with a friend over thanksgiving to take pictures of her 2 month old. we got together twice, but were rushed both time. I'd appreciate any feedback!

Day 1:
All with 28mm lens
Canon 30D set to ISO 1600
Did I go to high with the ISO? I didnt want to use flash with the baby. It was night time so we couldnt use sunlight.

1.

1.8
1/125

2

1.8
1/90

3

1.8
1/125

4

1.8
1/125

Day 2:
All with 50mm lens
Canon 30D set to ISO 200
Today we had natural light because I was at her house around 1:00

5

1.8
1/350

6

1.8
1/350

7

2.8
1/90

Harmony · Dec 6, 2008

1, 3, 4, 5, and 7 are all soft focus (the baby's eyes are OOF). It's really hard to get tack sharp images at f/1.8, (it's luck more than anything) so use more light and go up to at least f/2.8.

EDIT: I just realized that 7 was at f/2.8, so in that case the aperture should have been even smaller.

morganleigh · Dec 6, 2008

Harmony said:
1, 3, 4, 5, and 7 are all soft focus (the baby's eyes are OOF). It's really hard to get tack sharp images at f/1.8, (it's luck more than anything) so use more light and go up to at least f/2.8.

EDIT: I just realized that 7 was at f/2.8, so in that case the aperture should have been even smaller.

thanks for the tip

by the time I took #7, i had increased my aperture because I knew i was going to have trouble getting things sharp. the night before, I didn't know another way to do it when there was so little light. but, with the daylight i was able to use a smaller aperature. unfortunatly the baby got really fussy right after & I was only able to stay for 30 minutes.

I'm trying again over Christmas. I think it will be much better after having the experience and getting feedback on these pictures.

Lacey Anne · Dec 7, 2008

I agree that they're very soft. Also, notice the change in baby's skin color halfway through? That's not good. They go from very warm to very cool. I'm not sure if it's how you were shooting or the post, but try to be consistent. I think your best bet is going to be somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. Keep working at it! Babies are HARD to shoot!