Indoor newborn portrait help! (natural lighting vs kit lighting)

[ahanlon]

I'm taking some photos of my friend's brand new baby girl after she is born in about two weeks! My home has a fairly large window in the living room and an open floor plan with a sliding glass door directly across from it in the dining room so light comes in from both sides. I think I might be able to do this with natural lighting.. the only thing is that sometimes in photos that I've taken just for fun of my own babies.. it appears just a tint yellow.. and I can use lightroom to fix it but I was wondering if there was something I could do to get that out in the original shot. Will a light kit fix this issue? I really know nothing about indoor photography I've only done outdoor because I'm too broke to pay for lighting

Also, I was wondering if there was a cheaper version of the shoot baby bean bag pad? Again.. broke.. lol

 

[Buckster]

Set a custom white balance in the camera at the beginning of the session shoot. Refer to your camera manual on how to do this.

You will need a reference card or object to shoot, like a white balanced gray card, which can be had very inexpensively (I see you're on a budget). Even a white piece of paper can help, but sometimes white paper isn't truly pure white and can introduce it's own color cast. I've read from some of our VERY knowledgeable and trusted members here that a white Styrofoam cup is actually very well white balanced, and those are of course very easy to get on a budget.

Can't tell you anything about a cheaper version the bean bag product you asked about, but it shouldn't be too difficult to put together something from common household items like pillows, blankets, cushions, sheets, pillowcases, and stuff with baby-styled patterns on it that will work for you.