lighting for newborns

Mickey92978 · Feb 17, 2009

Hey there everyone, I was just hoping to get a few tips on lighting. I have been taking pictures of familes and people for about a year now, but usually it is outdoor stuff, but my sister is going to have her first baby any minute now and asked me to photograph her in the delivery room and then take pictures of the new baby when she comes home. However I am not quite sure how to go about lighting indoors, her house has a lot of dark colors and not much for windows. I do not have any "professional lights" and do not have the budget to get any right now

. So I guess what I would like to know is if anyone might have any tips as to what kind of lighting I could use to help give off a more "natural light" effect? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in adv ance everyone for taking the time to answer. Have a great day!:lmao:

Big Mike · Feb 17, 2009

When I think baby photos...I usually think soft lighting....which means a large light source. So if you don't have your own lighting, then window lighting might be your best bet.

Do you have a hotshoe flash that can tilt & swivel? If so, you could bounce the light off of a wall or the ceiling, giving you nice soft light.

Neuner · Feb 17, 2009

I took photos of my three plus my nephew - not during delivery but right afterwards. I don't think you need to worry about the hospital room because they are typically well lit. The rooms we were in had can lights that I used as directional lighting. The effect worked out really well. I think you just need to analyze the room and use what is there. I might have used my flash bounced off of the ceiling maybe twice. I used a 50mm f1.8 set between 2.8-4 at ISO 100.

For my three the rooms were large but for my brother's baby it was tight and hard to work with the 50mm. In that case I wish I had brought a wider lens for when people wanted photos with the baby.

If you have an external flash, I would do as Mike says and bounce if off of the ceiling or wall. For when you take shots at their home, if you could get a cheap <$20 remote trigger in time to get the flash off of the camera that would be good.