Newbie help: Baby photography!

Ayres101 · Dec 17, 2008

Hi, my wife and I are expecting our first child in April. We bought our D90 so we could capture all the special moments ourselves. However, neither of us has any experience with photography. I've taken it upon myself to learn as much as I can before Grayson (we're having a boy) gets here.

So, any advice anyone could offer for newborn/baby photography is more than welcome.

I see a lot of good looking B&W shots with black backgrounds, is this something most people do with actual backgrounds of a post processing effect?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Big Mike · Dec 17, 2008

Welcome to the forum and congrats.

Inside tip...a lot of baby shots look so much better in black & white because babies are often all sorts of colors....converting the photos to B&W solves that problem.

Babies can be hard because you can't really get them to pose, or get their attention. I'd suggest concentrating on capturing memories at first...rather than 'good' photos. They will all look good to you anyway.

After that, getting good photos is all about light. You will want to stay away from using the built-in flash....and maybe stay away from using flash altogether. Soft, natural light from a window can make for some great photos.

jlykins · Dec 17, 2008

What mike said, but let me add to answer your other question. The black background can be done in post, but it's easier and looks better(imho) to use a black fabric background to photograph babies on. Just get a piece of black fabrick from your local fabric store and clamp/tape it to the headboard of your bed and let it drape down on your matress. Lay the baby on his stomach/back and shoot away. Good luck, and congradulations!