Newborn lighting

[skyace888]

Hi all,

My wife and I recently had our first baby. I’d like to figure out an appropriate lighting setup for use with my Nikon Z6 ii camera. I’ve heard of both constant and strobe options. On the constant side, thinking an Aputure LS 300X with a large softbox modifier. For strobe, thinking a Westcott FJ200 with large 7’ umbrella. Thoughts on these setups? I’d probably consider renting the gear at first and then maybe purchase later (I’ve used both strobes and continuous lights previously for other photography types).

Thanks!

 

[407370]

Congratulations on the new baby.
Forget lighting setups, work out how to get sleep.
Whatever lighting you use will create the most precious memories you will ever have. The technicalities dont matter.

CHEERS

 

[smoke665]

Hi all,

My wife and I recently had our first baby. I’d like to figure out an appropriate lighting setup for use with my Nikon Z6 ii camera. I’ve heard of both constant and strobe options. On the constant side, thinking an Aputure LS 300X with a large softbox modifier. For strobe, thinking a Westcott FJ200 with large 7’ umbrella. Thoughts on these setups? I’d probably consider renting the gear at first and then maybe purchase later (I’ve used both strobes and continuous lights previously for other photography types).

Thanks!

Newborn skin is in a category all its own. Forget the continuous lighting, most is under powered, and if you get something that is powerful enough shining on a newborn, you're going to have an unhappy baby real fast. The biggest mistake that people new to flash make is to go with underpowered lights.

You want the "soft light" from a large source. In a pinch you can use a white 42" reflective umbella with diffusion and a speedlight up close. In any case the larger the better. I use a 7' brolly with diffusion and a AB800 as my main, for kids. It's very forgiving on placement, and provides excellent micro transitions in the shadows. If you need additional fill, a white poster board or 5 in 1 reflector works great. The caveat with any incident lighting is YOU NEED A METER that reads incident light, and take the time to learn how to use it.. By guess and by golly is a terrible waste of time and it's impossible to get ratios right without one. A good used meter can be found in the $100 range.

As an alternative to flash, if you have a large exterior window, you can can stage the infant in a chair next to it, time your shot with the sun location to get a nice soft ambient light shot. Again a white poster board or 5 in 1 reflector can be used for fill. While a meter is helpful, your camera meter would work.

 

[skyace888]

Newborn skin is in a category all its own. Forget the continuous lighting, most is under powered, and if you get something that is powerful enough shining on a newborn, you're going to have an unhappy baby real fast. The biggest mistake that people new to flash make is to go with underpowered lights.

You want the "soft light" from a large source. In a pinch you can use a white 42" reflective umbella with diffusion and a speedlight up close. In any case the larger the better. I use a 7' brolly with diffusion and a AB800 as my main, for kids. It's very forgiving on placement, and provides excellent micro transitions in the shadows. If you need additional fill, a white poster board or 5 in 1 reflector works great. The caveat with any incident lighting is YOU NEED A METER that reads incident light, and take the time to learn how to use it.. By guess and by golly is a terrible waste of time and it's impossible to get ratios right without one. A good used meter can be found in the $100 range.

As an alternative to flash, if you have a large exterior window, you can can stage the infant in a chair next to it, time your shot with the sun location to get a nice soft ambient light shot. Again a white poster board or 5 in 1 reflector can be used for fill. While a meter is helpful, your camera meter would work.

Thanks for this info. Sounds like strobe lighting is the way to go checking light meter as I go. Exterior windows can be tricky in my location.

 

[smoke665]

Thanks for this info. Sounds like strobe lighting is the way to go checking light meter as I go. Exterior windows can be tricky in my location.

Another thought, is to go with a good quality speedlight that supports Nikon wireless TTL. Place it off camera on a stand, in a 42" white reflective umbrella. You'll need a bracket to mount the flash and umbrella no metering required.

I've used TTL many times, especially on "run and gun" work where you don't have time to meter each shot.