Newborn Photography help

[rateeg]

i wanna venture also on newborn photography.
anyone knows tips or tutorials on the preparations and process?
thanks

 

[gsgary]

I don't see any lighting in your list of kit

 

[rateeg]

some photographers use natural light from windows. ill probably start practicing from there before i purchase lights

 

[gsgary]

And most you see on here are dull and blurry, what if you go to a shoot and it is very dull outside ?

 

[TooShay]

In my very limited experience, it's really hard to shoot newborns with all natural light. Maybe I've just had bad luck, but I have never successfully shot a newborn (although I've only done two so far) using natural light alone. If you google "newborn photography tips," you can find some good stuff, or at least some inspiration. Do you have any lighting?

 

[MLeeK]

It is very hard to always shoot newborns in natural light. Good news is they are super tiny so you can get away with one speedlight with them.

Shoot with AMPLE light. Shoot in a WARM room. Use a hot water bottle. Plan for at LEAST twice as much time as it takes to shoot anything else. Maybe 4 times as much at first.
Learn to roll with the punches. MUCH of the images you see of peaceful sleeping perfect newborns are a trick between fussing, feeding... When the baby blinks you shoot.
Don't let mom hold the baby all of the time-they smell mom and they smell food. Kind of like Pavlov's dog... the bell rings and the dog salivates. HOWEVER, explain that to mom.
When you do pose the baby with mom start with the baby furthest away with mom and work towards the body.
Keep it SIMPLE. Newborns don't require a bunch of props. Blankets/cloth, baskets. Simple backdrops. Boppy or baby poser is awesome to have.
Parents get upset when their newborn isn't perfect and NEED to be told it's OK! They can and will pee on you and everything you use as a prop, so make sure it's washable!
Make a point of using a hand sanitizer when working with someone's baby. It's an appreciated gesture by most and for those who are obsessively worried about germs? It's necessary! There are more of the worried ones than you'd expect. There are a million other things you'll need to know, but I'd be here for weeks if I tried to tell you EVERYTHING. There are classes that are DAYS long of teaching you how to work with newborns.
Processing newborns is different than any other type of photography. You need to learn how to use the luminance adjustments in order to get smooth, creamy baby skin. You MUST MUST MUST expose properly for newborns or you get some really ugly newborn skin problems. Learn how to eliminate jaundiced skin in post. It's a nightmare sometimes!

 

[rateeg]

thanks a lot.

how do you prepare for posing a baby? i mean before putting it down on the set/studio.
and how do you properly pose them?

 

[MLeeK]

Oh, boy... There are volumes and volumes to be written on that!
Let me see if I can find you a few links, or I could be here typing all day long! LOL!
10 Tips for Photographing Babies
Newborn Photography: How to Use Light When Shooting Newborns | MCP Photography Blog

There are several forums that would definitely be better for information on newborn photography too. Clickin' Mom's; ILP, I heart faces, Rock The Shot maybe?
Any Sam Puc' video you can find usually has some great newborn how to. Photography School House often has webinars with her. Free.