Shooting Babies & Toddlers

[AUZambo]

It appears that this is going to be my calling. I've had several friend who have just had kids call me asking me to shoot their kids (tee hee...that still makes me chuckle). Also, my first baby is due in September and I really want to get some great shots of her. I have no real experience doing this and no formal training on lighting. The one time I did this I used a room wih lots of windows for natural lighting. For those of you who have done this, what advice for me do you have & what settings do you general use?

My equipment is as follows:
Lenses:
Minolta 50mm/1.7
Tamron 18-50mm/2.8
Sony 18-200/3.5-6.3
Sigma 10-20/4-5.6

Flash: HVL-F36AM

King size black wrinkle-free sheet set for back drops (includes flat, fitted, and two pillow cases)

Bean Bag (to lay baby on??)


TIA!

 

[RumDaddy]

Im hoping to get some solid advice as well. Ive finally made my mind up on which camera to upgrade to and my first attempt as a actual photographer will be baby protraits and family portraits.

 

[PhotoXopher]

* Fast glass and/or a flash you can bounce of the ceiling or wall. You can also do this by using something like the white side of a business card and tucking it under the flash, then angle it upward so the flash bounces off of it. (I hope that kind of makes sense.)

* Get down on their level - it makes for much more interesting shots.

Kids are fast and never sit still unless they are sleeping (even then it's hit and miss)


Oh, pack LOTS of patience.

 

[JerryPH]

Learn photography. It may seem harsh, but if you can talk aperture, ISO, shutter speed at the advanced levels, chew gum, walk and not forget to breathe, thats a start... but I would not consider that ready to shoot other people's children professionally... this is where you add advanced portraiture and lighting to the mix. Mentor with a professional for at least 20-30 sessions and you will have JUST the basics of the photogrpahy portion of a photography business.

Here is the part most people have a problem understanding... A successful photography business has VERY little to do with photography.

Good luck.

 

[ANDS!]

Invest in a simple light stand and an umbrella. Photographing babies on black isn't "bad", but generally I've found the lighter colors (reds, pinks, pure white) to be more pleasing. The black-baby photos seem to be a touch more "serious", versus the fun spiritedness of the lighter color themes.

As for "how" to understand lighting - and I'm becomming quite the pitchman - I would invest in the 40 dollar Nikon Guide To Creative Lighting DVD. It explains the fundementals for shooting with light.

As for practice, grab a teddy bear, place it on the "babies" position, and try and practicve the techniques you see demonstrated on the DVD. Now they do go into multiple light setups, but you can still achieve good results with a single off camera flash unit.