baby photos

[bigbob]

I have been asked to take some photos of our friends first grandchild this week he was born Saturday, as i haven't done anything like this for years so any advice on what is modern and what is considered to old fashioned.

[Derek]

Everyones taste is different. If the parents don't have anything specific in mind jump on the net and have a look at some baby portrait photographers sites and see what they are mainly showing. This should give you some fresh ideas and inspiration.

[admin]

Hi Robert,

I hope your trip to Spain, was enjoyable.
With newborns, we try and get a few of the following angles.
Best make a time for when the baby has both had a sleep and reasonably recently fed. So you will need to be flexible, because the baby won't be.
The room should be warm enough so that the baby can be naked or just partially clothed.
Our own preference is to shoot by window light, we often use a reflector made of a white single bedsheet attached to a light piece of rod to bounce some light back. The further from the window, the more diffuse, the light.
Short of a suitable window light, a tungsten video light is very useful. You can set up on a stand or tripod and again bounce some light back.
> On a rug straight down full face series of shots. If you are patient for a few minutes, the baby at some point will look at the lens and exhibit a range of subtley different expressions. Haberdashers keep a range of fake fur and velour style materials. It is worth buying a metre each of a black or dark grey and some lighter natural tones rather than relying on the rugs that parents might have.
> We try to get the mum or dad or both to snuggle the baby into their shoulder for some closeups of both part of the parents face, and the baby.
> Laying tummy down on the dad's forearm, with the head on the hand
> Close ups of the tiny feet or hands cupped in the parents hands
> Parent laying on the floor with the baby snuggled tummy down on the chest
> A wicker basket can provide an effective frame too. Pop a baby mattess in, cover with cloth place the baby naked and shoot down, makes for a nice "frame"

I have attached a few samples from a shoot, my wife Andrea did recently.

[bigbob]

thanks guys most helpfull. would you believe i used to do this 30 years ago and not bat an eye but being told you are too old fashioned kind of knocks ones confidence.

[admin]

Never too old mate. Only more experienced.

[Matt]

Hello Bob,
I am a new father and my tip is that newborn's have uncanny timing when it comes to toilet habits....

So, keep a number of wipes on hand, nappy on when not shooting and be prepared for anything!!

I just tried to shoot a heap of shots with our three week old baby girl and we found it easier immediately after baby was fed and relaxed.

We also did what Derek suggested and found it useful. The other thing I did was quiz the resident hospital photographer for tips on what works and what doesn't.

Let us know how it goes.

Matt

[Cygnus]

Keep the light soft, no flash directed towards the child. One neat trick that I heard from a photographer here was to lightly rub baby oil on the exposed skin prior to the shoot. It is supposed to give the skin a really different look.
I would suggest using soft toys as props. Teddy bears, a blanket, that sort of thing.