Baby shots without studio kit
Discussion
Can it be done effectively? I have a relative who wants some shots of her baby who is 4 months old. I'm quite happy to give it a go, but only having one flash and a reflector with no studio lighting or backdrops has left me wondering the best way to do it?
Anyone got any ideas or shots which they could show to give me an idea of what can be achieved?
Anyone got any ideas or shots which they could show to give me an idea of what can be achieved?
I did it quite effectivly for some friends of mine using only a borrowed flashgun, a reflector and some white sheets.
I would make sure you do it on a bright day, in a bright well-lit room so as to give you as much ambient light as possible.
Parents love shots of hands and feet so i'd do lots of those. Just play around with the lighting until you get it right and take lots and lots of shots (and some spare batteries for the flashgun).
ETA: As AndyKH below, i was also using a fast 50mm prime lens. I would post examples, but i'm reluctant to do so having not got permission from the parents.
I would make sure you do it on a bright day, in a bright well-lit room so as to give you as much ambient light as possible.
Parents love shots of hands and feet so i'd do lots of those. Just play around with the lighting until you get it right and take lots and lots of shots (and some spare batteries for the flashgun).
ETA: As AndyKH below, i was also using a fast 50mm prime lens. I would post examples, but i'm reluctant to do so having not got permission from the parents.
Edited by jimmy156 on Thursday 20th January 16:43
Hi Rob,i've done a few with nothing more than a 50mm lens and a reflector. Windows can be used effectively if you get them bleaching out, sleeping babies can allow you to increase the exposure length and use a tripod when doing feet/hand shots so maybe hang about for a while until little one is asleep.
Great ideas chaps, been looking around including that guys facebook page. Looking at the eyes, it appears that he may just be using natural light and possibly off cam flash.
I think I'll have a go using this method, and I'll probably use the reflector just to kill some of the shadows.
I think I'll have a go using this method, and I'll probably use the reflector just to kill some of the shadows.
I've done a few with just ambient light and they're fine!
I've also shot a whole mid-winter christening inside without flash. All hail D300/D700 high ISO quality!!
As said above sunny day, baby side on to window with a reflector A3 or A4 paper or a white sheet on opposite side, auto ISO, min shutter speed of 1/125, beg steal or borrow a fast 85 or 50mm lens, set it to f4 or 5.6 get in close and shoot loads. Include parents. Crop and post process different effects and parents stuck for choice! Success!
I have also used a SB600 flash in a studio softbox instead of the window light. Could just as easily be behind a white sheet. Anything else than very soft lighting will look crap! Also if you shoot RAW any light source will do and adjust in PS. Just avoid mixing light sources if you do.
I've also shot a whole mid-winter christening inside without flash. All hail D300/D700 high ISO quality!!
As said above sunny day, baby side on to window with a reflector A3 or A4 paper or a white sheet on opposite side, auto ISO, min shutter speed of 1/125, beg steal or borrow a fast 85 or 50mm lens, set it to f4 or 5.6 get in close and shoot loads. Include parents. Crop and post process different effects and parents stuck for choice! Success!
I have also used a SB600 flash in a studio softbox instead of the window light. Could just as easily be behind a white sheet. Anything else than very soft lighting will look crap! Also if you shoot RAW any light source will do and adjust in PS. Just avoid mixing light sources if you do.
Few things to add! Babies have a 'good' couple of hours in a day, morning say after feeds say when they are content. Find out when that is for the baby in question.
Have the baby and the parents in light patternless clothes. Bold jazzy colours can swamp the picture.
The parents will stress out and pass that on to the baby. Be very relaxed (take prozac...), calm and reassuring, take your time etc etc, tell them you're getting good pics and show them the good ones on screen. You only need a handful of top pics. Shoot a couple of hundred to get them. In fact I have used rapid fire to capture the fleeting expressions that come and go in the blink of an eye. Move round the baby and change angles.
Remember the women choose the pics; listen to what she wants. Has she seen something she likes? The above were the result of a similar discussion.
Offer to do printing or get printing sorted. Canvas and/or prints. A book maybe. The vogue round here is clean hi-key block mounts and canvas B&W. You'll be asked back and their friends will see your work too so expect to do more.
Oh and finally, don't work with Children and animals!
Have the baby and the parents in light patternless clothes. Bold jazzy colours can swamp the picture.
The parents will stress out and pass that on to the baby. Be very relaxed (take prozac...), calm and reassuring, take your time etc etc, tell them you're getting good pics and show them the good ones on screen. You only need a handful of top pics. Shoot a couple of hundred to get them. In fact I have used rapid fire to capture the fleeting expressions that come and go in the blink of an eye. Move round the baby and change angles.
Remember the women choose the pics; listen to what she wants. Has she seen something she likes? The above were the result of a similar discussion.
Offer to do printing or get printing sorted. Canvas and/or prints. A book maybe. The vogue round here is clean hi-key block mounts and canvas B&W. You'll be asked back and their friends will see your work too so expect to do more.
Oh and finally, don't work with Children and animals!
Rob13 said:
I'm used to hearing the words "Venture" 
Thanks for all the tips, I've got a 50mm 1.8 so I'll probably have a go with that. Would you recommend putting up something at the window to reduce any harsh light - shower curtain or white drape?
nothing at the window and for venture shoot high key and wack the contrast and brightness up to 100% or thereabouts post production and stiffle an evil laugh as you charge them £70 for a 4x5. Tossers; I hate venture with a passion! A friend lost his brother a couple of days after a venture shoot. Venture have a policy to only keep a fixed number of shots after a shoot and delete the others. He offered to buy the deletd photos. Venture refused. I do everything in my power to undermine them. Evil bThanks for all the tips, I've got a 50mm 1.8 so I'll probably have a go with that. Would you recommend putting up something at the window to reduce any harsh light - shower curtain or white drape?
ds. Nothing gave me more pleasure than selling a portrait shoot to one of their sales people....
I'd say it's perfectly possible to do with ambient light as long as you have a fast enough lens. The guy that photographed our wedding did the whole day without flash and did some portraits of our son when he was six months old without flash too. I think a big factor in photographing children is the photographer really engaging with the kids...making them laugh etc. Be prepared to make a fool of yourself!
ian in lancs said:
He offered to buy the deletd photos. Venture refused. I do everything in my power to undermine them. Evil bds.
It's a franchise so it may have been down to the individual franchisee. It does seem very petty though.ds.I'm doing a wedding tomorrow and will probably have 10% duds when I get back. I'm open to offers!
Edited by Simpo Two on Friday 21st January 18:44
Simpo Two said:
ian in lancs said:
He offered to buy the deletd photos. Venture refused. I do everything in my power to undermine them. Evil bds.
It's a franchise so it may have been down to the individual franchisee. It does seem very petty though.ds.I'm doing a wedding tomorrow and will probably have 10% duds when I get back. I'm open to offers!
Edited by Simpo Two on Friday 21st January 18:44
Having reflected on it i decided long ago I would ask for proof and then give the whole shoot for free.
ian in lancs said:
I'd even leave them unedited too.... At 10% you're doing better than me! I'm about 20-25% technical or pose/blinker rejects. I always shoot too many and then end up with too much editing time. ant tips?
Tips... Watch, anticipate, get position, know your focus points, frame, semi-depress and hold, have lightning reactions to catch expressions. Adults are predictable, teenagers can be tricky (especially boys), 5-12 are probably the most entertaining, toddlers and babies give you about 3 seconds then forget it.Short answer - yes. Stick them on a plain background (sheets work well), bounce the flash and you're well away. If you can't bounce for any reason, stick a tissue over the flash head. This'll give you a clean enough environment and sufficient light so the rest is down to your photography.
Long answer: I don't have anything like this released for posting so I'm afraid I can't show my mettle to make my point, but.... I've shot babies using studio gear, single speedlight and ambient in the past and got results from all of them that families displayed. Just an amateur who does this occasionally for fun but here's my limited wisdom.
At this sort of age they're not very mobile so the limited portability of studio gear isn't a major issue, but you need to time it around when they're good and awake because you've got more setup time to worry about. Prop them in place (I've used a mix of cushions and boxes under a plain sheet before) if the parent wants a sitting shot and get said parent gurning and jumping up and down to get a reaction, then use the ones where kid is actually smiling properly. Hit and miss, I've not known many kids that age who can hold an expression. Or lie them out flat on their back and blast the light, or whatever other pose take your fancy. I see a lot of babies sleeping on top of a pile of towels - never understood that one (or been asked to shoot it) but it seems popular!
Single flash - one setup springs to mind where the baby was in a carry cot with a white interior. Perfect! Lower it so you can comfortably shoot down into it, reverse the flash to point at the ceiling and you've got a huge soft light source with reflectors all around the kid. Crop to a tight head shot, focus on the eyes, shallowish depth of field and a few slightly funky angles. Can't go wrong. I think all the ones they used were fairly high contrast monos which emphasises things nicely - pull the skin tones up as light as you dare then play with the levels to give some really good true blacks.
Ambient - in the summer, outdoors on a slightly overcast day is good. God's Big Softbox. Stick kid on a rug of some description and shoot away. Otherwise, find a nice big window and run with it. North window light is good in general but what you really want is something nice and bright but not too harsh - if that means closing net curtains or similar, go for it. With this sort of soft and moody light I've got some nice shots of mum cradling the baby as well. Ideally you want pretty fast glass and remember you'll be on high ISO so need to know how you're going to use the grain and different tonal response (as much as your camera does it) to your advantage. Memory says I went for the shallow DOF grainy mono on a shortish telephoto to bring them together more. Reflectors always good to move the light as fill but they can look just as unnatural as bad flash (IMO) if you put them in the wrong place so remember to keep the light sources motivated. If you've got a speedlight available a bit of gentle fill flash from that can really help lift the shadows without being too obvious in its own right.
Long answer: I don't have anything like this released for posting so I'm afraid I can't show my mettle to make my point, but.... I've shot babies using studio gear, single speedlight and ambient in the past and got results from all of them that families displayed. Just an amateur who does this occasionally for fun but here's my limited wisdom.
At this sort of age they're not very mobile so the limited portability of studio gear isn't a major issue, but you need to time it around when they're good and awake because you've got more setup time to worry about. Prop them in place (I've used a mix of cushions and boxes under a plain sheet before) if the parent wants a sitting shot and get said parent gurning and jumping up and down to get a reaction, then use the ones where kid is actually smiling properly. Hit and miss, I've not known many kids that age who can hold an expression. Or lie them out flat on their back and blast the light, or whatever other pose take your fancy. I see a lot of babies sleeping on top of a pile of towels - never understood that one (or been asked to shoot it) but it seems popular!
Single flash - one setup springs to mind where the baby was in a carry cot with a white interior. Perfect! Lower it so you can comfortably shoot down into it, reverse the flash to point at the ceiling and you've got a huge soft light source with reflectors all around the kid. Crop to a tight head shot, focus on the eyes, shallowish depth of field and a few slightly funky angles. Can't go wrong. I think all the ones they used were fairly high contrast monos which emphasises things nicely - pull the skin tones up as light as you dare then play with the levels to give some really good true blacks.
Ambient - in the summer, outdoors on a slightly overcast day is good. God's Big Softbox. Stick kid on a rug of some description and shoot away. Otherwise, find a nice big window and run with it. North window light is good in general but what you really want is something nice and bright but not too harsh - if that means closing net curtains or similar, go for it. With this sort of soft and moody light I've got some nice shots of mum cradling the baby as well. Ideally you want pretty fast glass and remember you'll be on high ISO so need to know how you're going to use the grain and different tonal response (as much as your camera does it) to your advantage. Memory says I went for the shallow DOF grainy mono on a shortish telephoto to bring them together more. Reflectors always good to move the light as fill but they can look just as unnatural as bad flash (IMO) if you put them in the wrong place so remember to keep the light sources motivated. If you've got a speedlight available a bit of gentle fill flash from that can really help lift the shadows without being too obvious in its own right.
Keep it simple & stick to natural light if you can. You'll have enough to think about getting poses, focus etc
Get the subjects side on to largest window source you have in the house. If a sunny day choose a north facing window. If overcast it doesn't matter.
Example shot (sorry not baby, but you get the idea re natural light) :-
Get the subjects side on to largest window source you have in the house. If a sunny day choose a north facing window. If overcast it doesn't matter.
Example shot (sorry not baby, but you get the idea re natural light) :-
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