Advice needed

[Kaplow]

Hi guys,

I have been asked by some friends to take some photos of them and their newborn baby. Im not a professional photographer but I want to do a good job.

Can anyone provide me with any tips?...Ive been looking on t'internet for inspiration and seen photos of little hands wrapped around mums fingers and little feet and things like that...just wondering if anyone had done anything like this before and could offer any tips...

My equipment consists of a 350D, nifty fifty, 70-300 IS USM and a kit 18-55

I'll be post processing in PS CS2 and I want to blur the photos around the edges etc. Is it a simple process to do this?

Any help would be much appreciated!...

Thanks in advance!

[Moos3h]

- Keep a nice shallow depth of field

- Pay attention to backgrounds, keep them neutral

- Shoot in RAW - worry about BW conversion (if necessary/desired) at a later date

- Take loads!

- Try a mixture of 50mm, perhaps shooting over the mum's shoulder and then some with the longer zoom so that you're not as obtrusive

- If the child gets 'tired' (read: starts to cry) have a break and start up again

- Shoot in continous mode and fire a few off each time

- Avoid flash if possible as it's more obtrusive

- Spot meter (if you have the option)

Just some ideas!

Cheers,
James

[marky_h]

In good light, black and whites of newborns can look lovely too.

[Kaplow]

Thanks for the advice!...

Forgive my ignorance but what is shallow depth of field and how do I achieve it?...

[Slapo]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field

Small depth of field == Shallow depth of field

There are a few pretty good illustrations of it at Wikipedia.

[W.Smith]

Hi Kaplow,

I don't see you mentioning flash equipment, so I'm assuming you will be using ambient light only.
But, with or without flash, you can 'model' the light, 'open up' shadow areas, and generally soften/diffuse the light by using a reflector (preferably 2).

You can make very adequate D-I-Y reflectors with 3 bucks and some elbow grease.

And, like Moos said: shoot RAW(+JPG).

Have fun!

[Slapo]

I'll be post processing in PS CS2 and I want to blur the photos around the edges etc. Is it a simple process to do this?

If you mean sort of a soft glow effect, then yes, it's pretty easy. It can be done with duplicating the layer you want to apply it on, set it to e.g. overlay and blur that layer using Gaussian blur with a fairly big radius.

[Kaplow]

Excellent!...Thanks folks! :thumbs:

[Witch]

Thanks for the advice!...

Forgive my ignorance but what is shallow depth of field and how do I achieve it?...

The larger your aperture is set (small f no.) the shallower the depth of field becomes. One word of warning though - you have to REALLY watch your focus and make sure you're bang on - otherwise you end up without the focal point being where you want it!

[6ftblonde]

well here goes my first bit of advise on here!!
I shot my baby's feet today.
you could try shooting by a window with a shallow depth of field and a nice soft blanket if haven't got one use a mohair jumper or something similar
have a look at this web site

www.annegeddes.com/Modules/Anne/Galleries/index.aspx

i will post one of my pics and give you the details.

http://195.177.193.138/gallery/data/500/394.jpg

i shot with a canon 20d 50mm iso 100 f2.5 1/250sec you will need a fast shutter speed if the baby is awake they are quick little buggers much better when they are asleep
I hope this helps and I'm not talking crap!!!
I also used the burn tool in photoshop in the corners to darken them

[Kaplow]

6ftblonde thats fantastic thats exactly the sort of thing i have in mind!...Great photo there!...

Now if only I could get my head round Photoshop :lol:

[6ftblonde]

Thank you i was so scared to give advice!! incase its wrong.
Photoshop is another thing i was shown alot of things on there not sure if i could have worked it out by myself.
Glad I've help someone on here it's about time i gave a bit back.