Lighting a new born

[markrichardson]

Just had my first baby so am naturally thinking about how to photograph her!

Interested in any advice on how to light a newborn - angles, soft vs hard light (I'm assuming as soft as possible is the norm) etc.

 

[Kodiak Qc]

(I'm assuming as soft as possible is the norm)

•
Yes, as soft and mellow as it gets. Newborn have a higher degree
of difficulty since their complexion is not stabilized nor the texture
of their skin. If you are patient, 10~14 days, you will have a better
situation to work with. That gives you plenty of time for some tests.

 

[markrichardson]

•
Yes, as soft and mellow as it gets. Newborn have a higher degree
of difficulty since their complexion is not stabilized nor the texture
of their skin. If you are patient, 10~14 days, you will have a better
situation to work with. That gives you plenty of time for some tests.

When I said newborn I meant it in a generic sense - she's already ten days old!

What about height and angle of the light? Obviously normal light position won't work as she'll be lying down...

 

[Kodiak Qc]

What about height and angle of the light? Obviously normal light position won't work as she'll be lying down...

•
I would suggest to use a small soft box with the inner baffle and work TTL.
Though the child is lying down, position the light as if it is standing as it is
the natural incidence of light.

 

[Phil V]

When I said newborn I meant it in a generic sense - she's already ten days old!

What about height and angle of the light? Obviously normal light position won't work as she'll be lying down...

The 'relative' light position should be the same, it's easy to overthink things, the answer is generally simpler than you'd imagine.

 

[The23rdman]

Don't shoot up her nose.

 

[Livin The Dream]

Here's my efforts Mark. Added a pullback so you can suss out how I did it.

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/16-days-old-two-more-added.608690/

Allot will depend on what kit you have I guess. I did plan a bit up front and bought some blankets, wraps, hats and a decent beanbag. Decided what we wanted and not, as the case may be. Didn't like the frog poses etc, and my other half really didn't like naked babies either so came up with these.

I'd say the easiest solution is a large softbox fairly overhead and as close as possible with a reflector below. The bit that I hadn't thought out was that my d-lite's are a bit too powerful (400 w/s version) and so needed to use a polariser (don't have any ND's anymore) to help open the aperture up a bit. 85mm and around f/4 worked out ok, in the end.

Patience will be your biggest virtue. Took us a day of trying to get her to settle properly and in the rough positions. Have a look at Jims recent newborn thread as he discusses his set up which is similar to mine above.

It's good fun. Planning on another session tomorrow. Enjoy and look forward to seeing your versions.

 

[markrichardson]

Thanks guys - particularly Kris - really helpful to see your pullback shot too! Not sure I'll manage anything quite that polished on the first attempt...!