Beginner New baby photography advice

Mani Gill

Mani Gill

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Mani
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Hi all,

We have recently had a new born baby, I've been looking at some great photos on the web and on the forum and I was hoping to replicate the idea. I don't have my own studio, but I was hoping to get the same style of photos at home.

Photos such as, baby on a beanbag with a nice backdrop using different colours etc.

My question is, would I need to buy a backdrop stand, if so what is an ideal one to buy to use at home.
I would also need to buy a bean bag which seem to be very expensive as well as the varying backdrop colours etc.

Are there any recommendations on what type of stands to buy?

Any other items that I need to purchase?

I will be using off camera flash as well as reflectors for the natural light from the windows etc.

Thanking you all in advance.
 
Shooting newborns is something of a steep learning curve. My advice would be to keep it simple a large blanket on a beanbag as a start point, the interest then comes from a simple safe pose and your camera angle.

Be aware that many newborn poses require support and multiple exposures for cloning out the safety measures.

If you've got decent window light, use it as a start.

But the key to success is looking after baby, warm fed clean and they're quite malleable, hungry or wet and you're stuffed.
 
Phil V said:
Shooting newborns is something of a steep learning curve. My advice would be to keep it simple a large blanket on a beanbag as a start point, the interest then comes from a simple safe pose and your camera angle.

Be aware that many newborn poses require support and multiple exposures for cloning out the safety measures.

If you've got decent window light, use it as a start.

But the key to success is looking after baby, warm fed clean and they're quite malleable, hungry or wet and you're stuffed.
Click to expand...

Thanks Phil. I think I will need to look at a few tutorials before doing anything. Cheers.

Mani
 
The other thing to point out is you haven't got long, they're really only newborns for about 5 weeks, after that the warm / fed / sleepy trick doesn't work half so well.

They've gone from newborn to baby.
 
Phil V said:
The other thing to point out is you haven't got long, they're really only newborns for about 5 weeks, after that the warm / fed / sleepy trick doesn't work half so well.

They've gone from newborn to baby.
Click to expand...

This was going to be my next question. Cheers Phil.
 
Phil V said:
The other thing to point out is you haven't got long, they're really only newborns for about 5 weeks, after that the warm / fed / sleepy trick doesn't work half so well.

They've gone from newborn to baby.
Click to expand...

Any ideas what alternatives there are to bean bags? They seem to be very expensive without the filling, I'll oh be using it for the first few weeks.

Cheers

Mani
 
This may seem unhelpful and feel free to ignore but in all honesty if it's only for your baby and you want that stylised new born shoot just find someone locally who does it and pay for a session. You have such a small window of time to get them like that and when it's your own you're so tired and thinking of so many other things and by the time you buy a good beanbag, then three extra bean refills to pad it, then blankets and throws, then a background stand, then potentially lighting, then whatever else you decide you need it'll not even have saved you money. If you just want some nice photos a bean bag or sofa cushion with some throws draped and clipped to chairs next to a big window will do the job but getting it done well takes practice and planning and times not going to be on your side with everything else that goes on with a new baby.
 
Mani Gill said:
Any ideas what alternatives there are to bean bags? They seem to be very expensive without the filling, I'll oh be using it for the first few weeks.

Cheers

Mani
Click to expand...
There's cheaper ways to get beanbags than specialist photo dealers. But if you need to buy much stuff, it might be cheaper to find someone local for a stylised shoot.

But for something simple you should be able to get something decent.
 
Thanks guys, I have been wondering the same. It will be a lot easier to get it done, I think it's the idea that I've done rather than anyone else, I have left it a little late.
 
Hi guys, I've managed to take some pics. I will post them in the critique section. Thank you very much for your advice.
 
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