Newborn baby photos - tips required!

Andy Into The Wild

Andy Into The Wild

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Hi guys,

I've been asked by some close friends to take some pictures of their newborn baby due at the end of this month. I've said that yes I can do it but with the caveat that I've never done posed people photography before so don't expect professional results (I do mostly landscape). I've been doing lots of research on the subject and have come up with a game plan:
- I will not be doing any special poses as obviously I'm not trained and don't want to make the baby uncomfortable, and I will ask the mother to make any adjustments as required
- I'll make sure there is a fan heater there to keep the baby warm enough + plenty of blankets/wraps as required
- I'll also have some nice soothing sounds playing for the baby
- to ensure I get nice shallow DOF I will borrow my dad's D7100 and rent a Sigma 35 f1.4 & a Nikon 60mm macro lens
- we will have the baby on their sofa with someone nice and close to keep him/her safe, and use blankets as a backdrop held up by another person
- I'll get a mix of really simple wide shots (top down - ensuring the strap is round my neck of course, and side on), plus some macro shots of hands, feet, eyes etc
- once we've got those I can go for some shots with the mum, dad and sisters (assuming the baby is settled enough)

Is there anything glaring I'm missing out or not considering? I'm keen to let the parents lead the comfort of the baby as I'm not experienced, and I'm planning on being there all day if I need so we're not rushing the baby. With regards to lighting, I was planning on using the natural light of the window (i.e. moving the sofa so the window light is coming at about a 45 degree angle to the baby's head), but I don't know if I should look into buying/hiring a continuous softbox light as well...anyone have tips on that?

Any help, tips or works of encouragement welcome :)
 
LojikDub said:
I was planning on using the natural light of the window (i.e. moving the sofa so the window light is coming at about a 45 degree angle to the baby's head), but I don't know if I should look into buying/hiring a continuous softbox light as well...anyone have tips on that?
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Artificial lighting.. there's a fair bit to learn about how to use it so you may not want to bother for this one. If you do go that route then start by thinking about how you might reproduce good natural light in the same space.

Flash is a better option than continuous anyway - but I would say that.

If you're relying on window light then take some voile or similar and masking tape so you can diffuse the light if you need to.
 
juggler said:
Flash is a better option than continuous anyway - but I would say that.
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It doesn’t matter who says it, it’s just simply true.

However, windowlight is fine - depending on the window, and is what I used for my last newborn shoot.

If you haven’t got a window though - make one, and that means the biggest softbox you can get hold of with flash. Continuous lighting is fine for products, but people dont want to have to look into a big bright white box.
 
Thanks guys - my initial idea was that continuous would be less alarming for the baby, and considering I don't know how to use flashes, I think I will go down the natural light route. They have a decent sized open-ish house so should be plenty of options. Would a deflector be useful at all to help fill in any shadows?
 
Phil V said:
. Continuous lighting is fine for products, but people dont want to have to look into a big bright white box.
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Not sure Peter Hurley would agree with that :)
 
LojikDub said:
Would a deflector be useful at all to help fill in any shadows?
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Absolutely, also don’t just consider being in ‘plenty of light’, always consider your light position, it should never matter whether your light source is a window, flash or a torch.

It sounds odd, but it’s why people who’ve done some studio time shoot better photos out in the sunshine.
 
Phil V said:
Absolutely, also don’t just consider being in ‘plenty of light’, always consider your light position, it should never matter whether your light source is a window, flash or a torch.

It sounds odd, but it’s why people who’ve done some studio time shoot better photos out in the sunshine.
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Could you elaborate a bit on this point? From what I've seen the light will be at it's most flattering at about 45 degrees between the forehead and straight on, then I can use a deflector to add a "2nd" source to soften any shadows. I will also look into taking some voile so I can defuse the window light if it's too harsh.
 
LojikDub said:
Could you elaborate a bit on this point? From what I've seen the light will be at it's most flattering at about 45 degrees between the forehead and straight on, then I can use a deflector to add a "2nd" source to soften any shadows. I will also look into taking some voile so I can defuse the window light if it's too harsh.
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There’s no ‘one’ light position, and it can change dramatically as you change poses.
The tricky thing with babies is that they’re not sat/stood facing the camera, so remember when laying out your backdrop/props that you’re doing it in relation to the light source, and that unlike a massive softbox, you can’t move the window.
Fortunately, they’re a simple lighting job, you just want a big soft light source.
 
I think the key thing is to have a very strict storyboard to work from, that way, you can work out all your shots beforehand.
 
I'm really keen to see the result and how you got on.

I want to start taking newborn portraits and have asked a friend if I can photograph their baby when it arrives (very soon now). I've practiced a little on my girl when she was a baby but thats different to actually going to someones house and doing it out of the comfort of your own living room etc.

My advice is make sure you get the skin tone looking good in pp as newborns can often have a rather red and flaky tone to their skin so be prepared to fix this afterwards. Also don't be too harsh on your images whatever they look like cos more than likely the paresnt will love them regardless :)
 
@redmonkee I can't really share the results here unfortunately but I can tell you how I got on.

We started pretty well, the baby was awake so I popped shots until I got a few where she looked reasonably peaceful - she was wrapped up in a beautiful multi coloured blanket. I then moved onto some top down shots where she was tucked into the blanket which was nice and cute.

She started to get a bit restless so I gave her a cuddle, only to be met with a code brown which put the nice blanket out of action :D

Once she fell asleep, we just set her up near the window on some nice baby pillows, using a textured blanket over the top. I proceeded to just pop as many shots as I could from various angles, following a rough pattern of wide angle, close up then macro, then changing her position a bit. At most all I did was move her hands so she was holding a toy etc or put a hat on her so it wasn't too stressful.

Finally we did a group shot with just her and her sisters which came out really nice.

Overall I came out with 22 useable images and I think the family are really happy with the results. My tactic of shoot as many images as possible might not be the cleanest, but it meant I ended up with enough shots. The reflector was an essential purchase, and next time I think I would plan the 'group' shot more as that was technically the worst shot (although it ended up being a nice image).

Thanks for all the tips :)
 
redmonkee said:
Also don't be too harsh on your images whatever they look like cos more than likely the paresnt will love them regardless :)
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This is a very good piece of advice. I watched an interview today with an Aussie woman “who’s name escapes me now” and she said the exact same. In fact she said don’t worry about other photographers opinions as they’re not your clients unless you develop a product for photographers.
 
LojikDub said:
@redmonkee I can't really share the results here unfortunately but I can tell you how I got on.

We started pretty well, the baby was awake so I popped shots until I got a few where she looked reasonably peaceful - she was wrapped up in a beautiful multi coloured blanket. I then moved onto some top down shots where she was tucked into the blanket which was nice and cute.

She started to get a bit restless so I gave her a cuddle, only to be met with a code brown which put the nice blanket out of action :D

Once she fell asleep, we just set her up near the window on some nice baby pillows, using a textured blanket over the top. I proceeded to just pop as many shots as I could from various angles, following a rough pattern of wide angle, close up then macro, then changing her position a bit. At most all I did was move her hands so she was holding a toy etc or put a hat on her so it wasn't too stressful.

Finally we did a group shot with just her and her sisters which came out really nice.

Overall I came out with 22 useable images and I think the family are really happy with the results. My tactic of shoot as many images as possible might not be the cleanest, but it meant I ended up with enough shots. The reflector was an essential purchase, and next time I think I would plan the 'group' shot more as that was technically the worst shot (although it ended up being a nice image).

Thanks for all the tips :)
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Glad it went well.

Shame you can't share the images as it would have been great to see what you managed to get.

I'm hopefully doing my first shoot in the next week or so so fingers crossed i'm as happy with my results as you are with yours :)
 
Newborn photography is the only area I would 100% recommend proper training - my wife & I paid a small fortune to do a days training - which turned into 2 days as our model for the day was a bit difficult (and that is the understatement of the year!) there are so many things you need to take into consideration, posing, safety, the fact a baby can essentially fly as they propel themselves past you at full speed from a sleeping position, etc.

Made up it went well for you & they were happy with the photos (y)
 
interesting topic as ive just done one my self yesterday with one soft box and a reflector. it was also my first go. as mike said above its not easy getting them into the right pose. i felt like i was shooting utter crap from the get go. i shot the whole shoot on a 50mm F1.8 canon FD lens on my A7rii. typically how many image do give back when doing a newborn shoot?

_DSC9049fb by Danny Kenealy, on Flickr
 
Great thread. I'm going to be taking some images of our new granddaughter in the next few weeks so this has helped. I'm thinking along the lines of an overhead (ish) speedlight remotely triggered, behind a shine through white umbrella, and adjust the power to suit (i'll try this on the wife beforehand so as not to alarm the baby took much). i'm also thinking of a reflector somewhere low and on the opposite side of the flash to try and add some fill light to eliminate harsh shadows.

Hopefully my plan will work out, but at least I have a willing guinea pig in the wife to try some test shots.
 
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