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Davey Wolf

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Hi,

My first child is due to arrive any day now and naturally my D70 is primed and ready to go. I was hoping for any advice on how to set the camera up to get the best results as I'm still a relative novice? I have the SB600, kit lens and the 50mm 1.8D. Most shots, I imagine, will be indoors.

thanks,
David
 
I am in a similar situation (baby due in June). I have read a lot about not firing the flash directly into baby's eyes. Some places say it is harmless, others say it can impair vision for life (as the eye isn't fully developed until the baby is some months old). Not sure what to believe, but I am firmly of the opinion that when in doubt, don't do it!!!

Looks like lots of bounced flash and natural light pics!!
 
If you use the 50mm lens and the SB-600 off-camera, you should get some pretty good results. Here are two that I took with a 50mm f/1.8 and an external flash on a tripod with a reflector held overhead (although any white surface will do). It was a third-party flash so I was able to use a shutter speed of 1/4000 to cut out all the ambient light, although you should be able to get the same effect at 1/500 under artificial light.




Davey Wolf said:
Hi,

My first child is due to arrive any day now and naturally my D70 is
primed and ready to go. I was hoping for any advice on how to set
the camera up to get the best results as I'm still a relative
novice? I have the SB600, kit lens and the 50mm 1.8D. Most shots, I
imagine, will be indoors.

thanks,
David
Click to expand...
 
Nice photos.

I hadn't thought about the flash / new eyes element, but it does seem to make sense as a baby cannot properly focus in the first few weeks.

As for setting up the SB600 off camera, I assume that it is the wireless function you are referring to? I haven't tried this yet and was unsure how to get it working (I should re-read the manual I suppose).

My initial thoughts are that I should be using 'A' mode and keeping at the lower end of the F stops, i.e. 1.8 to 4.5 to get a decent blurred background?
 
First of all - Thomas takes amazing photos - two of which were showcased here. He has an incredible ability to make it seem easier than it really is!

Second - with your 50, 1.8, you should be able to get some really nice natural light shots...

Here's one that I took in the hospital without a flash:



My biggest recommendation is to open a window - allow some natural light in the room - place the baby on a soft blanket and fire away...

And oh yeah - make sure the baby has recently been fed - a happy baby is always best!

--
Todd
dpreview.com supporter
http://rossnagel.smugmug.com/
http://www.keepyourphotos.com
 
Davey Wolf said:
Nice photos.
Click to expand...
Thanks!
Davey Wolf said:
I hadn't thought about the flash / new eyes element, but it does
seem to make sense as a baby cannot properly focus in the first few
weeks.

As for setting up the SB600 off camera, I assume that it is the
wireless function you are referring to? I haven't tried this yet
and was unsure how to get it working (I should re-read the manual I
suppose).
Click to expand...
In my case I was using a Sunpak flash on a cable, but wireless would be the ideal way to do it. It's pretty easy to set it up, and makes things look a lot more interesting.
Davey Wolf said:
My initial thoughts are that I should be using 'A' mode and keeping
at the lower end of the F stops, i.e. 1.8 to 4.5 to get a decent
blurred background?
Click to expand...
If you're doing flash photography I'd suggest using Manual instead. In A mode the shutter will just be on 1/60 all the time, whereas in manual you can vary the aperture to change the DOF and vary the shutter to change the amount of ambient light that makes it into the shot. The iTTL will figure out how much flash ouput is needed.
 
This one was taken at the hospital when my daughter was just about 24 hours old. I was using my 18-70 lens with the camera at f4.5, 1/80, and ISO 200. Fortunately for me, my wifes room faced the south to allow maximum light, but it was an overcast day.

 
I envy you a little bit for having the D70 from the get go, I had to "make do" with a Sony DSC-V1 for the first month of my son's life.

With the setup you have got you should be able to take some excellent pictures whether it's flash or natural light.

What I recommend though is to buy some sort of light modifier for that flash. Either a softbox or an umbrella will do just fine.

Here is a budget setup that should get you going:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=298709&is=REG

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=359885&is=REG

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=42523&is=REG

You can also bounce the flash off the ceiling, that is another option to generate soft diffused light if your ceiling is not too high and painted white.

In low light with the 50mm 1.8D when you shoot close-up shots of your newborn be careful, the depth of field at such a short distance will be very narrow and you will get images with mostly blur at F1.8, so the F1.8 is not as useful as you might think. The beauty of the 50mm F1.8 is the sharpness at around F8.

For some examples of what I managed to do with my setup feel free to look at some of my pictures:

Kit lens (main shot) and 50mm f1.8 (black and white inserts) with SB800 bounced into a white umbrella:
http://www.gregtakacs.com/public/baby_print.jpg

Kit lens and SB800 shot directly towards the subject with diffuser dome attached:
http://www.gregtakacs.com/public/adam_and_daddy.jpg

50mm F1.8 close to wide open in natural light:
http://www.gregtakacs.com/public/adam_face.jpg

kit lens with SB800 bounced into umbrella:
http://www.gregtakacs.com/public/adam_portrait.jpg

85mm F1.8 lens with SB800 bounced off ceiling:
http://www.gregtakacs.com/public/Adam_first_meal_small.jpg
--
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
 
I highly recommend the 50mm 1.8 as i just went through this 4 days ago....here is an example....


Davey Wolf said:
Hi,

My first child is due to arrive any day now and naturally my D70 is
primed and ready to go. I was hoping for any advice on how to set
the camera up to get the best results as I'm still a relative
novice? I have the SB600, kit lens and the 50mm 1.8D. Most shots, I
imagine, will be indoors.

thanks,
David
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/daryl - pbase supporter

Nikon D Seventy. SB-800, 50mm 1.8, 18-70mm ED & 70-200 VR
 
todd_rossnagel said:
Thomas -

Quick question - what did you use for a background for the foot and
hand shots?
Click to expand...
I'm not Thomas but I have seen his work and I wanted to mimic it myself, so I did (see my baby pic in the other post in same thread, Thomas' "baby features" thread was the inspiration).

I just shot it in a dim room with blinds closed, camera appeture closed down and 1/500s sync speed in manual mode. If you take a picture without a flash you will get a black frame with nothing on it under such conditions. As long as you place the subject far enough from any kind of background and you don't allow the light to spill onto it (by placing the light close to the subject, angled so spill light will fall off to the side not to the back), you will get a black background no matter what. In photoshop later you can even make it 100% pitch black by using the magic wand and painting it/masking it/using levels, whatever your prefered method is.

--
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
 
Hi David,

Congrats! Boy or Girl?

AVOID flash: it can do damage to the eyes of a newborn child and try to find a simple background.

Here is a shot I did for a firend. He is holding his 2 days old little girl.



Good luck!

--
Joachim
http://www.joachimgerstl.com
 
todd_rossnagel said:
Thomas -

Quick question - what did you use for a background for the foot and
hand shots?
Click to expand...
A kitchen! :-) The point of using a shutter speed of 1/4000 was to cut out as much ambient light as possible. In the original picture the background wasn't quite 100% black but it was close enough that I could select it very easily. Incidently if you have an SB-600/SB-800 I think you can still do this if you cover some of the pins on the flash so that only the center pin makes contact. That way, the camera can't "talk" to the flash and doesn't limit the shutter speed.
todd_rossnagel said:
I am thinking of getting some 10X10 black material, but don't want
to spend a fortune and was wondering what kind of material would
work???
--
Todd
dpreview.com supporter
http://rossnagel.smugmug.com/
http://www.keepyourphotos.com
Click to expand...
 
Nice use of shallow dof -- wristband is blurred but gives setting/timeframe. Baby's face in background almost an afterthought. And the father-infant intimate connection. Very nicely done.

Congratulations on the baby, too.
 
I was talking to someone who takes the newborn pictures, and that what they use. I ordered a queen size jet black blanket from JC Penney's. It was $38.33 total. That was with the shipping and tax. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks like what I need. They are machine washable.
Sandi
 
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