Baby photoshoot

[Delchrys]

Hi all,

tomorrow i'm going to do a photoshoot with my son (5 months). I have some things in mind, but i can always use some tips and tricks. I have a black background and ground cover and i'm going to shoot indoor with natural sunlight and pop up flash with flash triggered background flash to eliminate shadows. Also trying on white background. Any tips on use of aperture and setting for processing in camera???
Camera and flash on tripod and remote trigger to keep Duncan smiling.
Hope some of you have some tips.

--
Nikon D5000; 1855mm VR 3.5;5.6 (kitlens)

 

[Anthony14707]

Hi all,

tomorrow i'm going to do a photoshoot with my son (5 months). I have some things in mind, but i can always use some tips and tricks. I have a black background and ground cover and i'm going to shoot indoor with natural sunlight and pop up flash with flash triggered background flash to eliminate shadows. Also trying on white background. Any tips on use of aperture and setting for processing in camera???
Camera and flash on tripod and remote trigger to keep Duncan smiling.
Hope some of you have some tips.

--
Nikon D5000; 1855mm VR 3.5;5.6 (kitlens)

Not sure what you intend to use to trigger the background light, but just a reminder that you have to use commander mode, and a compatible speedlight, if you're triggering from the popup flash.
If you're using some sort of slave sensor, it won't work.

 

[Delchrys]

I have a flash from my dad's old analog photographing days.

It flashes when it detects a bright light, like a flash, sort of optical trigger.
--
Nikon D5000; 1855mm VR 3.5;5.6 (kitlens)

 

[Anthony14707]

I have a flash from my dad's old analog photographing days.

It flashes when it detects a bright light, like a flash, sort of optical trigger.
--
Nikon D5000; 1855mm VR 3.5;5.6 (kitlens)

That's what I'm saying. It won't work.

 

[Sammy Yousef]

Make sure the baby has had some sleep OR plan to shoot the baby asleep. Inbetween (just waking up, or getting cranky needing sleep) might not be the look you're after.

Sounds like way too complicated a setup unless you've already tested it with something like a stuffed toy just to be sure it will work. You may have limited smiling time so if you can't get it set up in advance, ditch it and go with something simpler (eg. natural light plus on camera flash for fill)
--
Sammy.

My forum postings reflect my own opinions and not those of my employer. I'm not employed in the photo business.

 

[Delchrys]

My son smiles the whole day, so the smiling is no problem, i'm test shooting now with an stuffed animal. Trying different things. Maybe i'll blind the room, then it's dark, maybe fun pictures don't know yet.
--
Nikon D5000; 1855mm VR 3.5;5.6 (kitlens)

 

[jkjond]

I've not done any serious baby stuff, but I see plenty of mediocre stuff posted around.

I'd say the key thing to remember is there are two types of baby shots, the ones that appeal to the doey eyed parent's/grandparent - you know the kind of thing, doesn't matter if its in focus, attentive or anything, the family love it.

Then there's actually some decent stuff out there.

Is the key to try and remove yourself from the equation, try not to think of it as shooting your son so you hopefully get a shot of more universal appeal? Or is being the dad a key part to it?

Either way, I'm not sure a tripod is the best approach as the flexibility to change your position swiftly is invaluable for portrait shoots where one inch difference can transform a shot.

I think my priorities would be - expression, pov, interaction, light, props, background

My fave baby shots are the ones where they look like they're having fun, followed by the ones where they've obviously contemplating the follow up to the theory of relativity, but the best baby shot which always springs to mind is one where the mother had taken loads of shots, then mounted them all together as a grid, maybe a 4 x 5 of squares (can't remember). The resultant image was a complete range of emotions which made a brilliant present as a large print for the grandparents. Its impossible to capture the full character of a child with one image, so to have laughter, crying, the lot in one set was very successful.
--
http://www.johnleechstudio.co.uk

 

[Delchrys]

Session 1 has ended (feeding time) now i'm looking ver the results and post some of them, no PP, straight out of cam. Maybe some tips of how to PP them?
I will upload them in about 30 minutes, hope you like some of them at least.
Greetz Bert.
--
Nikon D5000; 1855mm VR 3.5;5.6 (kitlens)

 

[Delchrys]

--
Nikon D5000; 1855mm VR 3.5;5.6 (kitlens)

 

[jkjond]

That's one smiley baby, some great expressions.

The black background feels totally wrong, I'd run from that. The best of the set are the later ones with the white material in shot.
--
http://www.johnleechstudio.co.uk

 

[Delchrys]

Thank you, i also think it's a bit too much black. Maybe black background and white groundcover. Or all white. Still experimenting, this was my first shoot. Have to find some more props too play with and funny clothes or hats for Duncan.

Have no calibrated screen so i don't know if the pictures are exposed well and if the colours are good.

some other question id the backLCD on my camera calibrated???
So if i adjust monitor to LCD on camera will it be ok then???

--
Nikon D5000; 1855mm VR 3.5;5.6 (kitlens)

 

[jkjond]

I wouldn't use a black backdrop for any of this. It can suit adult shots, or if you were converting these to black and white I could see some value in it, but as it I find it incredibly drab and lifeless.

LCDs, well I have my D300 set to -1 brightness as do a lot of people. Its only a guide so no real point in it being calibrated. I'd be a bit of a slave to the histogram and keep an eye on not blowing the top end to the right.

These shots look slightly under, a bit more light wouldn't harm them, though its a bit bright in this room right now so I could be out there.
--
http://www.johnleechstudio.co.uk

 

[J Le]

IME, if you set your pop-up flash to manual mode, it will trigger your slave flash properly. Otherwise, in TTL, it probably won't work. Problem is, you'll have to dial in the flashes manually, to get proper exposures, but if you aren't moving around, once you get it, you should be all set.

Hope that helps.
--
Justin
MPLS, MN