Tuesday

Baby Photography Tips for Beginners

It's such an exciting time getting ready to photograph your newborn so with some good baby photography tips you can get some great shots. Firstly create a list of shots you want to take before you reach for your camera. When taking photos of your newborn your a very limited to time as there are many confounding variables that come into play. Be sure to get a good grip of your safe shots first and once you are confident with theses, start greeting creative with new angles and ideas.
The best lens to use for this kind of photograph would be a fast 50/85mm prime lens. shooting at wide apertures and F-stop numbers between 5.6 and 4 will allow you to work in darker environments and capture the focal point on your subject with a blurred backdrop to remove distractions.
When taking the photographs set your camera to Aperture priority and opt for the wide f4 - f5.6 F-stop. Focus on your newborns face and allow a bit of the backdrop in the frame. Interesting or colorful backdrops are really good to use in these situations as they make the scene and image more dramatic. Another perspective you could consider would be to aim your focal point at your child's feet throwing the rest of his or her frame into a creative blur, best position for this is to stand at the end of your child, in a fairly low position.
Attaching a zoom to your camera to vary the composition of your shots is a great idea to consider. You can get really cute pictures of feet, hands, ears, and nose. Try to span the image out wide to reveal the entire length of your child's body.
When taking any kind of portraiture photography you need to consider an even light distribution. Don't ever consider using your flash, it disrupts the calm atmosphere your creating, and it will rob your image of tone and texture. Position your child, cot or basket, in a room with big windows and white walls, or near a window using a white sheet or curtain to diffuse if it is a very bright, sunny day out.
make sure there are not distracting items like bottles, nappies, toys in the foreground or background of your shot. Incorporate soft blankets for interesting colors, tones, and textures. Consider using props for size emphasis, and objects to keep to a theme. Make sure though not to have too much clutter in your shot. Keeping it simple is the key.
Consider shooting in black and white or editing to black and white for some of your shots. Black and white imagery always carries our more emotion than colorful shots. When editing your shots play around with the curves, or presets in the software you are using to control your contrast and brightness of your shadows, mid tones and highlights.
As your newborn grows up at such a dramatic speed, it is a good idea to shoot at a well thought out periodical interval to chart the change and growth of your child. A collection of these images can printed in a photo book and make for a great gift or a great visual memory of your child.
It is always a good thing to try an emphasis the petite proportions of your newborn. This is best done with the parent. Babies hand on mums and dads hand, or your child's feet in between the fathers.

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