baby/family set up?

sineadw

Hey all. Heading in to the studio in a short while to do a baby shoot (6 week old girl) and perhaps some with the parents. Have a few ideas on light set ups but wondering if there are any words of wisdom or websites I should be looking at? First shoot with such a young child..

sineadw

Feck - who is it here who does the really lovely family shots? I wanted to have a peek at their website. I need a memory transplant...

CabanSail

I would go with a fairly conservative set up.

Maybe a Softbox to one side, 45 degrees off the subject with another diffused fill on the opposite side 2 stops under. If you use Low Key then it's just two lights & less that needs to be adjusted. You could get fancy & put in a snoot to halo the hair from behind but you need a cooperative subject & kids tend to be all over the place.

Get into teh Studio before the kid arrives & have it all set up & ready. Kids have such a short attention span & will play up when bored. You will probably get 15 - 20 mins to get all the shots.

Good luck

magicbastarder

sineadw wrote: »

wondering if there are any ... websites I should be looking at?

http://www.andrea-schroeder.com/AGeddes58.html

GavinZac

CabanSail wrote: »

I would go with a fairly conservative set up.

Maybe a Softbox to one side, 45 degrees off the subject with another diffused fill on the opposite side 2 stops under. If you use Low Key then it's just two lights & less that needs to be adjusted. You could get fancy & put in a snoot to halo the hair from behind but you need a cooperative subject & kids tend to be all over the place.

Get into teh Studio before the kid arrives & have it all set up & ready. Kids have such a short attention span & will play up when bored. You will probably get 15 - 20 mins to get all the shots.

Good luck

Good advice generally, but the kid is 6 weeks old! They will probably be pretty stationary So you can be as precise as you want with the lighting. There's not a whole lot you can do really, and the parents will want the standard stuff rather than anything really imaginative, so checking out some other baby shots and using those ideas, with your own spin on them, is a good idea.

sineadw

Thanks all. Clients postponed due to weather and us all being feckin knackered, so I get to go back to bed today

What is it about the Anne Geddis shots that I really dislike? I know they're lovely. Is it that she's become a victim of her own success and her work is now almost a stereotype of itself? Or is it that the mother in those shots looks like Celine Dion :eek:

chevron

sineadw wrote: »

Or is it that the mother in those shots looks like Celine Dion :eek:

That might have something to do with the fact that it IS Celine Dion in those shots

smelltheglove

there are a few things to think of with such a young baby, most noteably how much the parents will allow you to do. I would recommend getting a bean bag, covering it with some nice soft blankets and using that to position the child. My favourite new baby pics can be found here http://www.flickr.com/photos/moments_photography/4005483541/ I believe these girls are actually boards members also, really great at what they do.

Most recently when I had the chance of taking new born baby pics for my sister I found her very nervous of how I positioned the baby so I could only get more tradtional shots such as lying flat, hands and feet etc.

The other thing you may come across is a crying baby, when this has happened to me int he past I have reverted to taking photos of the parents soothing the baby which turned otu fab in black and white.

I would recommend using neutral colours, I honestly hate pink on babies in photos as a newborn baby tends to have more pinkish skin, I dont think it is a flattering colour at all.

oshead

Use the biggest lights you have. One 45 dgrs to the right the other 45 to the left on a 1:1 ratio. That should get you through. Don't worry if you think the light will go flat. It's quite acceptable with baby pics. Shadows are a real no no IMO.

Dave OS

ThOnda

I have an idea...
Lots of fake blood, stew (instead of vomit), knives, scissors, broken beer bottles, leather jacket instead of nappy, used syringes, rusty steel pram...

mikeanywhere

Personally I wouldn't use a studio set-up, go as natural as poss but that's me - sorry it didn't really answer your question

Borderfox

Real soft light from a window with the two parents, other than that have a remote on the camera (I use pocket wizards) and this allows you to interact a lot stronger than if you are behind the camera.

RoryW

smelltheglove wrote: »

The other thing you may come across is a crying baby, when this has happened to me int he past I have reverted to taking photos of the parents soothing the baby which turned otu fab in black and white.

An wailing baby with the expressions that give can be a great photo

Might find some of interesting ideas at http://www.flickr.com/groups/newborn-posing-inspiration/pool/

mpindundalk

sineadw wrote: »

Feck - who is it here who does the really lovely family shots? I wanted to have a peek at their website. I need a memory transplant...

Check out tis guy www.lifestylephotography.ie

good luck

Chorcai

magicbastarder wrote: »

http://www.andrea-schroeder.com/AGeddes58.html

Someone on Amazons book review lol

"Some old fart blows his beans up her muff and the end result is a 'miracle'? Give me a break. If that's a miracle, so is taking a dump...which is pretty much equivalent to the entire recorded output of this overmarketed, overrated, so-full-of-herself commercial twit."

Those baby photo are fecking creepy if ya ask me !

DaireQuinlan

mpindundalk wrote: »

Check out my website www.lifestylephotography.ie

good luck

FYP :rolleyes:

smelltheglove

mpindundalk wrote: »

Check out tis guy www.lifestylephotography.ie

good luck

There are some gorgeous images in there thanks for sharing.

mikeanywhere

How did it go in the end Sinead, happy with the results??

sineadw

We had to reschedule Mike - weather issues and then planes. Some time in the next month or so hopefully. I have exams coming up :eek: