Newborn Portrait Photographers?

[Mark Elberson]

Hey All,


I had my 1st Newborn Portrait session today. I thought it went pretty well but it was much more challenging than I anticipated. This baby was just over one week old and I was expecting him to be asleep for most of the shoot but he rarely had his eyes closed! Anway, I'm hoping the get some advice from some of the more seasoned portrait photographers out there. Specifically I am looking for tips on:

• Posing
• Props
• Lighting
• Post Processing

Below is a few captures from today's shoot


All taken with Canon EOS 5D Mark II &EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM


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[Madison]

I love the second one. It's incredible!

[neuroanatomist]

Great pics, Mark! Newborns can be tough subjects. Couple of tips for props would be black turtleneck shirts for mom and dad; with a black backdrop you can add a tiny bit of contrast in post if needed to leave only the parents' hands and faces, which really emphasizes the infant. Other props might by a Moses basket with a fuzzy white/cream blanket, or a tiny baseball cap from a local team if the parents are sports fans (locally I've seen Red Sox caps in 0-6 month size, both in team colors and pink ones, and around here there are some folks for whom fan really is short for fanatic!). A curled-up baby also makes a great shot, see below (the dad's wearing a dark shirt so you can't see his chest or arms).


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[Sean Setters]

The biggest suggestion that I can think of is to lessen the ratio between your main and fill lights (and by that, I mean add more fill). Dramatic lighting tends not to accentuate the innocence of a newborn. That said, the best newborn shot I have has very little fill in it as well, so I could be wrong.


One other thing--I think the shot of the feet would have looked better if it were zoomed in and framed only to include the feet and hands. While the lighting does bring emphasis to the feet as is, the lack of fill leaves the baby's face in near total darkness which leaves the viewer with a bit of an uncomfortable feeling.


I know how much difficulty there is in shooting newborns and babies. One reason I don't have more of those shots in my portfolio is because I have been less than successful at capturing portfolio-worthy images in those sessions...

[Mark Elberson]

I love the second one. It's incredible!

Thanks Madison!

Great pics, Mark! Newborns can be tough subjects. Couple of tips for props would be black turtleneck shirts for mom and dad; with a black backdrop you can add a tiny bit of contrast in post if needed to leave only the parents' hands and faces, which really emphasizes the infant. Other props might by a Moses basket with a fuzzy white/cream blanket, or a tiny baseball cap from a local team if the parents are sports fans (locally I've seen Red Sox caps in 0-6 month size, both in team colors and pink ones, and around here there are some folks for whom fan really is short for fanatic!). A curled-up baby also makes a great shot, see below (the dad's wearing a dark shirt so you can't see his chest or arms).

Great tips neuroanatomist. I actually requested that they wear black (the wife complied but not the husband). My wife and I went out looking for props and came up empty. We're always going to keep our eyes open when we're out shopping though. Funny thing is that my wife actually lent our Moses basket the the couple whose baby we shot :-) We didn't think to ask them to bring it though.

The biggest suggestion that I can think of is to lessen the ratio between your main and fill lights (and by that, I mean add more fill). Dramatic lighting tends not to accentuate the innocence of a newborn. That said, the best newborn shot I have has very little fill in it as well, so I could be wrong.


One other thing--I think the shot of the feet would have looked better if it were zoomed in and framed only to include the feet and hands. While the lighting does bring emphasis to the feet as is, the lack of fill leaves the baby's face in near total darkness which leaves the viewer with a bit of an uncomfortable feeling.


I know how much difficulty there is in shooting newborns and babies. One reason I don't have more of those shots in my portfolio is because I have been less than successful at capturing portfolio-worthy images in those sessions...

Sean,


I'd say for about half of the shots I took I used two umbrellas where it was a 2:1 ratio...one at 1/16 and 1 at 1/32...is that how you'd describe that ratio? I'm not sure about the last one but the top two were shot with just one light. I could go either way. I definitely hear what you're saying about having less dramatic light. On the other hand I think that the pronounced shadows and folds everywhere really show off the characteristics of a newborn :-)


"That said, the best newborn shot I have has very little fill in it as well, so I could be wrong"...if this is on Flickr (or anywhere public) can you send me a link?


"While the lighting does bring emphasis to the feet as is, the lack of fill leaves the baby's face in near total darkness which leaves the viewer with a bit of an uncomfortable feeling"...I have one that's a tight crop of just the hands and feet. My wife really liked the way this looked so we kept it :-)


Thanks everybody!

[Sean Setters]

Here's the one I was referring to:





That shot was created with an on-camera 580EX bounced off a white ceiling. The ceiling created a very large light source that softened the gradient from highlight to shadow.


As far as bringing the ratio's closer, you might want to try setting your main and fill lights to the same power then adjusting the distance of fill to the subject (moving it backwards) to lessen the fill's intensity on the subject. Then you could get an even closer ratio yet still have some decent highlights and shadows.

[Rodger]

First and foremost, great shots Mark. They look fantastic


I only know what Lifetouch (target studios what what?! haha bleh) have taught me about new born portraiture, so you can take it or leave it. As much as I rip on the Target studio, the newborn photography there is actually really good.


If I can, I'll touch on posing. Your shot's look great, but rather than lay the newborn on the floor, you might try a shallow wooden box with ALOT of padding inside. At the store, we use a small stool turned upside down with blankets and other sorts of padding rolled into the box. It's affectionately called "the baby box". The nice thing about it is that it keeps the newborn's back supported. you only need mom or dad close by and to the side to support the baby if he or she starts to lean. You can also re-arrange the padding in the box into more of a flat set up, turn the baby on it's belly, tuck it's arms underneath (that helps prop his or her head up off the padding), and shoot from underneath to get a really cool angle.


I'm not the greatest at describing things (if you've stuck through my descriptions, congratulations haha), so I'll take some phone pictures tomorrow when I go in. They'll help explain the above paragraph more haha.


Rodger

[Mark Elberson]

Thanks Roger. I appreciate the tips! Any chance you took those pictures today? I'm having a hard time visualizing the upside-down baby stool :-)

[Rodger]

Had to take the images down.

[Mark Elberson]

Thanks Roger. This totally makes sense now! I was picturing a stool with legs and couldn't imagine how it would be used :-)