WARNING - Baby Photos

Scott_Quier

Life finally let up on me to the extent that it allowed me edit these.

Mother is a member of the military and unmarried. So, Gradma get's to take care of the child and mom comes home about every other weekend.

Gradma (my client) wants to do another shoot towards the end of Oct and, if we get enough photos out of that, put together a Blurb book for mom for Christmas. I'm really looking forward to that!!!

A couple of things I learned about photographing babies:

1. You do things on their schedule, not your's. Especially when the baby is only about 3 months old!
2. Wow - it's not easy!

Here's few high lights
1.


2.


3.


As always, C&C is most welcome (I dish out enough of it, time for me take my beatings ).

aktse

Love.Love.Love.Love the third one!

jeffreaux2

Gorgeous. Especially #3!

ShepsMom

Fantastic! Those eyes are just precious.

Swartzy

Yaaaaaa! another Yaaaaaaa!.....oh, absolutely...and another one....Yaaaaaa!

Scott....This may be your callling! :D:D

Agnieszka

Hi Scott, lovely series!

#1: I think you cropped the background?? Parts of the ear seem to be erased & you can still see a bit of the dark background behind / on top of her ear

#2 is my favorite, I would maybe only dial down the mid tones, it a bit too bright (I think)

#3 is very cute also, but it looks like you cropped/erased the background again (HER left side of the head seems to have a harsh dark shadow, which would have been probably not quite as strong if the background would have been really that bright)

... and last but not least .... hmmmm .... I know there are some blurbers on this board, and i KNOW smugmug is connected to them ... but have you ever tried making a book with WHCC ()? Try putting a Press Printed Book (with hinged paper), it's not expensive and you will never understand how you could have done without them before ... !!! That's just my secret tip of the day

ChatKat

Yes
I love the posing and expressions you've captured. Yes, babies can be hard. They don't understand commands. They're best right after nap and feeding time with sufficient time to have a diaper change too.

I agree with Angie about the vignette - it crept onto both of the black and whites so that needs adjustment. The color needs some tweeking on the color image. The lhighlight is just a tad too hot. Maybe a little burning if you can't adjust easily.

Nice series, Scott. I've done both Blurb books and some other press printed books from mpix. I am currently doing a book via Miller's. I like the Blurb - but I did a huge one and a smaller one. The Mpix books I have done have been really nice. So many choices.

Scott_Quier

Thanks all. I'll be re-working these (and others) and see what I can come up with. Stay tuned...

Vinnie

Great Job Scott...your overall talent for getting "the shot" shows through! #3 is my fav!

adpace

Gorgeous!! I have a shoot coming up soon with a 3 month old... you have any suggestions for me??

mrlassiter

If it aint easy, then quit making it LOOK easy.... great shots. Love the Christmas present idea, who wouldn't be brought to tears by that? I would also throw in a slideshow/movie with her favorite (or another very touching) song/music. I made a simple one for my wife's family from a shoot I did with lots of snaps, you know, while "trying to setup". They weren't expecting so many different candids to be thrown in with the formals, and in your case it'll give you something to do while waiting for "the baby's time."

Scott_Quier

adpace wrote:

Gorgeous!! I have a shoot coming up soon with a 3 month old... you have any suggestions for me??

Seriously? Talk (as in, give them a call) to someone who has done it more than once. I talked with a couple of DGrinners who have done baby sessions. One contacted me and volunteered their time (and they know who they are and might drop you a PM offering their help to you ) for a phone conversation. We talked for about 30 minutes and I learned soooo much in that short time, it was amazing. The second is a friend of mine and I called her! BTW - This is the first and only baby session I have ever done, so I don't even come close to qualifying as any kind of expert.

All the above having been said, here's some of what I learned:

• The baby shoot is all about them and they know it!:D
• It's going to take so much more time than you think it is, plan on it.
• If possible, plan your shooting time based on when the baby eats and sleeps. If you can include some time right after the child has eaten, the chances are you will get some sleeping shots. Right before the child eats, the child is more likely to be active (but could be cranky as well - plan on it).
• Shoot both high-key and low-key shots
• Get the feet and hands - a good macro or close-focus lens would be a big help here.
• Let mom hold the baby for all the "vertical" shots. Baby will be much more comfortable in her arms than if baby is positioned amongst a bunch of props. You can position everyone so mom in only a very minor portion of the shot and then crop her out. The first two in this thread are done that way.
• If the child is strong enough, you can have mom hold child on her hip like she would normally, but with one difference. Have the child facing away from mom. Position mom, the child, you, and the backdrop for proper alignment and all is cool. My model here wasn't strong enough for that but she will be in the next session!:)
• Take lots of shots. Remember, with digital, photons are free!
• Don't get frustrated. The baby will feel it and the baby's mood will change and this change will be very evident in the photos. Patience is the key. In the shoot above, I literally spent about 1/2 hour just laying on the floor, taking a nap while the baby was being cared for.
• As always, natural (window) light works wonders. My shots above were shot in a room with floor to ceiling windows on a lightly cloudy day. Though I don't think flashes will harm a child of this age, I have to believe that they are more comfortable with ambient.
• Shoot a gray card for WB both at the start of the session and again at the end of the session. The light is likely to change over the course of the session and you need both references.
• After that, it's all the usually things that go into good child photography technique

HTH

Scott_Quier

mrlassiter wrote:

If it aint easy, then quit making it LOOK easy.... great shots. Love the Christmas present idea, who wouldn't be brought to tears by that? I would also throw in a slideshow/movie with her favorite (or another very touching) song/music. I made a simple one for my wife's family from a shoot I did with lots of snaps, you know, while "trying to setup". They weren't expecting so many different candids to be thrown in with the formals, and in your case it'll give you something to do while waiting for "the baby's time."

That's why I get paid the big bucks for my portrait sessions - don't I wish. <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/rolleyes1.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" > <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/mwink.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" > <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/iloveyou.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" > <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/deal.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" >

It isn't easy - so many variables over which you have absolutely NO control. Shooting weddings is a good start on helping one strengthen their "adaptability muscles" - weddings are so much easier!

The slide show is a possibility but I'm not "throwing in" anything. From a strictly business point of view, when you devalue your product, so do your clients. That's a slippery slope at the end of which is the scene where they want you to offer up the world and expect to only be charged t'pence. Not a pretty sight. On the other hand, if I get enough good photos to make it worth the effort, I may build a teaser and go from there.

:soapboxHowever, as an OpLove and if mom were actaully deployed, that slide show would be built and mailed to mom without a second thought. Small thanks for the service they provide and the sacrifices they make. <*/sopabox>

Scott_Quier

Re-worked images ... your thoughts?
As promised above, I have re-worked these photos and here they are .... (and, I think I like them much better:D) How say you?

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jeffreaux2

re-edits look better