What in the hell am I doing shooting infants!!??
Wadda day....... I'm still flippin' dizzy. :huh
So yesterday, I get a referral to shoot this Mom and her newborn (why (?),,,, I dunno, no clue what-so-ever). I see a challenge and figure; why not, I've got nothing better to do and at the end of the day, it'll be an experience/learning thing - I take it!
Talking with this lady, she wants all kinds of shots. I explain to her that we'll get goin and then just see where the session takes us as I really have no clue of what I'm doing here. She says that she's still 'in' and wants to start NOW (she came over @ 11AM this morning for a consult).... What the heck, LETS GO!
Well the session ran until 3PM and we covered everything from shoes to dirty diaper changes, to (!!yikes!!) NUDES and feeding! Talk about a dynamic shoot.... At the end, I culled and presented several of 'my' best ideas and was happy to hear that she liked em' too (hooray!). The only thing that I kept going for, was, a connection between mother and child for the complete duration - No matter the setting.
Mom wants semi made, make-overs... I just mashed this one together and want some C&C as it really is the 1st time for me, going this far into 'shop, too - Thanks.
Shot under a high mounted 3x4 softbox as key w/ a shoot through umby as fill.
2-1 light ratio.
f8
I have her coming back next week for another shoot as it was PAINFULLY clear that I needed some supplies; like a larger BG, for starts - The one that I used was smallish and didn't allow for much options for different camera angles (Read; PITA).
The shoot was enlightening (good way to put it). I came away with a lot of knowledge AND a new-found respect for baby pictures - You guys that solicit this kind of work must eat special kinds of food... (hehe).
Cheers.
So yesterday, I get a referral to shoot this Mom and her newborn (why (?),,,, I dunno, no clue what-so-ever). I see a challenge and figure; why not, I've got nothing better to do and at the end of the day, it'll be an experience/learning thing - I take it!
Talking with this lady, she wants all kinds of shots. I explain to her that we'll get goin and then just see where the session takes us as I really have no clue of what I'm doing here. She says that she's still 'in' and wants to start NOW (she came over @ 11AM this morning for a consult).... What the heck, LETS GO!
Well the session ran until 3PM and we covered everything from shoes to dirty diaper changes, to (!!yikes!!) NUDES and feeding! Talk about a dynamic shoot.... At the end, I culled and presented several of 'my' best ideas and was happy to hear that she liked em' too (hooray!). The only thing that I kept going for, was, a connection between mother and child for the complete duration - No matter the setting.
Mom wants semi made, make-overs... I just mashed this one together and want some C&C as it really is the 1st time for me, going this far into 'shop, too - Thanks.
Shot under a high mounted 3x4 softbox as key w/ a shoot through umby as fill.
2-1 light ratio.
f8
I have her coming back next week for another shoot as it was PAINFULLY clear that I needed some supplies; like a larger BG, for starts - The one that I used was smallish and didn't allow for much options for different camera angles (Read; PITA).
The shoot was enlightening (good way to put it). I came away with a lot of knowledge AND a new-found respect for baby pictures - You guys that solicit this kind of work must eat special kinds of food... (hehe).
Cheers.
0
Comments
For someone who alleges she had no idea what she was doing you got at least two lovely mother/infant portraits. I am a black and white guy at heart, but the color one actually works best for me, perhaps because I think the angle's better on the baby.
The trick with an assignment such as this is, to steal a line from Nike, Just Do It. Don't EVER tell the client you don't know what you're doing. Don't think that you don't know what you're doing. Just do what you do. Think about what you'd like to see if someone was shooting you and your baby, assuming you have or have had one. And if you haven't 'been there and done that,' imagine what you'd want.
B. D.
"He not busy being born is busy dying." Bob Dylan
"The more ambiguous the photograph is, the better it is..." Leonard Freed
I know absolutely nothing about shooting babies, but here's my one nit.
Mom's pendent looks too bright and strangely her skin tone around it is lighter, almost framing the pendent, to make it stand out. I'd burn that darker.
Other than that, I'd say: Nice Comp ~ Nice image
OOOH I hear what your saying; but I had too. The person that referred me (a mother of 4) knows of these limitations of mine and passed this on to the client. What the sitter was wanting was a shooter that would work with her, regardless of time frame and required sessions to get what she was after/wanting.... At first I was kinda under the impression that nothing would make her happy but, once we got through this session,,, I think her and I are on the same page - It turned out that she's very easy to work with.
Thanks for your comments. I agree with the baby position in #1 but the client trumped it with the capture of the bab's eye, locked on the camera and I can't argue that.
Just the skin or both it and the pendant?
Hows the PP on this same photo? I did some considerable (IMO) smoothing/retexturing.
Shot #2 is 'as is' - Nothing done to skin. Does it look OK like this?
I would do both the skin & pendant. I'm talking slight adjustment here.
Well, to me it looks like you might have gone a little too far on the baby's face,(camera left) and you also clipped mom's nose with the smoothing.
#2: Nice as it is.
But remember, It's really what YOU think about the photo
Thanks Randy. When viewed larger, the skin is picking up reflection from either pendant or the stone that's within it. I can tone that down eeasy.
Smoothing;
This was my 1st crack at it. I at first just did the mom and the baby then stood out like a sore thumb. My 2nd try is what's posted. I did the entire image and everything got hit with the same intensity, whereas I think (now) each subject should have been treated individually.... I was thinking that doing all the skin evenly, would have maintained the 'balance' between the two.
Live-n-Learn!
Caroline
Sweets'; This is exactly where my struggles came into play. I'd say that 80% of my shots 'looked' like someone just holding a baby. Capturing that connection was tough...... Real Tuff! These infants roll around like Jello that's uncontained. Again, though, a broader BG would have increased the keeper ratio by allowing me to move in at a different angle when that precise moment presented itself. Patience was key in capturing what we got.
Our next get-together is for baby only shots. This *should* go smoother - I figure presenting a baby HAS to be easier than what I went through yesterday.
Hell, I don't even have any!
http://carolinepoe.smugmug.com/gallery/7669947_q4DcA#P-1-20
Yes, you are right. Baby alone will be much easier! Each person you add to the shot adds to the potential problems.
Caroline
Some nice work there..... I got a couple of ideas that I'm working on. Time will tell if their solid, or just brain-farts.
I think this way, the photo loses it fight between subjects yet maintains that 'connection' we were after.
Feel free to chime in an opinion.