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| 28 Oct 2006 05:23:02 am |
 Newborn portrait tips for birth announcements |
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Ok once again I've received a birth announcement from a loving family very proud of their kids. But, once again, it's not a very becoming photograph. So I'd like to focus this blog on "what not to do" with birth announcement photographs '.
To protect the innocent, I've turned the photograph into a black and white outline. Take a look at the photo below:
First off, you see I drew a line halfway through the photo. What you'll notice is that the kids faces are all predominantly below the red line except for one - which is very borderline. So what we have here is a nice picture of the tops of their heads and the back of the couch. Most importantly, when their heads are below the centerline, it looks like they are falling out the bottom of the picture.
When you frame your photograph, you want their heads to be above the centerline. The tighter you crop, the more face you have to include above the line. If you're doing a face photo, the eyes and preferrably most of the nose should be above the centerline, even if you have to crop out the top of the head.
To help you frame the photograph, you need to position the camera correctly. Adults have a tendency to take pictures of their kids while standing. That makes the camera too high. Unless your intention is to exaggerate their size one way or the other, you need to position the camera right at the top of their heads and then angle it downwards.
Another problem you can see with this image is the size of the newborn. Note the red circle in the image. That small area is the newborn. The majority of the photograph is taken up by the other kids and the background. Yet this is the newborn's birth announcement. Since a newborn can't sit up, it's hard to get great 'portraits' of the newborns unless you know some tricks. I posted about a newborn portrait tip previously.
But in this case, you also want the siblings in the picture. The best way to do this is to position the newborn's face close to the siblings. Not quite cheek to cheek since it would require a young child being able to support the newborn's head, but very close. So, rather than have a child hold the newborn, place the newborn in a basket of some sort covered in comfortable blankets (all of one solid color preferrably). Have a little more blanket
at the top where the head goes so that the newborn is angled slightly. You can also use a little bit of the blanket on the sides to make sure the newborn doesn't rollout. Then put the newborn and basket on a coffee table and have the kids behind the table. They will most likely have to kneel to get their heads low enough.
Now you can try different things. You can have a child kiss the forehead of the newborn, or hold a hand or finger, or just lightly wrap their arms around the basket . You can also try different crops and positioning the newborn's basket horizontally and vertically. Most importantly you want the sibling's heads close to the newborn's head. With their heads close together, you can now get a photo that the newborn stars in.
You can't see it from the above image, but another problem was "redeye". We discussed redeye before in a previous post. Maybe YOU can look past that and see how cute your new baby is, but most people can't. Most people hate looking at a photograph where the people have redeye. There's absolutely no reason in this day and age, especially with digital images, not to fix that.
Another problem you can't see from the above image is the harsh light of the camera flash. If you can move that flash off camera, bounce it, or put scotch tape over it to subdue it, give it a try. Sidelighting is preferrable for everyone but the most glamorous subjects. Newborns, unfortunatly usually suffer from excess folds, wrinkles and rashes. Front lighting will emphasize all those bad things.
My preference is to get the newborn's eyes wide open. Sometimes they'll respond to noises such as maracas or a mother's voice. If they are lying in a basket, gently turn their heads toward the camera. Then have mom or dad be next to the camera making some soft noises or singing. It should not be very loud and there should only be one person doing it so as not to overwhelm the newborn.
Also, keep the room at a comfortable temperature especially if the child is partially unclothed. If the baby isn't comfortable ( whether it's too cold, too hot, too hungry ), you'll have a difficult time taking good photos. |
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Posted By : Marcy
| Category : Newborn |  Comments[12] |  Trackbacks [0]
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| 22 Sep 2006 06:53:44 pm |
| Newborn picture ideas and tips |
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Ok this is the number one, uber secret, best tip for taking newborn pictures. Ok, maybe it's not a secret, but you would think so, since so few people do it.
To get a great newborn picture, turn your back to the camera and position your newborn to look over your shoulder towards the camera. Newborns can't hold their heads up very well. But, when you hold them like this and support their heads from the back, and also use your shoulder as a support, you can get a great face shot of your newborn. Most importantly, you can get their eyes wide open.
Now lighting is important too, but that's a different post. It's also important to get up close. The camera should not be more than 3-4 feet away from your newborn. Don't get too close unless you have a really good macro lens.
If you can, try to get one of the arms over the shoulder. That helps to pick the newborn's head up high so the face doesn't get hidden by the shoulder. It also looks cute.
Another tip is to position the mom or whomever is holding the newborn slightly angled. Then have her turn her face to the newborn and move her head close to the newborn's head as if to give a kiss. It shouldn't be a full on kiss as lips puckered up generally don't make a good pic especially in profile. But lips slightly parted and near the newborn's head will do.
Don't forget to take as many pics as you can as the baby will be squirming. You won't be able to trust capturing the perfect image to just one shot. |
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Posted By : Marcy
| Category : Newborn | Comments[16] | Trackbacks [0]
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| 31 Aug 2006 05:11:13 am |
| Best Time for Newborn and Baby Portraits |
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I'm always asked when is the best time to have baby portraits taken. Well the answer of course is, "it depends". It depends on your child as all children are different. However, there are ages that are better than others for most babies.
For newborn photography, I highly recommend the first few days after birth if possible. Generally, within the first week, you have a much better chance of your new baby remaining calm throughout the process.
It's also important to be fast no matter what day you take them. The longer the session goes on, the more likely they'll get irritated and start crying. And once that happens, there done, and you're unlikely to get any non-crying shots after that. So make a good plan of shots that you want. Organize them for the least amount of changes in posing, props and lighting. You can even practice going through the list without the baby to uncover any issues you didn't think of. Then just follow your babies cues. If they start to fuss, end the session. Everyone will be happier if you do. Don't wait till it becomes an all out screaming storm to quit.
Depending on the baby, your session can go from 15 minutes to 45 minutes. You'll have more luck if they are well fed, changed, and rested. Try observing your newborn after he or she wakes up from a nap to determine if she needs a little time to 'wakeup' before heavy stimulation like a photography session or they are very calm immediately afterwards. Then plan accordingly.
As for the time of day to take newborn pictures, 99.99% of the time you want to have the session in the morning. After lunch, it's all downhill and your success rate will be very low. It stays this way pretty much throughout the first year of a baby's life.
I've had success taking newborn portraits up to 6 weeks after birth but it really depends on the baby's disposition. However, they start losing that newborn look in about 3-4 weeks after birth. So you're not getting a true newborn portait.
After those early days, getting another baby portrait is best left until they are six months old for most babies. You you can get some quick 5-15 minute sessions in and get those early smiles, but generally they get cranky fast and won't last for a full 45 minute or longer session.
So for family heirloom type portaits, I'd get photos of the early newborn days, at around six months or so when they are sitting up by themselves. And again when they are standing well on their own around one year. Go ahead and plan some snapshots though to capture all the ages and stages such as first smile, first head raise, first pushup, first rollover, first crawl, first climb, etc.
One final note, always start with portraits of the baby alone and then work in family members. You do this for two reasons. One, the individual baby pic is the most important and you want to make sure you get that before they decide they are done. And two, if they start to fuss, they will usually calm down at least for a few more pics if a family member is holding them. |
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Posted By : Marcy
| Category : Newborn | Comments[52] | Trackbacks [0]
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