Maternity, Babies and Children...

The Photo "Sleeping Baby" (Linnea Fine Arts Studios, 2012) 

Children or newborn photography is always an interesting type of photography to get involved in as children are naturally beautiful and captivating. However, this type of photography is far from being an easy task. As a professional, there are many things to bear in mind such as camera settings, angles of shots as well as the comfort of the subject as babies are fragile and children can change their moods in a split of a second.

The Photo "Tattoo Pregnancy" (Linnea Fine Arts Studios, 2012)

It is now a trend for new or expecting parents to hire a Child Photographer or a Family Photographer to capture portraits of them and their newborn from maternity stage till birth and even after that. In western countries it is a trend for the expecting mother to wear minimal clothing to show off her proud pregnant belly and some poses taken might even be considered a little too indecent for the Asian society. However, in Malaysia the practice is still new and it all depends on the family whether they are comfortable being in certain poses or not. Keep in mind that everyone has their own controversial limit.

My niece's first portrait photograph.

The most important thing to note when taking a baby’s photograph is that camera flashes can blind them! Never ever point a camera flash directly at a baby! This is because a baby’s sensitive eyes cannot take the bright flash that an in built camera flash produces. There are many ways to go about this hurdle. In a bright enough room, turn off the flash and adjust the camera settings such as the brightness and the contrast to make up for the slight lack of lighting. Another trick is to take something that reflects light, such as a car sun reflector, find a light source and reflect the light from the source onto the subject. This gives a softer light, balances the shadows and is also safer for the little one.

Candid shots tend to have a better "feel" towards it. Children love to play, just let them be themselves and have fun.

However, in a darker room where a flash has to be used to get a good picture, it is wise to soften the flash. For DSLR cameras this can be done by wrapping and securing a piece of tissue paper or thin piece of cloth over the flash to soften the burst of light so it doesn’t hurt the baby’s eyes. Another trick is to invest in a flashgun as with a flashgun, the direction of the flash can be adjusted away from the baby but still produce a well lit picture. A good entry flashgun for Canon users would be the Speedlite 270EX compact by Canon as it has a zoom head which ensures efficient light distribution and a bounce flash head which enables light from the flash to bounce off a ceiling to produce pictures with more flattering lighting with softer tones and depth (Canon introduces Speedlite 270EX compact flashgun, 2009, para 2.).

For children however, it is just best to go with the flow, capture them doing something they like. However if asking them to pose, keep in mind to keep it fun and don’t push too hard. By forcing them, it would only put them off and that will result in terrible pictures.

Her first bike ride.

I personally, have tried to take some pictures or my niece, it isn’t professional or studio-like in any way but I still love the shots and I’ve learnt that you need to know your camera settings or if you’re lazy just set the camera to the “P” setting and snap away because with children, once an expression or a scene has happened, don’t expect to see the same perfect shot come by again.

Sudden natural expressions makes a photograph priceless

Reference:

Canon introduces Speedlite 270EX compact flashgun. (2009). Retrieved from 

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2009/3/25/canonspeedlite270ex.

Linnea Lenkus Fine Art Portrait Studios. (2012). Tattoo Pregnancy Photography Los Angeles [image]. Retrieved from http://www.linnealenkus.com/tattoo-pregnancy-photography-los-angeles-13.html.

Linnea Lenkus Fine Art Portrait Studios. (2012).  Sleeping Baby Photography Los Angeles [image]. Retrieved from http://www.linnealenkus.com/baby-photographers-los-angeles-babblers7.html.