Now that the baby has arrived, everyone is clamoring for pictures. But when you take pictures with your flash camera, the baby just does not look like the beautiful baby you see before you. Here are some tips to take some natural photos of your newborn that can be used for an artistic birth announcement.
- Should you use film or digital? Whichever type of camera you have the easiest access to will be fine. If you are using a film camera, use 400 or 800 ISO black & white film for best results for this project. If you are using a digital camera, the image can be turned black and white or sepia tone on your computer later or you can use an online service that offers these options when ordering your prints.
- Make sure the flash is turned off! Using window light will yield a beautiful soft result which is key to capturing the beauty of the newborn baby. To achieve this, find a window that has good light coming through. You do not want direct sunlight, just a nice amount of indirect light. Morning light works great if you have a room with the right exposure, and morning is also a great time to capture the baby.
- Simple is always better, so remove visual clutter. Use a white sheet or solid colored blankets under the baby so that the look is simple, classic and totally focused on the baby.
- Photograph newborns without clothing for the best, most organic results. You can keep on the diapers if they do not have a bunch of cartoons on them, or you can use a diaper cover or fabric to cover the diaper.
- Turn the baby towards the light so that their face and body are well lit by the natural light. Look through the camera and take pictures, trying to fill the frame of the camera with baby and solid colored blankets. Avoid any additional clutter or items in the background. Do not shoot with the window as the background - look at the light on the baby and take your pictures where the baby is well lit.
- Do not try to get the baby to smile, just take a series of images from different angles, with some of the baby looking at the camera and some of the baby's profile, some of the top of the head etc. Keep working your way around the baby talking and singing to your baby to try to engage them. If the baby starts fussing, soothe them as needed and when they are calm, try again.
- If the baby falls asleep, no problem - photograph them while sleeping! When they are asleep you can take pictures of feet and hands as they are not moving. Think of the beautiful images by Anne Geddes, who became famous for her sleeping newborns images. When newborns are awake they tend to move constantly which can make it challenging to get still images without motion.
- While you are photographing, take lots and lots of pictures. The more you take, the more you are likely to find ones you will like. Take full body shots from different angles, half body shots, close ups of faces, hands, feet, wrinkly shoulders, fuzzy hair lines, etc
- After you develop the images, look at them with an artistic eye and try to find the pictures that really captures what the baby looks like to you. Find one or more that you like or love to use for a birth announcement.
To take a top-class wildlife photograph, you need to know your animal; where to find it, how to approach it without scaring it away, and how to know the precise moment to press the button to capture the character of the subject. Often a wildlife photographer will spend hours trying to get a good shot. What a shame, then, if all that effort is wasted by taking your photo in bad light.
As a nature photographer, I have learned that the ideal light for a photo can vary depending on the subject. Landscape photos are usually best photographed in sunny weather, early in the morning or late in the afternoon when the contrast is low and the light is soft and colouful. On the hand, rainforest photography is usually best in the middle of the day, in cloudy weather to eliminate extremes of light and shade. To understand the best lighting for wildlife photography, you can take a lesson from both landscape and rainforest photography.
To get the best light for a wildlife photo, you are really looking to minimize contrast, and to eliminate shadows from important areas; most importantly across the face of the animal.
If you take your photos in the middle of a sunny day, you are bound to encounter shadows in all the wrong places. Bright light is likely to overexpose parts of the subject, while the face and the underside of the animal could be lost in heavy shadow. The result will be unattractive, and lacking in much of the detail that should give character to your photo.
There is nothing wrong with taking your wildlife photos on a sunny day. Just remember the lesson from landscape photography and seek to take your photos early in the morning and late in the afternoon. At these times the subject is illuminated from a more horizontal angle, so the full face of the animal is well-lit; you are less likely to have shadows over the eyes and other important features. If there are shadows, they will be much softer because the contrast is much lower when the sun is low in the sky.
The light at these times is also much more colourful, with the golden hues you associate with sunrise and sunset. This is a classic technique for improving landscapes, but it can be just as effective for wildlife. The warmth of the light can create an intimacy in your pictures that is completely lost in the harsh light of midday.
Your other option is to follow the example of rainforest photography and take your photos on a cloudy day. This allows you to catch your subject in very even, low-contrast light.
I find cloudy days particularly useful for animals with glossy surfaces. Frogs, for example, have damp, shiny skin that reflects a lot of light. In glary conditions a green frog may appear mostly grey or silver in a photo. On a cloudy day the same frog will be shown in its true colours.
Birds can often appear more colourful on a cloudy day, for the very same reason. The sun shining on glossy feathers can create a lot of reflection, robbing the photo of its natural colour. It may seem the opposite of what you would expect, but the dull light of a cloudy day can actually produce the truest colours in a bright wildlife subject.
One final question you may ask: should you use a flash to illuminate a wildlife photo? My answer to that is a definite "NO." Flash photography bathes the subject in white light, coming from directly in front of the subject. It may illuminate the subject, but at the same time rob it of the natural play of light and shade that makes a good photo so appealing.
Some wildlife photography experts use multiple flashes to brightly illuminate a subject from every possible angle. This approach can work very well, but remember; these are experts in flash photography. If you are at the beginner stage, I recommend learning to work with natural light. When you get the hang of it, I guarantee you will be happy with the results.
Both Anna Myers & Andrew Goodall are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Anna Myers has sinced written about articles on various topics from Portrait Painting, Family and Pregnancy Problems. Anna Myers is a modern lifestyle who specializes in. Anna Myers's top article generates over 2900 views. to your Favourites.
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