My brother in laws daughter just had a baby on Monday, she gets out of the hospital today and they have asked me to take some 'professional' shots of her. I wanted to do some shadow effects, where everything is black but the baby is illuminated. I have bought a 6' x 6' square of black cloth to use as a backdrop, and I have a single light with a 15 watt bulb in it(I was told to use a low wattage bulb for this type of shoot) but, I am haveing trouble figuring out what settings my camera should be. I will be bringing my tripod.

I also want to take some light shots, I have a 6' x 6' square of white silky fabric and we wanted to do a sort of angelic type shot of her, I have two hot lights(well, I have 4 but I was only going to bring the 2) and I will have my single small light.

I think everything is going to be fine, but any other tips that anyone can give would help ALOT!! Thanks!!

Natural light natural light natural light

Have mom or dad hold the baby with the black cloth covering her arms. Window light is really great for this. Also, try and choose a time where she's sleeping. You can do the same with the white, although I might shy away from silky. A light colored blanket works great. Let me find some images....

Okay, I'm not finding what you're talking about on my computer....I don't do a lot with backgrounds, but here's some sites

www.heatherrivlin.com
www.capturedbycarrie.com
www.alwphotography.com

I agree with Adina- natural light is best, if at all possible. It's soft when coming through a window- perfect for baby shots. Also, I don't know if you're shooting digital or not, but the black can be adjusted post production if needed. (I just shot some newborn photos on black, and the black was underexposed- but baby's skin was perfect, so PS worked well to fix that) Whatever you choose, good luck- I'm sure you'll do well!

BTW Adina, I love those sites that you found!

Thanks very much!! I will play with different lighting and see if we can get some goo natural lighting, the house where I am doing it does not have the best lighting. Thanks for those sites!! I have found that photoshop can be my very best friend!!