Newborn Photo Shoot-HELP

[Natural_Disaster]

My best friends want me to take some photos of their newborn! Yikes!
My fault for saying i need a "test subject" lol.
Was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for settings i should try..
The basic layout will be this...
In home...Only lighting will be house lights (i do have two work lights i can use if need be)...black backdrop...white backdrop...And a room about 24 foot long.
Equipment-Nikon D5000....Regular built in flash....Lens-AF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G & AF-S 55-200mm 1:4-5.6G
I want to take all the photos in Manual.
I am wanting to be able to get the black and white backgrounds "blurred" enough that they actually appear black and white and not streaked.
Should i have the baby right in front of the backdrop? Further away from it? What if the baby is lying on it? Should i be close to the baby or further away?
I want to be able to crop as well, so i know i need to allow space for that..
I know it probably really depends on a lot of factors once i start shooting, but i was hoping to maybe get some ideas.
I feel like such an idiot really for asking. I'm just now really getting an understanding of Apreture, DOF, and all that good stuff.
They want to at least get 3 or 4 good ones they can possibly frame...

[WesternGuy]

ND, if you Google "newborn photography tips", you should find all kinds of info and ideas on how to do what you are going to do and hopefully answers to some/most/all of your questions.
HTH.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

[Frog]

I like shots that have the baby and parents in some sort of interaction.
Jimmy B posted one a while ago with the baby's foot in the dad's hand...awesome shot.

[n8]

this sounds like a good excuse to run out and get either a 35mm or 50mm 1.8. One of those will cover you in low light situations, and will give you the bokeh that you want.

[Frog]

this sounds like a good excuse to run out and get either a 35mm or 50mm 1.8. One of those will cover you in low light situations, and will give you the bokeh that you want.

The new 35 will auto focus with the 5000 but unless he gets the new 50 f/1.4 afs it won't auto focus.
Just googled the new one and it doesn't cost as much as I thought. 3 to 4 hundred approx.

[freygr]

My best friends want me to take some photos of their newborn! Yikes!
My fault for saying i need a "test subject" lol.
Was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for settings i should try..
The basic layout will be this...
In home...Only lighting will be house lights (i do have two work lights i can use if need be)...black backdrop...white backdrop...And a room about 24 foot long.
Equipment-Nikon D5000....Regular built in flash....Lens-AF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G & AF-S 55-200mm 1:4-5.6G
I want to take all the photos in Manual.
I am wanting to be able to get the black and white backgrounds "blurred" enough that they actually appear black and white and not streaked.
Should i have the baby right in front of the backdrop? Further away from it? What if the baby is lying on it? Should i be close to the baby or further away?
I want to be able to crop as well, so i know i need to allow space for that..
I know it probably really depends on a lot of factors once i start shooting, but i was hoping to maybe get some ideas.
I feel like such an idiot really for asking. I'm just now really getting an understanding of Apreture, DOF, and all that good stuff.
They want to at least get 3 or 4 good ones they can possibly frame...

I hope you have a light meter. There is also a flash meter if you going to use flash. Also you will need to have the ISO not set on auto. Try to keep the ISO as low as possible.

[MarcusK]

First thing's first: Good luck.

One thing you will need to be mindful of, is light. As Freygr suggested, you don't want to go high with ISO, to avoid grain. So you might need to get extra light sources. You will also need to check and see if you can use flash with a newborn, because their eyes are usually oversensitive to light...

As for the backgrounds, you might be better off working with the environment of their home, and not the standard solid color bg... but to blur them, you need to get the baby a bit further away... alternatively, you can fix this easily in post processing (photoshop or others) specially if the baby's clothes are in contrast with the background.

I would follow frog's suggestion and make sure to shoot a few with the parents... they add a lot of emotional effect. To avoid the backgrounds, you might have any of the parents hold them, and just focus on the baby... you can find a lot of inspiration online for ideas.

Although there are a lot of factors that come into play, this type of shoot is usually about one thing only: The moment...

You can use light coming in from a window, while the baby is held by the mother, the father or both...

Try to focus the light on a small area, leaving everything else dark... while these are things you could do later on while editing, it saves a lot of time if you do them on the spot.

But if there is one thing I would suggest above all.... it would be to wait... Wait for the Moment... you will recognize it when you see it... it shouldn't take much time anyway...

Also, keep talking to the parents, and try to get them involved... emotional... it reflects on the baby, as well as onto the image...

So best of luck!! Hope this helps!

[MelyssaG]

Im by far not a professional.. in the least, I cant really comment on what you should be shooting in or adjusting or any technical stuff, but ive dane a few newborns and from my mistakes or findings I've noticed that try to get on the baby's level, id have the babe further from the background than closer, i think that will help with whatever background issues you might have a great one ive done is have babes feet a bit higher then the head and focus on the feet with babes head in the background still able to see but a bit blurred. youtube how to's they are super helpful!!!!!!

I cant wait to see the outcome please post

Melyssa

[MelyssaG]

Im by far not a professional.. in the least, I cant really comment on what you should be shooting in or adjusting or any technical stuff, but ive dane a few newborns and from my mistakes or findings I've noticed that try to get on the baby's level, id have the babe further from the background than closer, i think that will help with whatever background issues you might have a great one ive done is have babes feet a bit higher then the head and focus on the feet with babes head in the background still able to see but a bit blurred. youtube how to's they are super helpful!!!!!!

I cant wait to see the outcome please post

Melyssa