Portrait Photography
How To Photograph Babies
If there is one thing that grows faster than any plant life or tree in the world that’s a child! It seems like one minute they’re born and the next they’re asking you for the keys to the car. And it feels like those precious early years are over in an instant. And you can find yourself looking back making sure you got everything…photography wise.
Digital photography and babies is actually a lot of fun. (Digital photography is fun anyway, and photographing a baby is even more fun, you get to spend more time with them). Here are some ways you can incorporate your beautiful baby in with your digital photography.
Always have your digital camera handy
It’s important to photograph your baby as they grow so don’t miss anything. That means always making sure than digital camera is charged, has a memory card in it and you are ready to go at most times. You will never know when your baby smiles or takes their first steps, or laughs and even has an look of curiosity about them, and you and your digital camera should be there when it does.
Digital photography and babies require the 3 P’s
Patience, patience, patience. Just when you think your bub is going to do something fantastic and you think “wow, what a photograph this moment will make” they can often disappoint you by not giving you the digital photo that you are expecting. So be patient. (This is why you need to be ready all the time.) You will eventually get a great shot, but be very, very patient and it will come. You may even find the moments when you least expect it are the best.
The Arty Side
From a composition point of view, photographing babies is a great opportunity to learn more about your artistic skills. Make sure you get a series of different photographs such as the intimate shots, with baby interacting with his or her environment. Taking shots of baby at play can often lead to the most interesting photographs. Use natural light as baby won’t like the flash very much. You can put baby under a window with some toys and let the afternoon sun provide your lighting for you. Try a series of black and white shots as well, or just take them in colour and then change them to black and white in your favourite photo editing software.
The Need For Speed
Be fast! In photography terms babies move at light speed and the expression they have when looking at Thomas the tank might change 2 seconds after they look at Whinny the Pooh. And wouldn’t it be a shame to miss the Thomas the Tank expression? You’ll find you take hundreds of digital photos and that’s the idea, because your baby will have different expressions for different things so make sure you capture them all if you can.
If you want to take stunning portrait photos with bold colour, super sharp focus and detail, clarity and depth take a look at Digital Photography Success. This e-book package includes excellent step-by-step instructions on how to take pictures of people in your own home studio, outside in low light, mastering candid shots of shy people, creating a romantic and happy feel to portraits, what lighting and exposures are best to use for portraits. It also explains, in simple English, how to master the shutter speed, aperture and how to easily overcome common exposure problems such as capturing fast action indoor shots of people without blur. Learn how to shoot professional photos - just like those you see in glossy magazines.
Good luck with your digital photography!
Article by...
Amy Renfrey
Digital Photographer, Digital Photography Teacher & Author
