Photography blog: 23.4.09
You've got this beautiful new person in your family.
You know he's beautiful but when you take a photo of your newborn he just doesn't come out as beautiful as you see him.
This is the camera lying. Here's how to get it to tell the truth.
Whether you've got a fancy DSLR or a simple compact camera you can get lovely photos like these I took of Charlie Ben aged 12 days old.
First of all wait a few days until he doesn't look quite so battered and any swelling has gone down. Wait till he's been fed. If he's sleepy it doesn't matter.
Our Charlie Ben was wide awake. These photos were taken in natural light so you'll need a bright room.
I simply draped my cream coloured rug up over the seat of the sofa then laid a net curtain over the top to soften it.
Charlie Ben was then laid on his front on the floor with his bum in the air.
Flash won't hurt his little eyes but natural light gives you a much better photo.
To do this, if you have a DSLR you should set the ISO quite high (around 640 to 800).
You will also need a wide aperture (FStop) of at least 3.5 or 2.8, 1.8 is even better if you can get it.
If you use aperture priority your camera will set the speed for you but keep an eye on it.
If it goes slower than 1/50 you will have to put your camera on a tripod and wait for your baby to stop wriggling or the photo will be blurred.
If you have a compact you may have probably got a macro setting.
It usually looks like a flower in a menu. This will set a wide aperture for you.
You may not be able to set the ISO but hopefully the camera will deal with that.
If the photo comes out blurry then you need to get a bit more light on him.
Try finding an angle poise lamp and pointing it at him from the same direction as the window light.
Make sure that you are focused on his eyes. This is the most important rule when taking portraits.
For the photo where he's pushing himself up and crying we put a pillow under the net and laid him there. He didn't like it. LOL.
Next take some close ups of his gorgeous little feet and hands in a grownup's hand to show them off to their best.
I convert them to black and white but I do it in a special way to make sure they look great. That will be my blog next week so come back then.
If you have any special requests for a photographic blog then please drop me an email to info@peachpicture.co.uk.
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Tuesday 07 February 2012
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