hey everyone! thank you for tuning in this morning for my segment on milwaukee’s fox 6 morning show, WakeUp! i had a great time chatting with nicole about newborn photography and was happy to share six tips for photographing your own baby. for those who missed it, here is a quick overview of the tips:
1. let there be light! turn OFF that flash – please oh please, turn off the flash. don’t know how? check your manual! lost your manual? google it. move your subject to the biggest window you can find and let the natural light do it’s job. on camera flash creates red eyes and flat lighting, not pretty at all.
2. angle. get down on baby’s level and shoot at eye level.
3. simplify! for super sweet shots that show of your beautiful baby, ditch the props. grab a solid onsie and a plain blanket and shoot away. for sitting babies or older kids, clear the background of any clutter or objects that will take focus away from your subject.
4. timing. first thing in the morning right after a good feed. baby’s fresh, mama’s rested (?), daddy’s patient, siblings have not yet driven you crazy. and the light is pretty!
5. jump in! don’t forget to hand the camera to your spouse, friend, three year old, neighbor…. anyone. be in the photos, too. we are our own worst critic (believe me, i GET this – i just had to watch myself on television!) and we’re not always feeling and looking our best right after giving birth, but you’ll want these later. do it for your future self, do it for your kids.
6. print! how many of us have loads of photos sitting on our cameras, our harddrives, our cell phones? well hard drives fail! cell phones drop in toilets (not that i have ANY experience with this), cameras are lost. print the photos! my all-time favorite way to document and store images is to print off photo books at mpix.com — just upload a year’s worth, a month’s worth, whatever, and let the software do the work. use the code fox6 for free shipping on ANY mpix order of $25 or more between now and 2/14/2012.
and of course i’m here to photograph your family as well. 🙂
