Posts Tagged ‘baby photography’
Little Cuties © Tim Pannell Photography
I got to shoot two little girls yesterday. What a hoot! The youngest is one and her older sister is 2 1/2. They are adorable.
Their parents are friends of ours from church. I see them every week, but I didn’t really know much about their 2 little cuties.
Sisters © Tim Pannell Photography
The first time I shoot with kids, I try not to push too hard for a preconceived shot. It rarely works out the way you plan. It’s better to just kind of go with the flow.
The younger they are, the shorter window of opportunity you will typically have. We shot for under 2 hours, which is a long time for 2 little ones of their ages.
Try to find a couple places that have good available light and backgrounds. Find some props to help keep them from paying too much attention to you and then start shooting away.
We started out with a little kitchen set. Eden, the 2 year old loves to bake! This was the easiest way to get her into shooting without “posing” for the camera.
Eden the Chef © Tim Pannell Photography
Eventually, they get used to you and you can get some natural looking shots of the kids just being kids.
The struggles with available light are almost always focus related. I have great lenses and yet they still struggle to lock on sometimes when the subject has lots of “energy.”
"Popular" © Tim Pannell Photography
Shoot anyway. Even if they’re moving in and out of focus. Sometimes you can get some happy little accidents. Blurry isn’t always a bad thing.
I shot most of these images at f2 between 1/125th and 1/200th of a second, ISO rating of 800. No fill lights, no reflectors. I wanted to show what can be done with no additional lighting.
Little Chef © Tim Pannell Photography
Most people starting out in photography just have the camera and a couple of lenses. Sometimes people mistakenly believe they can’t get great photographs without a lot of “stuff.” You don’t have to have fancy studio lighting equipment to get great shots.
© Tim Pannell Photography
You can add additional lighting to your “kit” in due time. There’s nothing wrong with taking baby steps in the beginning.
© Tim Pannell Photography
The most important thing to remember when shooting little kids is to try to make it fun and no big deal. It’s not life or death if you don’t end up getting an amazing shot.
© Tim Pannell Photography
If you try to force the situation you could ruin a lot of your chances for getting great shots the next time. You don’t want your kids going AWOL any time they see you pull your camera out.
© Tim Pannell Photography
Remember, Just have FUN!
Registration for the Photo Mommies Online Photography Workshop begins on Tuesday, September 22nd. Be sure to sign up, there will only be 125 spaces.
Baby June © Tim Pannell Photography
This is one of my favorite baby photos. It’s just one of those dumb, happy accidents. It totally reminds me of those goofy chewing gum commercials and the 9 out of 10 dentists prefer Trident.
She looks like a little “pitchman.” Here, look at this, look at how cute I am……now buy my crap!
This was a really simple portrait lighting setup. Basically I found a room with great natural light. I positioned the baby so the light would flatter her and be interesting.
I also made sure the background was visually pleasing, without competing with the baby. I did that primarily by choosing a wide open f-stop, in this case it was f-2 and picking a background that had nice light, shadows and shapes.
The real trick, as always with babies is to recognize that ultimately they are in charge.
I sat her on the floor and laid down a few feet in front of her. I got some simple props for her to play with. She picked what she liked and did her thing. I played with her for a few minutes so she would get used to me and hopefully, not pay much attention to me.
She was having a good time with her little block and then she glanced up with “that” look and knocked me out of my shoes. I’ve shot tons of pictures of this little girl, she’s now 5 years old. This is still my favorite…it just cracks me up.
It’s not any more complicated than that. You shoot as much variety and for as long as the baby will tolerate your strange behavior. Try to squeeze a little more out of her after the first “obvious” fussing noises.
With the 2nd set of “I’m growing weary of you” sounds, you pack your things and call it a day.
