1st portrait of nephew..

[liam1986ukuk]

just wondering if any one can give me some advice.. sister having baby in 2 days, and wants me to take some new born pics.. i was thinking of using a few soft white fleeces for the background and to place him onto.. just wondered about lighting.. all ive got is a canon 7D 10-22mm and 17-55 Lens and a Canon 420EX Speedlight, i wonder if its worth me getting a light of some sort and a soft box to get some proper lighting into the pics? (shooting indoors)

 

[weybourne]

This isn't really my kind of photography, but I'd be tempted to get as much 'natural' light in as possible - if it's overcast outside then the light should be well diffused. I'd also consider the flash angled to bounce off something too to provide extra light - maybe hang a white sheet/towel/card (or get someone to hold one) to bounce some light off?

Generally speaking, I favour experimenting with what's already available and only spending my cash on something if there's a very good case that I can't do what I want to do without it. Saying that, I did buy a double-sided reflector from 7dayshop for about £15.

On a side note, I'll be in Boston this weekend - it's my hometown and there's a family gathering for my parent's golden wedding.

Edit: - you could make some makeshift reflectors using tinfoil.

 

[cobwebscavern]

Edit: - you could make some makeshift reflectors using tinfoil.

Indeed you can....a great excuse to eat loads of kit-kats for silver and galaxy bars make a nice golden warm up reflector.

Done very little of this and then it was years ago but from memory flash only freaks kids out so avoid it at all costs unless totally necessary. Diffuse flash with anything you can find as much as possible.

I would steer away from the 10-22 as kids have big heids (proportionately) anyway and a wide angle lens will only exaggerate this.

Good luck

 

[Big_chief]

I seen a couple of photos recently on flickr that had a newborn baby lying on top of some folded towels.

They looked really good, so might be an idea to keep in mind.

 

[liam1986ukuk]

thanks for the advice, ill give natural light a go i think to start with and see how i get on!

 

[StirlingBear]

new born baby on a knitted cardigan or jumper, lets you add a bit colour, even one of these knitted blankets you get for babies. I have loads there. I remember the girl we got to take photos of our kids and she done newborn shoot and she had knitted hammocks for the babies to lie in and he photos were excellent.