HELP! Newbie needs to photo pregnant wife before baby arrives!

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bue1717

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I’m sorry about this question & I know the answer is to practice but I don’t think junior will wait, my wife is due late December.

We want to take some digital photos of her whilst she is pregnant & have tried with a compact without too much success. For this reason I’ve bought a second hand Olympus E410.

This is my idea, does it sound like I’m on the correct path?

Hang a black sheet on the wall, have 2 lights set at 45 degrees each side of the camera pointing towards my wife with a 3rd light directed behind her onto the sheet to eliminate shadows.

The lights are 500w & 150w Halogen worklights. I know this isnt the best but its all I have for now so believe the WB needs setting at 3000K for tungsten light.

I believe the camera flash needs to be off & with a shallow depth of field & set on aperture priority.

I intend to take colour photos & convert to black & white with software, suggestions on simple, cheap or free, software would also be appreciated.

Many Thanks,

Bue
 
Hi and welcome to the forum,
Sounds like you are going to cook her!
Try looking through the photo/critique section on here for some ideas for poses, there are several of the type you are looking for.
I think that most people would recommend shooting her next to a window, for a more natural light, but obviously you need to make sure that she is comfortable.
 
:agree: on the natural light.
As for software - Photoshop Elements is a nice started package - £75. I would only recommend this if you see yourself exploring photography more in the future though. If not then you can convert to B&W and play with levels using the Microsoft Office Picture Manager if you have it? Think it was included in 2003/2007?

Good luck and dont forget to post your results!

Oh and welcome to TP :wave:
 
Take the pictures in a natural setting with natural light - forget using 3 lights - that's way too complicated if you don't know how to use them. Soft window light or outdoors on a dull day - wide aperture and - yep you got it - practice! You have loads of time!
 
coldpenguin said:
Sounds like you are going to cook her!
Click to expand...

:lol::lol:

Welcome to TP

Can't offer much more in the way of advice but I do agree with the use of natural light.

A soft image may look good.

PS

I have a few pics of my wifes past 'bumps' rather than her as a whole and wish I'd tried some or her.

The arm/hand accross the bump is a bit stereotypical but can make for a nice abstract image.

Good luck anyway
 
Thanks for the advice, so ditch the lights & use natural light. The outside bit is now out of the question with our winter being here!

If I'm using light coming into a room through a window should I still use a black backdrop? We like the photos set against a black background. Would I use it against the wall the sunlight is shining on?

We have picked up poses we like on Flickr so will just have to persevere! And use a wide aperture.

Sorry for the dumb questions :bang:, we just don’t want to miss the opportunity to get some good photos.

Thanks
Bue
 
Hi Bue - I took some pregnacy portraits for my friend a while ago using window light - just got her to pose next to the window, upped the ISO a little and used a high aperture, ensuring that the shutter speed was fast enough. Didn't need to use flash. Here is one of the pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/beckylou713/3861119535/
IMG]
First time I've shot anything like this but the ones I took using natural light were heaps better than using flash. Let us know how you get on!
 
If you're liking the black background, I guess you want the arty shadowy type images...

That being the case....black background, ONE light, high and well off to the side...have a play and see how it goes ;)
 
BooBear,
I like your photo & the others on your Flickr, they are what we are after but we still fancy some with the black background.

Wobbler,
We are going to try lighting as you suggest, "ONE light, high and well off to the side" I've got worklight so may as well try. If nothing else it will help my learning and as we don't intend having another child we don't want to miss the opportunity.

If we take 300 photos & just get 1 good 1 it will have been worth it!

Thanks again everyone
Bue
 
Picasa3 is a simple and free download.
The Gimp & Paint.net are not quite as simple and free downloads.
 
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