Help with child photography?

[jdc_photo]

Hi,

I hope I am posting in the right place! I am just getting into child photography, using my little boy as my guinea pig! I have 2 studio umbrella lights and a muslin backdrop.

My question is regarding my shutter speed, my light meter says I need 1/25 with the lighting I have, so I use my tripod to capture my images. But with how much he moves and wiggles around I surely need a faster shutter speed? I have a lot of gorgeous images with blurry hands and feet! Any ideas how I do this? Is it simply a case of more/better lighting?

Thanks!
Jayne

 

[stupar]

That's a really slow shutter speed.
Are you using flash or continuous lighting?
If the latter then you will struggle to get a higher shutter speed without opening up the aperture or ramping up the ISO.
If you are using flash heads what settings are they at.

 

[jdc_photo]

They are continuous lighting, my light meter said 400iso, f.5 and 1/25. I suppose I need to be investing in some flash heads?

Thanks.

 

[stupar]

Continuous has its place in some aspects of photography but not for kids. They move to much. With a flash system you can freeze the movement.
With most flash heads you will be able to use shutter speeds around 1/125 1/160 range at roughly f8-f11 at ISO 100

 

[jdc_photo]

ok fab thankyou very much for your reply! I am now scouring around for some flash heads! I have so far been doing product photography and my continuous lights have served me well!

Any suggestions on which flash heads are better than others? Also wattage? Thanks

 

[stupar]

Yeah continuous is probably fine when subject matter doesn't move.

As for flash head recommendations, the consensus is to avoid the cheap and nasty ones on eBay that promise you something silly like 1000W heads plus accessories for £100.

Re wattage more doesn't always mean better. I do child photography with a single lencarta smartflash which is 200W rated.

Probably best to invest in a well known name for reliability, functionality and aftercare.

The main players are Lencarta, elinchrom, Interfit and Bowers to name a few.
There's plenty threads on here about studio flashes and recommendations and also plenty people with vast experience and knowledge so others will be along shortly to assist.

Other things to think about in general are modifiers. Umbrella vs softback etc.
You may also want to look at radio triggers for firing the flash head(s)

 

[dan_yorkshire]

ok fab thankyou very much for your reply! I am now scouring around for some flash heads! I have so far been doing product photography and my continuous lights have served me well! Any suggestions on which flash heads are better than others? Also wattage? Thanks

Don't be tempted by any eBay packages where you'll only end wanting to upgrade as you already have done.

Lencarta Smartflashes are a very well price and well built product. I use 3 lencarta heads triggered with RF602's and they've never missed a beat.