Ask me what you want.

[KEDDY]

Hello All,

What a great thread!..I can't thank Seona enough for her generosity, and everyone who participated in the thread.
This is 14 day old Aiden my newest grandson. Unfortunately I couldn't capture enough Natural Light for this shoot, but I used some of Seona's Post Processing tips along with her studio setup.
I am a photog enthusiast I guess, just a hobby for me. One question, I couldn't upload more than two attachments..any suggestions.

Tech Data:
I used 2 Alien Bees 800 on their lowest setting F3.2 with a 70-200 2.8L on 5D MKii. A Softbox was used the Main light very high and close, and a Beauty Dish on the fill pretty much flanking camera right. I did move around a lot with no lighting or exposure changes.

Thanks again Seona, you are "The Bomb",
Ken

[KEDDY]

A couple of more...Critiques are encouraged. Thank you.7324159962_55826302c1_b.jpg

[Rissa]

These are beautiful Ken, i hope someone with more experience will give some feedback.

[KEDDY]

Originally Posted by Rissa

These are beautiful Ken, i hope someone with more experience will give some feedback.

Thank you very much.

[Aleness]

One thing I've noticed using faux fur is a possible allergy reaction or difficulty breathing, because of the fur fibers.
I try to minimize baby's time on the fur throw to a minimum or use a fairly short pile furs that are hypoallergenic.

[KEDDY]

Originally Posted by Aleness

One thing I've noticed using faux fur is a possible allergy reaction or difficulty breathing, because of the fur fibers.
I try to minimize baby's time on the fur throw to a minimum or use a fairly short pile furs that are hypoallergenic.

Duly noted. I did have some reservations about allergic reactions with a newborn. I put my Grandson on the "synthetic fur" for about 10-15 minutes and observed no breathing issues, or skin reactions.
Question, why would a shorter pile be hypoallergenic? I didn't look for Synthetic Fur that was hypoallergenic when purchasing. I wonder if it is available. You make a valid point.

[Aleness]

It's not that short pile would be hypoallergenic or long pile is extremely allergenic, it's more of a nature of a long pile fur having more loose fibers flying around.
I shot my son on a long pile fur and in about 5 minutes he developed some kind of rush. In a few weeks later I had shot him on a short pile and there was no problem. I have also shot few more babies on both short and long pile and noticed that short pile (at least for me) worked better. Plus, it's easier to clean.
However, for short applications (5-10 minutes) I think it's fairly safe.

[KEDDY]

Originally Posted by mercersmoments

I know a few of you have been waiting on this, the set up bean bag shots, I remembered to take some tonight while setting up for tomorrow's newborn shoot.

First we have my light - I have 2 of these, but only use one for kids/babies - sometimes with a soft box, sometimes with an umbrella. I use the 2 lights together for group shots.

As you can see it's a 500 watt light



Second we have the back of the light, and you can see that the red eye is on, the beep sound is on (for me the sound of my camera's shutter, the focus beep and the correct exposure beep on my lights had allot to do with photo taking, it's not only a visual thing) the modeling bulb is on, and the flash is on.

The power is turned low, all the way down to 1/32 - this is the lowest these lights can go.



now for the set up - there's a large round half filled beanbag under the top bean chair for height, and it's very stable.




The bean chair is folded over onto it's self.

Then there's a travel neck pillow - or "boppy" - I use this for getting shots like this as It helps hold the baby's upper body.







Then you can see some layers of blankets, tightly hung and draped over the bean bags, held up by a backdrop stand and clips.




I like to layer my blankets - makes for a quick blanket swap, all I need to do is have mum or dad lift the baby while I flip one blanket over the back of the stand to reveal the blanket underneath. I also have 2 lambswool underlays I use, but both are at the dry cleaners from my last shoot, baby poop on one, vomit on the other. nice !

Oh and under all the blankets is a waterproof mattress protector - plastic so all i have to do is wipe it with disinfectant to sanitize it each time - hygiene is number one for me - you need to be so careful not to share germs from one baby to another.

Also I use this hand sanitizer :

http://www.accesshealth.com.au/acces...d=158&pid=1346

And some resulting shots from this set up : using said lambswool, and said baby who soiled them both, lol - these could almost pass as natural light shots - evil I know !






I hope this has helped in some way ! Enjoy !

I've been looking for a Beanbag Chair like the one in photo #3 and have had no luck...any suggestions?

[boerewors]

I salute all you guys out there who have successully taken new born images. I have had nothing but stress from my own child going nuclear on me which usually ends with soiled carpets and one angry baby. I just cannot get that pose i so oh dearly want, the one where the baby is tummy down with his hands crossed under his chin. I use the bean bag method, and he is well fed and sleeping when i attempt to pose him, but his head can not stay upright and the moment he detects that he is not on his back... The nuclear bomb blows. I feel guilty of torture in the end but i so dearly want an image that i can hang on my wall but i have had nothing but failure

[ann-mom]

you may have to take several shots and photoshop them together.

[birdd]

Seona, how do you do your pricing? I see you charge a sitting fee, how are your prints priced? What sort of average value do your clients spend? Do you have packages or is it all just a-la-carte?

I'm from Bundaberg in QLD and I'm trying to work out how to do my pricing... up until now I have just been charging a flat fee which I have included the disk of processed photos, as I wasn't sure on how to deal with doing prints, and framing, and stuff like that...

Do you only offer prints, or do you offer them framed? what else do you offer?

I can email you if you would prefer to discuss this there...

[birdd]

I was looking at your photos on Flickr, and I saw this one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mercers...n/photostream/ I have been considering doing that myself, what dimensions did you make your floor? and was it big enough or too big or just right? How did you find it?

Also for backdrop material have you tried curtain material from Spotlight?

[erinavery]

i just posted a thread regarding this...but i'm anxious to start improving my results as soon as possible so any advice you're willing to give would be much appreciated.

i'm at a point where i feel i've outgrown my camera but can't upgrade yet.. :/

so...i need to work with what i've got. i can get images that i'm happy with when i use my studio light...and...occcaaaasionally when shooting with my external flash outdoors (clients are happy, i'm not)

i just can very rarely get sharp images when shooting on location.. i mean compared to studio

and i need advice...pretty please??

[gkuenning]

Originally Posted by erinavery

i just posted a thread regarding this...but i'm anxious to start improving my results as soon as possible so any advice you're willing to give would be much appreciated.

i'm at a point where i feel i've outgrown my camera but can't upgrade yet.. :/

so...i need to work with what i've got. i can get images that i'm happy with when i use my studio light...and...occcaaaasionally when shooting with my external flash outdoors (clients are happy, i'm not)

i just can very rarely get sharp images when shooting on location.. i mean compared to studio

and i need advice...pretty please??

I think that in this case it would help to know what equipment you're using. Also, what procedures are you using? For example, are you controlling the focus points? Using a tripod? What f stops are you using in the studio and outdoors? Can you identify the differences between what you do in the studio vs. outdoors?

[DamianOz]

Hi Seona,
I have just read the entire 2 years of this thread. I thank you for sharing and thank all who have contributed.
I just want to give a shout out from a old Engadine kid, many moons ago, and fellow Aussie.
Action photography is my passion (read no income), I also love landscape. To be honest, I just like to capture moments in time with my camera, regardless of the subject, but I have never been motivated to shoot weddings.
Your passion and enthusiasm for shooting new bubs radiates via your comments and images, its infectious so much so that I am considering setting up my spare room for studio work. And my wife loves the idea
The joy of giving new mums and dads pride in their little one via a photo would be rewarding for me, and if I could start offsetting some of the cost involved with this hobby, that would make it even sweater.

Hi, Thank you & Awesome work
Damian