Delivery room shots

IUnknown wrote in post #11938826
Also, some hospitals don't let you take photos of the actual birth because of liability reasons. I was thinking 35mm on a full frame for mine, with cramped quarters.

What are they going to do. "I'm not delivering this baby until you put down that camera, mister!"

As I had stated in my original post, I don't intend to take very many if any pictures during the delivery, except maybe a few to document it (doctor holding up baby, mother with baby for first time, weighing). I obviously would be basing this on what the situation and my wife dictate. Also, for this time, I would definitely not be using flash, but just the camera and 50mm.

In regards to taking pictures later - I figured I could get nice shots and the baby would be less disturbed if I had a flash or two in the corners of the room, bouncing off the ceiling. Also, I like to mix ambient in with my flash, so it's not like I would be shooting at iso 100 f/8, but more like iso 800-1600 and f/2.8-f/4. I am not talking about a big setup, but have the foot that comes with the flash and having it sitting on a nightstand, etc. I am not talking about using stands, light modifiers, etc. I wanted to take the smallest setup possible that would allow me to do a good documentary of the experience. I am leaning towards my original thought, which is to bring the 5d, 50 1.4 for the majority of the shots and supplementing possibly with the 24-70 or 17-40 and off-camera flash if needed.

If you're the Dad, you may be so taken with the experience that setting up a studio may not be a priority. Keep it simple.

I have been through this several times. Last time (and I mean my LAST time) I brought my DSLR and a very small P&S. The P&S was great. I was able to fully participate as part of the delivery, but able to get some pictures just moments after my baby was born.

I used my DSLR to get pictures just a little later while the nurse did her stuff with the baby. I personally did use flash, but not right up in my babies eyes. This was a few years ago and I did not have lenses fast enough for indoor natural light.

bl4scott wrote in post #11958963
If you're the Dad, you may be so taken with the experience that setting up a studio may not be a priority. Keep it simple.

Agreed.

You have no idea what is actually going to happen at the birth or how your partner is going to be feeling at the time.

Before my first child was born I told my husband categorically no photos of me after the event looking sweaty and awful. Thank goodness he totally ignored me and photographed both me and baby because now those photos are incredibly precious to me and I don't care that I looked like I'd run 3 marathons because frankly it felt like I had!!

In all likelihood you will be swept away by the moment and you will forget that you even have a camera!

You might have quite a bit to carry what with your partner's bags and whatever other stuff she feels she is going to need so keeping your camera gear simple will help then too.

Good luck! It's a very special thing that you are about to be part of!

dont use flashes, my best friend gave birth two months ago and I was there for the whole experience. You wont get anything whilst shes in labour because she'll probably rip your head off if you go anywhere near your camera! Once the baby is born (which i presume it isnt yet...) try to use a tripod or monopod, and use whatever light is available. generally they keep the rooms quite dim once the babies are out so its not the easiest to shoot in without flash. I used as high an ISO as i could before getting too much noise (about 1600) and bumped up the exposure post-production.
good luck, hope the labour and birth goes well and congrats!

james_in_baltimore wrote in post #11911323
My wife and I are having our first baby soon and I wanted some advice about what camera gear to take with me. I would prefer to limit the conversation to talking about what equipment to take and not spend time on how much I should or should not be shooting. I probably will shoot only a couple shots during delivery and do a few documentary shots after that (weighing, laying on wife's stomach, etc) but not do much beyond that until later.

I have: 5D MKii, 50 1.4, 24-70 2.8, 17-40, 70-200 2.8 IS, 580EX II, 430EX II, STE-2

I was thinking my primary would be the 5d and 50 1.4. I won't bring the 70-200. The question is whether to bring the 17-40 or the 24-70. For shots later on I was thinking I could mount the STE-2 and set the flashes in a couple corners of the room (bounced to the ceiling) to get some nice shots. Would the 17-40 be best because I would need the wide angle for this or will I want the speed or length of the 24-70, or is it a stupid idea and I should just shoot with the 50? Another point in favor of the 17-40 is that fact that it is half the size and weight of the 24-70.

Thanks for posting this, I've been thinking of what I'm going to do when our baby arrives at the end of february. I plan on taking my 35, 50 and flash just because it all fits nicely in a backpack.
Congrats and hope everything turns out better than expected

karobinson wrote in post #11937989
bouncing the light isn't too bad on the eyes...that heat lamp they put them under seems a bit cruel on the eyes not to mention the flashlight they shine in them.....has got to be one hell of a experience.

Congrats on the baby.

I'm a labor and delivery nurse. No one is shining a flashlight light of any kind into the newborn's eyes.

Oh, and I know how to work a 5dmkii.

JennyAdamsPhotography wrote in post #12171430
Once the baby is born (which i presume it isnt yet...) try to use a tripod or monopod, and use whatever light is available. generally they keep the rooms quite dim once the babies are out so its not the easiest to shoot in without flash.

Delivery/recovery rooms are not dimmed after delivery. Quite the opposite in fact. In order to adequately observe both Mom and baby during the recovery it's essential for all lights to remain on, and is in fact the standard of care.

congrats on the new edition...

if i were you... id bring ALL the gear.
after you arrive, and get setteld.. id take some test shots to determine your best suited lens..
im guessing the 17mm wide angle.

Lovinlight wrote in post #13705847
Delivery/recovery rooms are not dimmed after delivery. Quite the opposite in fact. In order to adequately observe both Mom and baby during the recovery it's essential for all lights to remain on, and is in fact the standard of care.

I guess it varies. My experience is that the lighting is fairly low during delivery and then they will cut the lights way down once they have checked over the baby and delivered the placenta.

Like this:

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We just had our 2nd baby 3 weeks ago. I took in a 50mm 1.2. The doc squashed the GoPro2 strapped to her chest idea :P

EDIT: Enjoy the experience and dont worry about getting the shot.

Here is one pic, the rest of the delivery might be a little too graphic.

Ripped_Glutes wrote in post #13723738
EDIT: Enjoy the experience and dont worry about getting the shot.]

YES! THIS!

Beautiful picture, BTW.

There is nothing dim in a delivery room, not here in Sweden anyway...

Most babies don't have their eyes wide open the first days out, so bounce flash is certainly not gonna harm the baby. Direct flash should be avoided, not only because of the babies eyes but because the photos will look like crap and you will look like a tool who can't handle a camera.

I took these with bounce flash about 24 hours after she was delivered.

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talea wrote in post #12075236

In all likelihood you will be swept away by the moment and you will forget that you even have a camera!

That's what happened with my hubby! Thank goodness for the nurse who said "You might want to get a picture of this"