JUST found out my wife is pregnant! How do I spin this?

OK, having slept on it very little (guess it's much needed practice in sleep-deprivation ) I've gone for the flash. I visited the maternity ward at the local hospital where we had a tour recently, the light in most delivery rooms seemed plenty, however my fiancee has already indicated she's interested in a water birth and it's this room that is particularly dark (no windows). I would hate having a new prime lens and still having to crank up the ISO to 6400 due to lack of natural/any light or missing shots because of low light focus problems (the dreaded 5D2 "issue"). Ideally I should have both, but the budget doesn't stretch far enough this time round so I settled for the portable sunlight option

Let's hope I get time to practice with this new tool, I'll be off reading the flash topics now !!

Heladepela,

Did you take a note off the walls and ceiling in the "water room"?

Look at the "joe demb" flipit to help bounce. Mind you a notepad piece of paper and rubber band can work well in this situation. bouncing off walls can create some dramatic light with more contrast. "IF" you buy a gary fong lightsphere you'll get soft flat light which is more of a "light bomb" rather than controlling it.

I wasn't aware with a low light focus issue witht the 5d2. In low light situations i always use fast primes and have no issues.

Have a bunch of spare freshly charged AA batteries for that day too. Make a grab "kit" when its time to have a baby.

Congrats to your upcoming edition!

Bounce, bounce, bounce. Learn to bounce not *above* you but behind, and to the right and left over your shoulder... that creates much nicer light than just throwing it up to the ceiling. (But like Alan said, I use a Flip-It when the ceiling is the only option.)

You are about to have your 3rd child ( congratulations ) and haven't yet figured it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission? Buy what you want and don't tell her.

asysin2leads wrote in post #9220112
I guarantee if you say "wide angle" and "pregnant" in the same sentence, you won't be getting any camera gear for a while. Or anything else for that matter.

lmfao I was going to say that
but I think an ultra wide lens would be perfect for shooting pregnant women and make sure to take advantage of barrel distortion when taking close up photos of her stomach

AlanU wrote in post #9320989
Did you take a note off the walls and ceiling in the "water room"?

I wasn't aware with a low light focus issue witht the 5d2. In low light situations i always use fast primes and have no issues.

Have a bunch of spare freshly charged AA batteries for that day too. Make a grab "kit" when its time to have a baby.

Hey Alan, I did take note and all are in pastel colours and no high ceilings, but as The Hoff was saying I do indeed plan to bounce backwards/sideways or which ever way gives the most pleasing result (hence I'm really hoping for some experimenting time... ).

The 5D2 focus thing was a bit of a non-issue, i.e. people complaining that they couldn't focus in near complete darkness... I only experienced it a little in the Paris catacombs (skull in catacombs, could be considered gory so access at own risk, link) with the rented 50mm L.

Thanks for the tips once again, the camera bag is nearly ready (just needs the flash and spare batteries).

You mistake me for the original starter of this topic
Instead of starting yet another topic when there's already a number with similar questions out there, I figured I'd ask my question here..

I had my third kid his year and tried all different types of lenses.....the Sigma 30 1.4 is the winner! You really do not need a zoom because they are not moving for at least 8 months.

dutchswan wrote in post #9221725
I want the tokina 11-16. She wont know the difference.

She will after seeing the pics with the baby's head being distorted. That's not a good lens for portraits, but then again, you just want this lens and not something good for taking pics of a baby.

I would discuss it with her if I were you. Don't surprise her like some other guys told you to. Tell her the truth that you really want that particular lens and offer to do something special for her. Unless the money's tight and you'll need it for the baby. Then you can always buy it later.

Bradfordguy wrote in post #9321049
You are about to have your 3rd child ( congratulations ) and haven't yet figured it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission? Buy what you want and don't tell her.

With three kids, one could argue that he's had plenty of permission

I agree with the prime idea. I was stuck with my G6 for the first handful of months with my son, and the widest I ever shot was 35mm equivalent. When I finally got permission to get better gear (there's a 'spousal permission' thread here from last spring) I found that my 50 f/1.4 did well for most shots, so on a cropper a 30-35mm prime would seem to be fine.

Canon 50 1.8 is an easy sell for the price and performance. The sigma 30 1.4 HSM is next in line maybe the canon 28 1.8 USM. The Canon L's are not really in your budget I'm guessing, but then again, maybe there will be LOTS of light in the rooms so having low DOF lens isn’t really all that necessary. The 17-40L might be a cherry pick, esp used.
In my delivery room they had so much light on the mom and baby it would be easy to over expose below f/4 or f/2.8, but mom wouldn’t let me bring the camera in anyhow.
You will want tight shots of the kid and maybe the mom from elbows up so "wide" angle isn’t really necessary even on a crop body.

Tell her that you are not convinced that the baby is yours and buy what ever you want in the mayhem that follows.

friz wrote in post #9324401
Tell her that you are not convinced that the baby is yours and buy what ever you want in the mayhem that follows.

... with whatever money's left after the medical bills?

heladepela wrote in post #9319820
OK, having slept on it very little (guess it's much needed practice in sleep-deprivation ) I've gone for the flash. I visited the maternity ward at the local hospital where we had a tour recently, the light in most delivery rooms seemed plenty, however my fiancee has already indicated she's interested in a water birth and it's this room that is particularly dark (no windows).

Be careful with flash and that water -- you may find that you have an unintentional reflector in play. Maybe a CP filter would be in order -- and maybe not. In any event, try taking test shots ahead of time and planning your bounce angle.

My wife's c-section room was EXTREMELY bright, but due to a verbal misunderstanding I didn't have my G6 in there

anthony11 wrote in post #9330904
Be careful with flash and that water -- you may find that you have an unintentional reflector in play. Maybe a CP filter would be in order -- and maybe not. In any event, try taking test shots ahead of time and planning your bounce angle.

My wife's c-section room was EXTREMELY bright, but due to a verbal misunderstanding I didn't have my G6 in there

Use a GOOD polarizer for the Water birth situation. A Good Polarizer can cost $180 depending on diameter and retail store mark up. Hoya B&W will be the better ones for price and performance.

Get the EF 500 mm f/4L I.S. and tell her it'll save you from having to buy a teddy bear.

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