Best lens for Newborn shoot indoor in Natural Light?

Hi there!

I promised a friend that I will take newborn pics of her baby coming next month! I was wondering what the best lens to use?

Right now, I have the following:
- xTi kit lens (non IS)
- 50mmf1.8
- Sigma 30mmf1.4 (to be delivered Monday!

Would the Sigma 30mm be a good lens for the newborn shoot?

Thanks a lot!

T

The Sigma will serve you well. I would also invest in a flash, and bounce it off walls and ceilings. It will make a huge difference in the quality of the images and the bounced flash will not upset the young one.

edited to add that the depth of field on the Sigma at f/1.4 is so shallow that the flash will allow you to stop the lens down to 2.0 or 2.8 and get shots with more depth of field.

dan_bgblue wrote in post #10065222
The Sigma will serve you well. I would also invest in a flash, and bounce it off walls and ceilings. It will make a huge difference in the quality of the images and the bounced flash will not upset the young one.

I do have a 430EX flash and a diffuser.. I will try that, thanks!!

Sigma 30, without a doubt. I used it throughout our time in the hospital, and never even thought about swapping out lenses. Enjoy your new lens!

The nifty fifty will do well with natural light if you have a cooperative (still) subject. Lucky for you, newborns are just that. Toddlers, not so much. There is a great little book on B&H about photographing babies that would be of interest to you perhaps. I was brand new to photography and got the below shot with my 40D and 50 f/1.8...

Sliding glass doors usually have nice light. Almost not worth it if there is direct sun coming in though. Have mom or dad hold baby at a 45 away from the door. From there you can do a series of poses. Also go in close and back on each pose. This can give you a good number of shots with nice wrap around soft light. Use the 50mm. Open it wide focusing on the "close" eye for a few. Flash and baby don't usually mix all that great unless it is difused a good deal. Hope that helps.

50L

Yes

You can't go wrong with either 30 or the 50mm. Awwwww bless...

You only have 3 lenses and a flash - take em all and figure it out as you go! Personally I think 50mm would be the best pick as 30mm makes you get REALLY close to a tiny baby to fill the frame. Use the 18-55's close focus abilities for a few detail shots.

I took some shots of my new grand neice yesterday with the 85 f 1.8 and the 24-105. The room was nto well lit so I was shooting the 85 wide open. The DOF killed me since the 85 was just to long. I wound up taking most of the pictures with the 24-105 with and without the pop up flash and a diffuser.

Natural light all the way......have the baby facing a sliding glass door or a couple of big windows and shoot away with either or both lenses. Avoiding flash alleviates shadows and harsh lighting.

+1 sigma 30mm if you want a wider shot
+1 canon 85mm if you want a close portrait

but probably the best is 50mm on apc-s... especially the sigmalux... but 50mm 1.8 is very good!

I have all 4 items : 3 lenses and 1 newborn!

Here are a few I got with my 50 f/1.4 for our 2009 model. For the 2010, I've got the 30 f/1.4 and the 85 f/1.8.

All three of these were shot wide open @ 1.4.

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif'

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif'

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif'

Thanks for all the responses and sample pics! Much appreciated! I just love newborns.. makes me want more kids.. well, not really! heheh.. Thanks guys!

I got my sigma 30mm today.. tried a few shots with my 3yo and 1yo... Oh my... I can't seem to get a good shot since they can't stay still for a second or two!!