Newborn babies and baby photography. I’ve got nothing against photographing babies and newborns in the studio. It’s just that I’ve got this theory that comes in three parts. The first is that newborns are incredibly sensitive to sounds and smells and so the home environment is the best place to be. Second is that it’s at home that those precious moments of parenthood – normally whilst feeling a mixture of intense fatigue and joy – really unfold and that telling that story is where photography can be very powerful.  Third, and perhaps most important, travelling to a studio involves packing the car with all sort of kit when at staying at home seems so much easier.

The examples below are taken in homes where I used just one light to fill in shadows from pre-exisiting window and ambient light. I don’t carry any props, preferring to work with whatever I find at the home. Before I start going on about technical stuff, if you’re a mum, dad or grandparent and would like to talk about having photography at home (or the studio if you would prefer) do please get in touch. Canterbury, Faversham, Whitstable and other parts of Kent are fine.

Technical stuff – shallow depth of field (mostly), f2.0-4.0 with a fixed 50mm lens on a Canon 1dIII, occasional 70-200mmL and the rest on the 24-105L on a 5D. Small Lastolite softbox to mimck window light when windows not present, Canon 580EXII triggered by a Pockewizard. Manual meeting. I tend to set my light and then move it in and out rather than dialling up/down the power, or I’ll use the camera’s aperture to do the same job.

Next training half and full day is May 27th in Canterbury – HERE

RAF Tucano display team stop over to refuel at Manston – Kent International Airport

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You’ve heard me say it before, but one of the main characteristics of professional photography is to shoot pretty much anywhere and under any conditions by controlling what you can and working with what you can’t. This is just the sort of thing I’ll be covering in the next course in Canterbury on May 27th, but here’s an example from a recent shoot.

The conditions were overcast, rain and then breaks in the clouds, changing every few minutes – you know the sort of weather I mean. The first few shots (1, 2 & 3) were taken under cover with natural light behind and warm reflected light from the hay.

Shots 4, 5, 6 & 8 are blatantly 2 x off-camera flash but still working with the idea of backlight and keylight. Incidently, always bring bin sacks to lay your kit on when shooting on farms

Shots 7 and 8 are zoomed in and more directional flash. By the time we got to the final shots the natural light was as flat as a pancake again. Shot 10 is simply using the open barn as a large softbox. Shot 11 is backlit by flash but using the overhead skylights as a detail and to give the backlight some logical context. The final shot, natural light,  has modelling to the face camera right by someone standing there and acting as a flag or gobo. Nothing more sophisticated than that!

If you’re looking at photographers that do location portraits, model portfolios or other types of photography in the Whitstable, Faverham, Canterbury, Kent or London areas, please do get in touch.