Thread: Shooting infants and toddlers in studio

Sprouting my wings to work with children is something i have longed to do.
Now that i am getting better with lighting and composition, i have braved inviting a friend over to take some pics of her little boy who is 8 months old.

Any suggestions on lenses to use? (i have no problem renting lens, currently all i have is 50mm, and a 28-80mm, both are entry level lenses)

I know that warm rooms, and a baby after a nap are good times to shoot. I have a 36x36 softbox, and two umbrellas and a alienbee ring flas at my disposal as well.

Mom has forewarned me that he likes to be on the move.. so should i opt for a zoom lens thats fast?

any chance you can swap in hot lights for the strobes? It'll warm the room up more for the baby, but it'll also give you less annoying flashes for them as well (Elias flinches whenever I use flash). As for the lens that will depend on the amount of room you have. For me I'd be forced to use a zoom in my small house. If you have enough light to support the apertures on the zoom it might help a lot with flexibility issues.

I'd use a fast, midrange zoom--I use my 24-70 most frequently. You want something that has a close MFD so that you can get details. I find that a telephoto (like a 70-200) gets you too far away from the action, and really only works if you have mom or dad interacting with baby.

I have also had good success with my 16-35... If I can get them to sit still, the 135L or 85L (or even the 85 f/1.8) are all phenomenal portrait lenses.

I have no experience with studio lighting, only natural light, so I can't help you there. Watch your catchlights and expressions, and use AI servo if possible, esp. at wide apertures, because kids move fast!

I have no end to example photos if you want them!

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

any chance you can swap in hot lights for the strobes? It'll warm the room up more for the baby, but it'll also give you less annoying flashes for them as well (Elias flinches whenever I use flash). As for the lens that will depend on the amount of room you have. For me I'd be forced to use a zoom in my small house. If you have enough light to support the apertures on the zoom it might help a lot with flexibility issues.

Honestly.. i dont think we have any hot lights to use..
I would have to rent/buy something cheap, any recommendations?

are these along the lines of what you are talking about?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Op...9/N/4294551172

The room we will be in is about 15x25 room..

Or maybe i should try something like this?
Putting Together a Budget DIY Lighting System | Shuttertalk

Originally Posted by Aurora

Or maybe i should try something like this?
Putting Together a Budget DIY Lighting System | Shuttertalk

yeah, HD lights work well for around $10 each.
my caution there is they get hot enough to burn, careful with that, ESPECIALLY with a little one. There are also hot light kits on ebay and the like with incandescent bulbs that aren't as bright and not as hot and cost $100~$200...

I went out and bought my supplies today.. and will be building a rig this weekend hopefully.. Well see how it turns out!

nice,

At this moment, i have a pile of supplies sitting in the living room, while i stare at them.

I thought about building a standing wood frame and stapling white cotton to it, (like a giant canvas) that i could move around at my leisure, but to be effective, it would need to be big, and then i couldnt carry it around. I also bought some PVC piping, and i think thats what its going to be made of ultimate, so i can tear it down and put it back together.

To be a tease.. I finished this today.. and will be testing it out this weekend..

I am going to make a tutorial for building this thing..It was really easy.. and far from perfect, but i think with some tweeking, i can make it fabulous.

Oh, and i rented an 85MM for the weekend.. (sorry Ben, went local again...)