| Author | Thread |
|
|
02/12/2008 10:58:07 PM · #1 |
Yay! Our great friends have had their first baby, Miss Allison Jean!
Here's where I need help. I am going there tomorrow right after work to take a gajillion billion pictures of my new little model, but I want to start off with the most appropriate settings / lens. Here's what I have, with no budget to purchase anything different or additional.
Rebel XTI with the kit lens (18-55 / f3.5-f5.6)
50mm 1.8
70-300 f4 - f5.6 (On loan...)
On camera flash only, don't have the funds for a speedlite quite yet.
I know their house, and it's going to be fairly dark.
I was thinking about using some semi-opaque template plastic to make a crude diffuser for the flash... worth my time?
So where should I start? What settings and lens should my camera have when I walk through the door? I don't want to spend all my time messing around taking crummy shots, please help me find a good starting point, and I can fiddle up or down from there.
Thank you all soooo much for your help. It goes without saying that I will share LOTS of pics the little one.
And.. Congratulations to Tim, Kelly and Allison!!!!!! |
|
|
|
02/12/2008 11:00:28 PM · #2 |
Awww...how fun! I can't wait to see the itty bitty baby pics :)
For what it's worth (I've never tried it) for an onboard flash diffuser, I've heard of people taking a white ping pong ball and cutting a slit in it to go over the flash for a quick diffuser. |
|
|
|
02/12/2008 11:02:41 PM · #3 |
| Do It Yourself Flash Diffuser <--- there's a "gajillion billion" of them ;O) |
|
|
|
02/12/2008 11:04:47 PM · #4 |
| Baby Photography Tips <--- looks like some good links |
|
|
|
02/12/2008 11:16:01 PM · #5 |
| I have taken photos with a basic lense and speedlite. I usually have the speedlite at a 45 degree angle. Sometimes it is too harsh other times it isn't. You should be ok with your on camera flash if you have a way of diffusing it a little. The other thing which is good to play with at the start is the white balance and which setting to use. You get differences between the flash, and light bulb setting etc. So check which looks best. |
|
|
|
02/12/2008 11:27:33 PM · #6 |
K, please don't hit baby directly with onboard flash. It is not only unflattering light, but will probably scare the poor thing to death. Instead, go for a higher ISO and as much ambient light as you can get. If you have window light, have baby posed in the daylight. Also, remember baby looks best proped upright-ish or in mommy/daddy's arms or over mommy's shoulder. I'd use the 50mm and get in really close.
Shoot RAW so you can adjust exposure if needed.
|
|
|
|
02/12/2008 11:44:43 PM · #7 |
What Cindi said. If you can find a nice big window with a non-direct light, even better.
|
|
|
|
02/13/2008 09:35:41 AM · #8 |
Well, it's going to be dark by the time I get there, so window light is out. The mama wants me to take pics for them to have as well, so I should be able to convince her to crank the interior lighting up for at least some of the shots.
So here's what I know now:
Use the 50mm.
Avoid flash if at all possible. (I am going to try to make a crude diffuser on my lunch, as a "just in case" measure)
Crank up the ISO.
My remaining question:
How wide open should I be on the apeture? Do you think I can be as low as 1.8? Or will the DOF be just way too shallow?
Thanks again for your help! |
|
|
|
02/13/2008 09:39:02 AM · #9 |
same advice as the others. No flash, high ISO, wide open aperture and careful handholding.
If you are using autofocus don't focus and then recompose with a wide open aperture (f2 etc)
- you need to move the focus point around and have what you want to focus there when you focus
Shoot fingers and toes and that sort of thing too, parents hands holding hands and all those
sorts of classic cliched shots.
f1.8 isn't too difficult to use if you are careful, it isn't like the baby is going to be going
anywhere at that age :) |
|
|
|
02/13/2008 09:43:08 AM · #10 |
| I wish I could help you, but I don't know the first thing about it. |
|
|
|
02/13/2008 10:20:38 AM · #11 |
With no flash, try to use available light (google search and Monte Zucker artical).
Don't try to use the on-camera flash (unless difussed, defused, not direct). |
|
Home -
Challenges -
Community -
League -
Photos -
Cameras -
Lenses -
Learn -
Help -
Terms of Use -
Privacy -
Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 08/25/2025 04:04:23 PM EDT.
