child portraits

[hammondsenior]

hi everyone, hoping to pick your brains here. my mate has asked me to do a couple of portraits of his 3yr old and his new born baby as a present for his wife. i shoot with a d300, i have a sigma 18-50 2.8 ex lens, a sigma 70-200 2.8 lens, and a sb-900 speedlight. ive not done any real portrait photography before, and could really do with some tips and suggestions. i dont have access to a studio, and dont really know where i can shoot the pictures. also, i would be very grateful for any suggestions of how to pose the children.

many thanks, craig

Hi Craig,

you have pretty much the same set up as me. I would heartily recommend using the SB900 and the D300 in commander mode as this will meter the TTL for you. Use of window light is also worth looking about for. If there are any rooms with good window light then just move furniture about to suit your purpose. Keep any background clutter to a minimum.

As for poses etc you might be asking too much with a 3 year old as they don't tend to do what you want when you want, but a scan through FLICKR might be worth your time for ideas

rgds
Dave

Spontaneous shots are often more appealing to me, as they tend to capture measures of the child's / children's spirit (Which always seems missing in those posed school pics )

Regards
Andy

[ether]

Originally Posted by hammondsenior

hi everyone, hoping to pick your brains here. my mate has asked me to do a couple of portraits of his 3yr old and his new born baby as a present for his wife. i shoot with a d300, i have a sigma 18-50 2.8 ex lens, a sigma 70-200 2.8 lens, and a sb-900 speedlight. ive not done any real portrait photography before, and could really do with some tips and suggestions. i dont have access to a studio, and dont really know where i can shoot the pictures. also, i would be very grateful for any suggestions of how to pose the children.

many thanks, craig

Start with the room try to use a large neutral one with a big window put a white sheet on the floor and you may need a reflector try to minimise distracting back ground spend some time getting the light balance right before you get the children in
The baby is best held by a parent or laid on the floor use a whistle or a squeaky toy to attract its attention wave a bright cloth works too if you have to put it in a chair be prepared to do a lot of Photoshop work
The 3 year old will be quite different use toys, treats, bribery any thing to keep its interest but above all be patient the best shot will come at the end when he is use to you

and enjoy your self it will show in your pictures if you dont

Ed

[ether]

I should have mentioned if you have to use flash keep it off camera and know what settings you need before you start

hope this helps

Ed

[Chris Burgess Photography]

[Chris Burgess Photography]

I pretty much agree with all the other threads. Try and use natural light as much as you can. use a bounce or a bit or poly board to reflect the light where you want it. White to fill and gold if you want to give it a warmer feeling. Let the little one do their thing and be ready to capture the moment. You have quick enough lenses for indoor photography so that shouldn't be a problem Try experimenting with the DOF for different looks.
There are so many websites on the net to get some ideas and they have some video tutorials on here too.

Good luck