Baby/Pregnant Photos

My ex's sister is having a baby and from the sounds of it she could have her baby within the next few days. Since I am short on cash I said that I would take some baby photos as a present since they are both great people and deserve something nice. Well....she accepted but said that she wanted some photos of her with her boyfriend and also some of her pregnant belly. I am actually very excited. I have seen how some photos of pregnant woman have turned out and they are very, very powerful and I would love to have one that I have taken. However, this is the first time I have set a time to take pictures of somebodies baby. In short....its my first actual photo shoot. I am very scared. Nervous. And I need advice.

All I have is my Nikon D50 with a decent tripod and the kit 18-55 lens along with my Sigma 70-300 zoom/telephoto. The one thing that I do want, which is a nice background for the phones, I just dont have.

So....does anybody have any great advice for me? Ill be heading out tomorrow to take the pregnant shots along with the shots with both of them.

First off I want to thank everybody that gave advice. There were a lot of things I was making a mental note of so that I could give it a try. There was so much I wanted to try.

Now let me explain how my day went. I procrastinated all morning and a few minutes before I wanted to leave I started to pack. I ended up being at least 30 minutes late and tried calling out there to let them know but there was no answer. So I get in the car and on the way all I could think about was what I wanted to try. How I was going to set everything up and where I could get some nice backgrounds. I get there and they arent where they are supposed to be. When I find them all it turns out that when the sister went to the doctors appt. today they did something and she started having contractions. Add the fact that she was very hormonal and tough to be around and she didnt want to take photos. So I drove an hour and a half for nothing.

Now I dont want to come across as being heartless. However, its tough to justify a trip out there when its my ex's sister. This is a situation that has played out many times. This time is different and I had talked to the sister on Sunday and she sounded enthusiastic. I am a little annoyed since gas is expensive.

So in short....I got no photos. I didnt have the opportunity to use the advice I was given. I did intend to use it all though. Im sorry.

Since no one has replied and you need some info fast, I'll throw out some ideas as a "bump" in hopes that someone with real knowledge will be able to help you further.

I'd imagine you treat these photo's like any other portrait. Try to get even lighting without your built in flast (as it tends to wash out skin tones). Make sure you shoot in RAW so you can adjust white balance after the photo, that way if you get home and realize her skin looks unnatural (say too pale?) you can warm it up. As long as she isn't hoping for Magazine celebrity style pictures, I dont think you are going to have a problem. Emphasize the stomach with her hands on it and keep the rest of the picture as boring as you can. You want to draw attention to her and the unborn child.

Thats all I got. I hope I BSed well enough, or at least bumped this up so someone can offer you REAL advice.

but remember, shoot RAW.

I find that maternity photos looks best with plenty of shadow. it adds some what of a 'natural' feel to it for some reason and in a sense 'celebrates' the curves. I would first try a window light. For some reason, I love pictures of ladies wearing jeans with maternity shots, for instance when they are sitting cross legged facing the camera looking down at their belly holding it. Or the heart with the hands on the belly button etc.

If you are going to do baby, I would highly recommend within the first 10 days, as babies still have their 'curl' during those days and are more likely to sleep through the session. Make sure if you are doing 'naked' shots to have the room a tad bit warmer, I warm up the surface they will be on with a hair dryer.

Someone else will be much more helpful I am certain. What floggingkyle said about RAW is very very true.

I have the Sigma 70-300 and a D50 as well. It's capable of some pretty decent macro with shallow depth of field. Some macro photos of the baby's feet and hands or an extreme close-up on his face (possibly in black and white) might make something that the parrents would like.

I don't have any experience in this field, but this is just what popped into my head. Good luck.

Hey life happens... we've all been in these situations and I'm sure sooner or later you'll have your opportunity to take pics again. I know taking baby pics is about 75% of the reason why I want to have kids. :greenpbl: (jk... in case I really need to state that).

What's this you say about pregnant women being moody???

:lmao: I know. I didnt have to mention that. Although, ive never actually been around a pregnant woman. Strange. Well, I was too young to remember my mom when she was pregnant with my sister. Then somehow ive never had a friend that was pregnant. So the entire experience was new to me. Oh well. Ill jot down those notes for when I get married and have a kid, lol.

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8 January 2009 | cameltoepants.com | edit