Mamatography Newborn Tutorial: Part I

This past weekend I attempted to document a newborn shoot as a tutorial for all you Mamatographers. Things didn't exactly go as planned, they never really do with babies, huh?

Baby boy was only 4 days old and just 6lbs 9ozs. He was a precious little peanut! But he was still sore from the trials of birth : ( He wasn't sleepy at all and was VERY strong so he was able to push his way out of many of the poses we attempted. I WAS STUNNED!

For future demonstrations such as this, I'm going to line up a few babies within a certain time slot. This is often the case on modeling jobs. 

So this project is a work in progress, which I'm okay with. I think it's an important topic and it's my goal to try to help Mamas document their own baby photos in the days following birth. This is not an easy task but POSSIBLE.

Here's a few tips:

1. Refresh your knowledge of your camera settings while baby is napping so you can have a clearer mind frame

2. Set up a scene with your choice props*keep pads and cloths near for potty accidents (I chose to shoot in my garden because I was shooting a cute carrot suit as a prop)

3. Prepare to shoot outdoors for easy lighting scenarios either early in the AM or around 5pm in the afternoon when the sun is setting

4. FEED THE BABY! BURP THE BABY! ROCK THE BABY! Try to put them to sleep if at all possible.

5. Undress baby gently

6. Pose them in a way that their face is most exposed and light is filling in any shadows*Use a Reflector or Flash just to fill if you know how

7. Shoot using a wide aperture i.e. f3.5 or 1.8 for very shallow depth of field

8. Use spot focusing on the baby's face to selectively focus on this area

9. Work quickly but move the baby around gently between poses and scenes

10. Keep baby warm and comfortable between poses especially if you are doing nudie shots!

BIG thanks to New Mama Danielle Hart, Lisa Della Bella Photography for her help with setup and props and Kristy Tompkins of Willows Garden for the adorable crochet carrot suit that she hand made!

Mamatography ebook: NEW AND IMPROVED

Pick up a copy of the NEW & IMPROVED Photo Basics & Beyond ebook HERE to keep in your camera bag!

Topics include: Camera Settings, Lenses & Focal Length, Flash Basics & MORE!

NEXT UP in Mamatography BOOKS: Composition for Portraiture & MORE

Stay tuned...

Newborn Shoot Checklist

I’m gearing up for a series on Shooting Your Own Newborn Photos. I wanted to share my shoot checklist to help guide you Mamatographers (and myself) into an organized process for capturing newbies as they will never be seen again! 

As with any shoot, it is important to feel well versed with your camera's settings NUMBER ONE and then you can begin to think about lighting, props, poses and later, potential editing techniques.

Lets begin...

1. KNOW YOUR CAMERA SETTINGS

If you don’t, pick up my Photo Basics Camera Bag Companion ebook for an easy breezy lesson on how your tool functions. Click here: http://store.mamatographylessons.com/product/photo-basics-beyond-ebook

2. Determine your shoot location(s)

Are you shooting indoors or outdoors? I’m based in South Florida so now, in February, I’m spoiled with pretty rays of sunshine and moderate temperatures. I’ll probably be doing my upcoming shoot mostly outdoors in my garden and perhaps with an indoor studio setup with lights and a backdrop depending on the amount of decent shots I can get outdoors. I love the concept of placing newborns in nature because their presence is just so...NATURAL

3. PROPS

This is the fun part. Choose props based on the sex of the baby or theme of your environment. It’s typical to see plush blankets and fluffy filling in baskets where the newbie will be laying because you want them to feel as if they’re back in the womb. Make them comfy enough and they may even crack their first smile : )

Here’s an example list:

•BOPPIE Pillow is A MUST, if you are nursing or have in the past this is a Mama & Mamatographers best friend!

•Beenie caps/hats

•Headbands for girls

•Cacoon

•Basket

•Stylish but neutral blankets

Here’s a link to a fellow Mamatographer’s Etsy shop. She is an expert crochet artist of all things BABY: http://www.etsy.com/shop/WillowsGarden

4. Create a warm temperature

If you’re in a COLD climate it may not be possible to shoot outdoors. So, turn the heat UP and pick a spot by a window where there is nice natural light. You may need to use a little Flash to fill in shadow areas that often occur in the pooches and wrinkles of sleepy newborns.

5. Line up your gear; Here’s a list of basic necessities:

•Camera

•2 CHARGED Camera Batteries

•2 Lenses (One “Prime” 50mm; One zoom)

•External Flash

•AA Batteries for Flash

•Lightstand with hotshoe bracket (for off camera flash usage)

•Softbox or Umbrella (to diffuse flash)

•Reflector (w/ gold, silver & transparent layers to bounce sunlight onto subject)

I THINK THAT’S IT!

Oh, and expect the unexpected! If you want them sleeping, they’ll probably be awake and if you want nudie shots the WILL pee all over your props, GUARANTEED! So keep clean up supplies near by and use a pantiliner between their little legs to minimize the mess while still capturing their purity.

HAPPY SNAPPING!

Photo Basics Workshop Preview

I was working late last night on this video preview of a Mamatography Group Photo Basics Workshop. This clip is from a GORGEOUS Saturday morning on Deerfield Beach (my home town).

Sorry for the side angle...my assistant was off duty that day ; )

I'm really digging into video but it's more than a one man show!

Photos with Texture

This weekend I had the pleasure of teaching the Mamatography Photo Basics II Workshop Retreat at Butterfly World here in South Florida. It was a HOT but lovely day.
I asked my Mamatographers to share their images in the new Mamatography Facebook Group, Mamatography Photo Sharing & Critique, to see what we came up with on this collaborative shoot.


Here's an example of a shot I took at the end of the workshop. The day's light was getting dimmer and the flower garden had corner's of moodiness. I liked how this shot depicted a cool tone. Not so exciting at first glance..but I could see the potential.

The image reminded me of a Georgia O'keeffe painting, a style I spent sometime on reflecting back in college when I was shooting film.

So with the painterly effect in mind, I decided to impose a watercolor texture to my piece.

I love to create and scan textures but my time these days is VERY limited since I'm busy mothering a 1 year old! I did a quick search on paper textures and found this awesome site, www.lostandtaken.com .

I gratefully donated $4 to the site for the wide array of textures this artist has created and shares for free!

I knew I wanted a watercolor undertone w/ a subtle pop of color so this is the texture I chose:

Credit: Lost & Taken

In Photoshop, I created multiple layers of the original image changing the exposure and opacity of each layer to create a kind of High Definition Range (aka HDR) effect. Then I did the same with the water color image placing those on top of my photo. (For more info on Photoshop and using layers, check out my Photoshop Webinars HERE)

Here is my final image combining multiple copies of my photo and the watercolor image.

If you would like to join the Mamatography Facebook Group, click HERE

Happy Shooting!

What Matters

Mamatography aka ME, Vicky, are experiencing a time of reflection and ACTION. I am beyond excited to get back to shooting what I love, "lifestyle", and building on my dream, commercial photography for advertising and editorial. I am ALWAYS asked, "Do you shoot kid's portraits" and the answer, "Only my own". I have to stay true to this to keep moving and also I LOVE having the opportunity to refer my students to jobs I have been requested for, in other words, I give away work!

The idea of Mamatography Photo Workshops is to arm women with the tools they need to take photos of their own kids or put the wheels into motion in a career as a photographer whether it be children and portraits, events or products for their entrepreneurial needs.

In putting my ducks in a row, I understand that to be a good teacher I must DO (shoot), MORE. As many mom's of kids under the age of ummm 2 know that baby comes first and Mom is always 2nd, 3rd, etc. With that, I'm performing that ever changing balancing act and figuring out a lot of it as I go and finding my way back to what I love to do, but never as much as I love being a mother.

I am having to build on two businesses simutaneously, the business of teaching photography and the business of DOING photography (+ design) all in what seems to be changing at lighting speed!

I have tons of developing ideas for this blog, video tutorials, books and much more. The technical info flows in my sleep! However, I'm trying to do things in my own time and my own way considering the saturation of the image making market. 

If you're reading this, please stay tuned with me on my journey back to picture taking and owning my title in life, Mama-tographer.

Website Update and Safi's Career as a Model

I've been working laboriously on updating the Mamatography website and not spending as much time on shooting photos these days as I would like.
I needed a more inviting landing page for the site and I think the header image sums it up! I'm struggling with adding a slide show as an introduction and also I LOVE a stark white look and feel so I don't know if I should add some colorful elements to the background.
I'm a fairly proficient web designer but these days it's all about Search Engine Optimization aka SEO which is something I'm still figuring out. With that in mind, I'm using the Wordpress interface because it's suppose to be more SEO friendly but the coding part is like Chinese to me!

If anything, I am happy with the way it navigates and I think you'll find it to be informative. See it here:
http://mamatographylessons.com

On another note, I took Safi to a photo shoot casting down in Miami yesterday for Carter's baby clothing.
This was my first of kiddie castings and it was very interesting to see how many gorgeous kids there are out there and how competitive the world of child modeling is.
I thought to do this with her for somewhat selfish reasons. I love to be on commercial shoots and those days have seemed to pass me by, I want them back! I crave the scale of a huge studio with massive lights and lots of people rushing around to put things into production.
I'm questioning my career and where I live and have thought about making a move to somewhere less suburban to get my feet wet again as a commercial photographer.
I LOVE to teach, and I always will, but I refuse to fall into that saying..."Those that Can't DO, Teach".
I can DO and I will!