How to shoot a baby – getting ready.

This week, we’re trying something a little new with Frame One. Instead of mini-tips, we’re picking a subject and dedicating a week of posts to show how to make it happen. It’s like Shark Week, without the Sharks, or mega budget.

Blurry, expected.

How to shoot a baby. With a camera. What did you think I was talking about?

I have kids. Lots and lots of kids. And they’re all just so darn gorgeous that it’s no wonder I picked up a camera and started snapping their pics.

But it wasn’t easy.

I started taking photos of most of my little ones when they were babies. What I (quickly) learned is that babies can be just about the toughest subjects to shoot. They’re super fast. They don’t take direction well. And they eat crayons, which you don’t notice on their new teeth until two days later when you’re editing the photos to send to nana.

So you’ve got to be both faster and smarter than a baby (way harder than it sounds). Before you grab your camera, you need to think about a couple of things:

Consider what you want to do.

Snapshot of the action? Formal portrait? Start by thinking about what you want the photo to look like.

Having an iPhone around makes it easy to take loads of photos.

Shoot lots.

Babies blink, move, sneeze, grab your glasses and get gas. Take at least 3-4 photos of any given moment to make sure you got a good one.

Use your windows.

Please, please, please don’t light your baby with the flash on your camera. You want here to look like an actual baby – not an overlit alien. Take photos near windows or screen doors. So pretty.

Think about “zone” coverage.

Babies are super speedy -- so fast that they’ll tick off your autofocus, which will then refuse to work for you. Don’t follow the baby around. Instead, point your camera in a specific area. Look through the lens. Get a good background. Then wait. The baby should show up in your frame. When he does, start clicking as fast as you can.

Babies are great to shoot from different perspectives.

Move around.

Don’t take the same baby photos as everyone else. Get down to the babies level. Stand up super high on a chair. Try cool stuff out. You will be amazed at the different shots you’ll get.

#51 – Make instant reflectors to add a little light to your snapshot

Lots of reflectors in here.

You are going to look so cool when you’re finished reading this post.

One of the biggest problems with photography comes down to how you balance out light and shadows. Use your onboard flash and you’ll bathe everything right in front of you in light. Beyond that, it can be dark and gloomy. Or if you’re taking a photo of the dinner you made with your cell phone. Put the plate near the window and the front looks great, but things are a bit more shadowy at the edges of the plate.

The good news – there’s a really easy, really useful trick for getting more light into a shot. It’s called a reflector and you should make it your very best friend.

A reflector is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a surface that reflects light back onto a subject. I like to think of it as a shadow eraser. If I take a photo and there are annoying shadows (or darkness) in weird places, I’ll use a reflector or two to help out.

Pro photographers use big, crazy things to reflect back light, but smart photographers use just about anything. White reflectors are great because they soften the light that hits it and bounce it back on a subject for a pleasing look.

Just about anything can be a reflector.

A white dinner plate. A piece of foamcore. A bed sheet. I even heard about a food photographer who uses white napkins she grabs from fast food places to bounce light onto her pics.

Move your reflectors around (or use more than one).

Try moving your reflectors around to erase your shadows. A little nudge here, a second reflector there can make a very big difference to your work.

Try out different coloured reflectors.

White isn’t your only choice. You can use a mirror to get the same strength light, a crumpled up piece of tinfoil to get something stronger than white but not as bright as a mirror, or something golden to reflect back a warmer coloured light. Bonus – you can use a black reflector to add more shadows to your picture.

Don’t forget about walls and ceilings.

Some of the best reflectors are ceilings and walls. When light bounces off of these things, they create a great big soft light source. Imagine taking a portrait of your dad on a sunny day. Put the sun behind him so he faces a white wall. Suddenly that crazy bright sun will make a whole lot prettier photo.

#50 – What to do after you shoot your photo

"Taking" the photo is only half the adventure.

Now that you’ve got the frame in your digital camera, what are you going to do with it? Save it to your computer? Edit it? Share it with the world. These days, there’s just so many options (Flickr! Picasa! Instagram!). Over the last year, Frame One offered some tips, tricks and ideas on organizing, editing and showing off your work:

#5 – Build a simple workflow.

If you leave your photos on your camera for months on end, you’re asking for trouble Figure out where to keep photos, what you call ‘em and how you fix each and every one.

#6 – Pick one image-editing program.

Get to know the controls of one program – but which program? This post (and this Bonus one) show you why you should pick just a single program – and which ones work best.

#28 – Use the RAW file format.

Want to make editing easier? Buy a bigger memory card, skip the JPEG format and go straight for RAW. This digital negative makes everything easier to edit.

Bonus – How to show off your photos and more on the big screen

Want to share a slideshow with family and friends. Here’s three ways to make it happen.

#49 – The essentials for what happens on the other side of the camera.

It’s so easy to get lost.

You’re trying to set up that perfect holiday family portrait. You get everyone near a big window for light. You start playing with the dials on your camera to get the right settings. You check your historgram to make sure everything is right.

And then you forget what’s happening in the actual photo. Are there messy faces? Did you group everyone the right way? What about background distractions?

There can be so (very) many obstacles to taking a great photo – which is exactly why I wrote a whack of posts last year on the subject of ... well, subjects. Five posts about taking better photos of people:

#14 – Get a new perspective.

Still taking snapshots of friends and family from the straight ahead position (and putting them in the centre?). Think about changing your perspective to improve your photos.

#20 – Never say smile.

Smiling faces? Meh. Go for the range of emotion when taking a portrait snapshot for stunning shots.

#27 – Shoot vertically.

People are vertical, which means at least some of your photos should be vertical too. Here’s a handful of tips on how to make it better.

#29 – Make everyone look smarter, thinner and prettier.

One of the more popular posts of the year. Here’s a few tricks to make everyone you know look fabulous.

#32 – Turn your subjects.

They used to teach this one in photo school – put your subjects on an angle to get more character out of the snapshot.

Daily examples + conversation on Facebook.

Like “Frame One Photo” on Facebook for examples of the week’s theme, inspirational images, contests and more.

#48 – The most important things to know about your camera.

Cameras are scary devices.

These little black boxes come with so many buttons, options and settings that it’s easy to get overwhelmed, flip on the “Auto” setting and hope for the best.

Truth is, it doesn’t have to be that way. I’m a professional photographer and even I don’t use half the settings on my gigantor dSLR. Instead, I use the ones that are useful to me (and to getting a great photo).

Over the past year here at Frame One, I’ve written a bunch of mini posts designed to help you get more comfortable with your camera. To me, these are the six most important. Master these (not difficult) and you’ll be well on your way to knowing and loving that chunk of photography you hold in your hands...

#2 – Buy a decent camera.

Megapixels and digital zooms aren’t what you should be looking for in your next camera. This post describes the four things to look for when you’re shopping.

#7 – Feel your autofocus.

The simple fact of point-and-shoot/mobile phone cameras is that they’re slow when you press the shutter. They take some time to grab the photo. You need to learn how your autofocus works in different situations and be ready to compensate for what it does.

  

#12 – Turn off your flash.

I hate, hate, hate the onboard flash that comes with most cameras – and I’ve found ways around using it. Here’s my breakup letter.

#23 – Learn to read your histogram.

Your camera’s screen is a big fat liar. What looks bright on your screen might look dark on your monitor. Want a more accurate idea of whether or not you got the shot? Trust your histogram.

#38 – Turn of useless settings.

Digital zoom. Auto mode. Face detection. Useless. Useless. Useless. Here’s a few more things to disable on your camera.

#41 – Switch to “M”annual mode and get total control over your photos.

Those creative settings (and “Auto”) are holding back your snapshots. Here’s how to use the right ones – “P,” “Av,” “Tv/S” or “M.” 

#47 – How to instantly shoot a better photo.

That went fast.

This time last year, Frame One was really just an idea I had with a colleague. We were sitting in her boardroom and she said to me “you really should be blogging some of your photo advice.”

And here we are. 90 some-odd-posts later, a growing community (join us on Facebook!) and a whole lot of advice. Each of the numbered posts in this series is specifically designed to give you one small thing to improve in your snapshots. Takes two minutes to read, 30 seconds to do and BAM!, you’re already making better memories.

With the holidays coming up, you’re sure to be using your camera (or getting a new one!) a whole lot more. These next few posts group some of this year’s advice to give you everything you need to take better snapshots in different situations.

I’m starting with a good general primer. If you could do just five things right now with your camera, these are the five things I’d suggest you do:

#3 – Abolish Auto.

If you let your camera make all the decisions for you, your camera will create ugly photos. Turn your camera to P, Av, Tv (sometimes S) or M. Get to know these settings and how to make great photos.

#8 – Get closer.

Most snapshots suffer from too much headroom. Zoom in on your subject for more impact.

Bonus: How do I take a really great family photo?

#13 – Go left (or right).

Memorable photos start with great composition. Stop putting your subjects in the centre of the frame and your photos instantly become more powerful and beautiful.

#14 – Get a new perspective.

Un-borify your photos by shifting the way you approach your subjects. Got a baby (like me)? Get on the ground level, or try a shot overhead.

#42 – Hold your camera properly.

Become a human tripod and it becomes easier to take photos that aren’t dark or blurry. This post explores my basic point-and-shoot/mobile phone holding technique.

That’s it. You can do each of these things in just a few seconds – and by doing just these things, you’ll have great holiday snaps.