New baby shots - What am I doing wrong?

[nhebdon]

Hi all,

I am new here and new to my DSLR and photography. I have recently had a baby and would love some great photo's of her but all my efforts seem to not quite be hitting the mark.

A couple of tried this morning when she was asleep are attached and as you can see they look out of focus and/or grainy, do you know why and what I need to do to make them better?

I took them in her bedroom with the curtain open, the window is behind her head from where she is lying. I am using a Canon 400D with the basic 18-55mm lens it came with. I used the AV mode on f8.0 with ISO 800 the camera chose 1/6 for the shutter speed on the first and 1/5 on the second image. On the camera screen I thought they looked fine but clearly not!!

Please help. Any advice welcome but not to technical talk as Im still learning!!

Thanks
Nikki

[NicoleScraps]

Here are some good articles that might help

lighting like a mother – Kelli France! Moms With Cameras

My in home “newborn studio” : corinanielsen.com

[SusanH1970]

Adorable baby Nikki, congratulations!

At that shutter speed, it's no wonder they're out of focus. That's super slow, especially at f/8. Even bumping your ISO up you'd still get a slow shutter speed.

Why did you choose to shoot at f/8? Even with the kit lens at 47mm and 52mm (I pulled your EXIF, lol) you can open up to f/5.6, which would let in more light, thus giving you a faster shutter speed.

Try again using the widest aperture you can, bump the ISO a bit more (you can always run the free version of Noiseware if they come out too noisy), and shoot at a faster shutter speed.

Try shooting in manual, spot meter off your little one's cheek, and use your in-camera meter to adjust settings before you click the shutter.

If you'd like to get better low-light photos of that precious bundle (and she really is!), you might want to consider the Canon 50mm f/1.8 II lens. It's a wonderful, fast lens, great for starting out and for working with low light, and costs only around $100 (even less than the kit lens if purchased separately!). Most of my portrait work is done with that lens, till I can afford an upgrade.

Hope this helps. Again, congrats on your beautiful little girl, looking forward to seeing more from you!

[NicoleScraps]

Additionally you might want open up to f.4 so that you can speed up the shutter and possible bring the ISO down.

Doy! What ^she^ said.

[kristenh]

Nikki, she really is a pretty baby! in addition to what the pps said- try shooting from different angles- position yourself so that your camera is directly at her face- in these pics, you're shooting from the vicinity of her belly button- so you get a lot of blanket and the bottom of her chin. also, rather than have the window light coming from the top of her head- position her so that the light falls on her face- not direct sunlight, mind you, but nice even light. consider getting rid of the teddy bear in the back and putting some kind of backdrop that is completely non-distracting. or use something that has mild colors as a backdrop if you are shooting with the wide apertures recommended below- they'll get all fuzzy and indistinct.

[nhebdon]

Thanks for all your replies and kind comments about my little girl, I to think she is gorgeous but of course I am very biased!!

The links look great and will have a closer look at them when I get a minute. I am not sure why I shot at f8.0, I guess I wasn't thinking about it properly. I will definitely have a go with a wider aperture (max f4.5) and boost the ISO and see what happens. It is a pretty dull day today so the light isn't fantastic. I will do the shot exactly as before so I can compare the differences and take on board changing background and positioning for better composition afterwards.

She is asleep again now so when it's time to wake her I will try again and post the outcome.

Thanks again.

[Photographycampus]

I agree she's a gorgeous baby. I also agree you should open up your aperture more but remember in doing that you'll get a shallower depth of field so focus on her eyes carefully even though they're closed. Also maybe wait until she's in a better position with the window light on her face. Window light is a wonderful soft light generally for babies.