Newborn pics

[Blink]

Our granddaughter was born this morning at 2:30. Will be going to the hospital to meet her and want to take newborn pics with Mom and Dad. I have a Canon Rebel XSI with kit lense as well as a huge telephoto lens I have barely used, it's intimidating! I want to get the best shots I can in the hospital room....help me with settings! Flash is a No No for little ones...what to do!

[lputman]

You could use flash if needed; however, if you've got some good window light coming in, you should be alright. Have mom, or whomever is going to hold the baby, move close to the window.

[SusanH1970]

Firstly, congrats on your new grandchild!

Lori made excellent suggestions. Another thing you can do is swing by a CVS or Walgreens type drugstore and pick up a white posterboard on the way. You can have someone hold this to use as a reflector if Mom and/or Dad is near a window holding the baby; that way you'll get more even light. Heck, even a white pillowcase right from the hospital room would do the job.

Like Lori said, you can use flash. You can dial down the flash power if you'd like in the menu - it's under Flash Exposure Compensation - also tape a bit of tissue over the pop up flash to diffuse it a bit so it's not so harsh.

Play around with different settngs and check your camera's histogram with each change till you get the results you want.

Good luck, can't wait to see the pics!

[lputman]

How rude of me.....congratulations on your new grandbaby!

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by lputman

How rude of me.....congratulations on your new grandbaby!

LOL Lori - if there's one thing you are NOT, it's rude!

[lputman]

Originally Posted by SusanH1970

LOL Lori - if there's one thing you are NOT, it's rude!

Thank you Susan!

[Blink]

Lori...thanks for the tips and like the others said..rudeness? no!!! I'm so excited I can barely sit in my skin! I have been messing with AV mode after reading one of the tutorials...that's where I am getting good tips and also a little overwhelmed....a smaller aperture for blurry outside the focus area....I've been taking pics of plants and my cat just to try it out...the telephoto I am learning to use w/o tripod but it has to be at faster speed and I do ok holding steady...so today, baby pics and I will keep my fingers crossed and thank you all for the tips and congrats...we leave tomorrow for Phoenix for my step-daughters wedding and that will also be a challenge...better get some tips on that too and look at the tutorials All in one week...a new grandchild and a wedding! so many happy shots to be had and I am anxious to get at least a few right! Time to just breathe....I am a lucky lady for sure...this week anyway!

[Drax]

He he he! LOL! Lori i can see you blush !

@ Blink, Congrats!

If you are kind of used to your gear, try to use the manual mode and RAW format. It will give the possibility to fix some of your short coming later in the post-procession.

For the flash thingy, try to soften the harshness of the light with a soft tissue (Kleenex type) laid over the flash itself. It not only soften the light, it also diffuses it and gives a balanced lightning on the subject.

PS: DO not forget to make a composition of the lil' feet and hands. They are often so cute!

[Blink]

Originally Posted by Drax

He he he! LOL! Lori i can see you blush !

@ Blink, Congrats!

If you are kind of used to your gear, try to use the manual mode and RAW format. It will give the possibility to fix some of your short coming later in the post-procession.

For the flash thingy, try to soften the harshness of the light with a soft tissue (Kleenex type) laid over the flash itself. It not only soften the light, it also diffuses it and gives a balanced lightning on the subject.

PS: DO not forget to make a composition of the lil' feet and hands. They are often so cute!

Thanks! yes...baby toes....we'll be back Sunday from the wedding so I will still be in the window of time where the baby is still curled up...this is going to be fun! I have a Speedlite
220EX flash and I will use a tissue over it just to see...just don't want to startle or invade her first hours of being in the world...I respect her newness and her needing to adjust and don't want to rob her of anything....this is going to be a new adventure in photography for me and I am sooo looking forward to it!

[SusanH1970]

Ah...you'll do much better with the speedlight than with pop up flash; definitely more control there. I'm really looking forward to seeing both the pictures of your new granddaughter and the wedding pictures!