Easter Photo Shoot

Having a newborn makes anyone with a camera want to dress them up like little dolls and snap some photos.  I confess, I do the same thing.  Whenever a holiday is approaching I begin to look for props, clothing and backgrounds for a photo shoot.

I will start off by looking at my previous shoots and then try and lay out in my mind what I want to do next.  As do most artists I want to continue to improve and make myself learn from everything I do.

What I always find interesting is that the shots that I usually end up liking the best are not the ones favored by the majority of those who have commented on my work.

In the shot below I used a Nikon SB-600 Speedlight right of camera behind a shoot-through umbrella.  A second SB-600 left of camera as a hair light.  A 10 X 12 Ft black muslin hung from a backdrop support about 2 feet behind the table.  My little model let me shoot for about 30 minutes before becoming to cranky to go on.  I think if I were to modify my setup in any way I would add a second SB-600 left of camera through an umbrella dialed back one stop for some additional fill.  I believe I would also place a diffuser panel in front of the hair light to soften the shadow below the basket.  At first I disliked this shadow, but think it adds an overall depth to the scene.  Overall setup for this shot took about 30 minutes.

What I have learned is that shooting infants is very difficult.  Dealing with my eleven year olds fake smile (as frustrating as it is) might be a little easier to work with than the unpredictability of the 3 month old.   Of course I wish he was looking at the camera and had his arms down just a little, but this was the best shot within this setup.