Photographing babies can often present a challenge when being photographed, but don't let this put you off the very rewarding and potentially lucrative area of baby photography! Some babies have fair, almost translucent skin, their features are small and relatively indistinct, and they are more prone to red-eye.
In short, photographing children presents a number of technical challenges that require careful planning, knowledge of your equipment and, above all, practice and patience for a successful shoot.
The technical challenges are not the only challenges in baby photography.
Babies can be fidgety and their moods can make or break a photography shoot.
All of the technical expertise on earth cannot make a tired child rested or a moody child suddenly happy.
For the purposes of this article, I would like to deal with the non-technical challenges.
If you are shooting in a studio the baby may be intimidated by the strange surroundings, people and equipment.
If you are working on location in a client's home, they may still be intimidated by the presence of a stranger and your camera and lighting equipment.
A frightened baby will not be cooperative during a photographic shoot.
To deal with such a situation, you should initially let the parent deal with the child as much as possible (with the proviso of - no forcing!); speak in a soft, upbeat voice; use a longer lens or zoom, so that you can maintain your distance from the baby; and to use as little equipment as possible.
The props we talked about earlier can be used to both distract the baby while being photographed and keep them cheerful and occupied before the shoot.
A common problem when photographing babies is that they tire easily.
A tired child will cry and fidget, or just generally refuse to cooperate.
As I said earlier, but worth repeating, the best tip I can give you is that scheduling is very important when photographing babies.
When the shoot is being arranged, take the time to discover when the child takes his or her naps and try to schedule the shoot for shortly after that.
You generally won't get a lot of time before babies get tired, especially when lying on their stomachs and propping themselves up on elbows.
For this pose, you have to be ready to shoot immediately when you put the baby down.
They will strain to keep their head up and tire very quickly.
If you get two minutes in that position you are doing very well! If you have the time tire them out with a 'lying on stomach' pose and when they fall asleep you can get some nice sleeping shots.
Baby photography is a very rewarding challenge.