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Reborn Baby Dolls Photography Class
These instructions are from an online photography course taught by Angela Harshman to the members of Reborn Baby Dolls. We are happy to share with you.
Backgrounds: The easiest and most attractive and realistic background for babies is fabric. Normally a baby would not be around anything dangerous or out on it’s own so fabrics show a natural surrounding.
Backgrounds don’t have to be expensive to be very nice. The cheapest and most variety of fabrics comes from the Fabric store. Usually, one yard is sufficient, but you can get two if you feel you will be shooting a larger baby or farther away. (You don’t want to show any background behind the fabric or have carpet showing.)
Colors should be pastel or muted with possibly a texture (fur, satin, and fuzzy fabrics are best.) You don’t want strong patterns that detract from the baby or dark fabrics that reflect colors onto the baby’s skin. Another option is drapes. You can get a small panel in pastel and get a sheer panel to go over it. (This makes an effect like going into Sears and having your baby in front of the sheer panels) You can overlap and twist the colors to your liking. A third option is a blanket.
A lot of babies are shot lying on a blanket in a natural surrounding. Just make sure it is big enough to cover the area but not so heavy you can’t carry it around easily. Your best bet is to get a few different fabric yards and switch to have a variety of looks for your baby.Usually fabric can cost between $2.00 - $10.00 a yard depending on what you choose. You can find synthethic versions of fabrics for much cheaper than the real kind (such as silk or satin). I also buy remnants as much as possible for a better deal. Sometimes no one will buy ¾ of a yard or an off season fabric so it is cheaper.
How to get it to stay up….Babies are much easier to shoot than adult people so you don’t really need a huge area to shoot. You can prop up a big couch pillow and drape the fabric over that, place the baby on the couch with the fabric draped over the back of it, or double tape (or balled up masking tape) and tape the fabric to the wall if you will be shooting on a table or the floor.
Also, as Carol has showed us, if you have a cradle or bassinet, you can place the baby in there. (editor’s note: An excellent bassinet for a reasonable price can be found at www.badgerbasket.com ) I shoot larger people so I use two light stands with a cross bar (drape bar or shower curtain rod.) It’s amazing what you can create at the Home Depot or Hardware store. Some people make stands from PVC pipe elbows and pipes. I guess it’s how create you can be (And I know you all are creative!!!)
Lighting:
Lighting should always emulate sunlight. A natural shadow should go –around- the baby with small highlights to the face. With a large light source (such as in a studio) you would use a soft box (a large box of sheer fabric that fits over the light.) Most of you won’t need something that large but the same idea is applied. A “soft light bulb” has a coating of scratched glass similar to a soft box to diffuse the light source. You could also –bounce the light- into a silver or white umbrella. This lessens the light produced and makes small shadows on the baby’s features.
Light should always come from –above- and –to the side- of the baby. Light from below creates “horror movie” shadows and directly above makes the baby look 2-D instead of 3-D. You should position your lights about 45 degrees above the baby. (You can move the light closer or farther depending on how bright it appears to you.)
You can use pretty much any kind of light source on your baby. (If you are using a film camera, a spotlight or halogen light may turn your pictures yellow so you would need to use a filter.) If it is daylight you could take your baby outside. (The best time for shadowing is mid morning and late afternoon.) Or if you have a large window you can use the natural light. (Your on camera flash will produce hard shadows and sometimes makes your baby look orange) (yellow.) If you choose to use an umbrella the umbrella should be at the 45 degree angle above the baby (not the light source.)
You should use white poster board to –bounce- the light back onto the baby from the opposite side. This provides a smaller amount of “fill” light without making a second set of shadows on the baby which would occur if you used a second light on the other side to fill in dark areas of the face. If you have a digital camera with “fill” light, this does the same thing. Most professional photographers place a small cardboard piece of white poster board at the top of their flash to –bounce- the light back onto the subject. (Flash is at an angle).
Using the “hot lights” (Lights that stay on as you shoot vs. Strobes which flash only when the picture is shot) such as a standing lamp with aimable beams (think of those three light lamps from Kmart, etc with reflectors on them), worklights (Sears, Home Depot $20.00 - $25.00) with adjustable beams, or floodlights (with a silver reflector) with clamp to clamp onto table, etc. will give you a more exact measure of what the final picture will look like.
Here is a sample setup:
One 100 watt “soft” light bulb with a reflector on one side of the baby at a 45 degree angle. On the opposite side (Diagonally from it) a white piece of poster board to reflect back. Baby in the middle on a pillow with fabric surrounding it.
A second set up would be a set of work lights (250 W – 1000 W) on diagonally across from a silver umbrella at a 45 degree angle above the baby. (These get hot so watch out or you could melt the baby!!!)
Some photographers diffuse the light by putting a type of diffuser over the light source. This isn’t recommended for hot lights because it can cause a fire.
Cameras:
I assume most of you will be using digital cameras. With a digital camera, you should be using the best quality for the pictures (You can always shrink the pictures in Photoshop.) It’s better to shrink down a clear picture than blow up a blurry one. 2- 5 megapixels is best. I use 2 megapixels and it works fine. $100 camera. Get a camera with a direct link to the computer such as a USB cord. If it’s too hard to download the pics you won’t want to take them. When you shrink the pictures, try not to lose any resolution. Some cameras have light balance, b&w, fill flash, etc. It all depends on your cameras features but almost all digital cameras run the same way. (editors note: Wal Mart carries inexpensive memory card readers by Lexar called a Jump Drive Trio for easy use of a variety of memory cards in any computer with a USB port.)
If you are using a film camera, the same applies except it will be a little harder to get the shadows just right because the Digital camera “adjusts” to make the shadows less noticeable. With a film camera you will get sharper pictures but it will be more inconvenient to upload to the computer. You can either get a disk when you have them developed or scan them in using a scanner. I shoot almost 90% film but use the digital for my Auctions, etc.
One thing as a photographer I hate to use but it is pretty much necessary to copyright and water mark is Adobe Photo Deluxe. Photo\ Deluxe can pretty much make anyone’s pictures look good. You can change the lighting, contrast, saturation, delete backgrounds, and generally make a whole new picture. I usually do a transparent watermark with Photo Deluxe and sometimes put a Vignette or frame. Once in a while I will make the photo lighter if I took one too dark or up the contrast to make it “pop.” But, I am still one of those “old school” photographers who hates to see anyone with a mouse think they are a “professional photographer.”
If you want to make your Auction stand out, Photo Deluxe can make that happen. You can B&W photos, make textures, backgrounds, etc. Almost everyone KNOWS if a photo has been “Photoshopped” so don’t go overboard with the “special effects”. You want to portray a realistic view of your baby, not some over done doll you can’t deliver. Real babies have flaws so be happy with the variations of your baby. (NEVER Photoshop out a blemish or mark on your baby.)
Poses:
I’m sure most of you already know how to pose your baby. The only poses I would not recommend would be poses where it is impossible to light the baby naturally. Having the baby lie back relaxing is very natural. I like to have the baby looking into the camera with face upwards towards the light to “light up” the eyes and focus of the face. Get in close to your baby!!! Most cameras have a “Close up mode”.
Get in to fill the frame with your baby’s face. Crop just the eyes in the picture, focus on their little toes. Have the baby act “cute” and “coy” maybe position the baby with hands over face or up to his mouth.
Show off the talent you have used to make the baby, focus on the special features you have added such as Glass eyes, rooted hair or glossed lips. Show how the baby body moves like a real baby, perhaps putting the hands up over the head or out to hug her new Mommy.
If your baby has Body plates, position the baby so that they look real (Make sure to put in the auction if they don’t connect etc.) Lie the baby on her stomach (Just make sure to light properly.)
The hardest thing to realize when taking the pictures is YOU can move around the baby. You don’t have to keep moving the baby each time you take a picture.Get down to their eye level, shoot from below eye level, shoot from straight above them, move around to different sides. Most photographers take many pictures of the same pose from different angles. If the light makes harsh shadows when the baby is positioned one way, switch them around to the opposite way. Such as – If your baby is lying on the blanket with head at top left, move it to be with feet at top right. See how this looks. Is more light shining into it’s eyes, making them light up? Is there a hard shadow behind the baby? Move it around….The farther from the background the baby is, the less shadow you will get.
Equipment:
Photo cubes are great but very expensive. Buying one big enough to fit the baby in is a couple hundred plus the lights. If you aren’t shooting commercial product, you probably want something cheaper. Strobes- also very expensive and hard to guage even with a light meter, but if you know what you are doing, you can go that way.
I am going to explain the best methods for budget use.
Suggested equipment:
A one or two light work light that has a built in stand and has adjustable output. (Halogen is much smaller, cheaper and less hot.) or a lamp with a silver reflector to focus light. Could use from “soft” light up to Flood light depending on the light needed. You can buy with a stand or a clamp to clamp onto a table. (The clamp though limits where you can shoot.)
A silver, white or gold photo umbrella to bounce light.
A white posterboard piece to reflect or “bounce” light back onto baby.
An “off camera” flash (If you have a flash that comes off of your camera.) (This is similar to “strobes”.) With a flash diffuser (a piece of plastic that fits over flash) or a bouncer on top of flash.
If using the “Range top” (which works because the light is diffused and is above baby), make sure to cover the area well with fabric and place baby looking into the light. (Doesn’t have to be directly looking at it, just “face up”) You always take better pictures when you have your “chin up.”
Did you like our rebornbabydolls@yahoogroups.com photo class? Drop us a line and let us know.
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