Several months ago, I was lucky enough to give birth to my first child - a 6 pound, 9 ounce little girl named Maelle. Her father and I quickly succumbed to many of the clichés that abound for new parents: we wondered if we'd ever sleep again, debated if she really could be the cutest baby in the whole wide world (what parent doesn't think that!), and worried that she was growing up too fast. And I found myself afflicted by another all-too-common urge to take pictures of her (lots and lots and lots...). Some turned out...
...but many did not. Too often, the photo of baby Maelle was too dark or too bright or not in focus. Or even in worse, in the photo her skin had turned an ungodly colour of blue thanks to florescent hospital lights!
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...but many did not. Too often, the photo of baby Maelle was too dark or too bright or not in focus. Or even in worse, in the photo her skin had turned an ungodly colour of blue thanks to florescent hospital lights!
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| Bright background, dark baby |
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| Blurred hand |
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| Too many things wrong to count! |
Like many others, I bought a fancy camera (aka a DLSR, albeit an entry level Canon Rebel) in the hopes it would allow me to take beautiful, sharp photos. And sometimes my photos were just right, but too often I found myself relying on luck (as opposed to skill) when attempting to take the perfect shot. My photography skills - which had in the past served me quite well for taking travel snapshots of stationary objects in beautiful, tropical light - were becoming a bit of problem. Taking pictures mostly on "Auto" or "Program" mode (and only occasionally venturing into the other dials) wasn't going to cut it anymore.
I understood some rules of composition and the basic relationship between aperture, shutter speed and ISO, but I didn't know how to apply this knowledge consistently. I often found myself wondering:
How could I take better, more interesting pictures of my (often squirming) baby girl in my dimly lit 100 year old house?What really was the problem with shooting on Auto or Program mode? What was my camera doing in these modes?
What was the difference between lenses?
In autofocus mode, how does my camera decide what to focus on?
Shine Baby Shine is my my quest to learn the ins and outs of photographing lil' ones (with the occasional travel and everyday photo mixed in). Enjoy!
Kira, I have been there - I took several photography courses when K & W were little, just to improve my skills. We used light metres in those days, and everything was manual. Lots of blurs, but some I treasure. The one piece of advice I would give you is this: keep the camera within reach because you never know when something you have to record is going to happen in a flash.
ReplyDeleteand I think you have great photo skills! And a gorgeous little subject.
Mary, that is great advice. Things do happen so quickly with a baby (especially now that she is crawling!)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to share your evolving photography skills - Sheila
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