Newborn shots from the hospital

[Classic96]

One of our best friends had their baby yesterday. I went up to the hospital with the camera and a shoot through diffuser to photograph the baby. Most shots are 1/60, f/5.6 and ISO 100. All taken with the D80 on RAW with 50mm f/1.4. SB-800 used off camera via commander, shot through the diffuser which was hand-held by my wife. We used a really simple black cloth for the background. While I may do things a bit differently next time, I was extremely please with how they turned out, especially for being taken in the hospital.

As always comments and criticism are welcome.

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[rawpaw18]

Beautiful, head in hand my favorite. I like the black background, gets rid of all the distractions in a hospital. Nicely lit, great job and congrats to your friends.

I am a sucker for the little ones, sniffle.

[XaiLo]

My congratulations and prayers, to your friend and their growing family. Well done Classic96, awesome set. Which diffuser were you using? :)

[Rooz]

excellent series.

[photodawg]

awsome set, well done the feet in the hands has to be my favorite followed but the head in the hand

congrats to your friends

[Classic96]

Which diffuser were you using? :)

Thank you so much everyone. I had some birth announcements printed for them as a gift using the "head in hand" photo. I wanted them to have something nice to mail to friends and family.

I was using a Demb Flash Diffuser Pro with the flip-it closed. I also have one of those 5 in 1 reflector circles, so I took out the center shoot through circle and had that in front of the flash, about 2-3ft in front. That gave me the really soft light. I'm pretty shocked they came out that well too actually :confused::D

[r3g]

They couldnt have turned out any better. Id love to have seen the mothers face light up when she saw these. Good work!

#1 FTW :D

[XaiLo]

I just purchased a demp flip-it for the SB400 I like it, need to put it through some more paces to evaluate overall performance but so far it's cool. :)

[Classic96]

I just purchased a demp flip-it for the SB400 I like it, need to put it through some more paces to evaluate overall performance but so far it's cool. :)

It really works well when you are outside, or in a high ceiling scenario. Otherwise I still just bounce the flash off the ceiling. I just ordered one of the tall flash brackets from them, which should make it even better.

The key to the lighting in these shots was getting the flash off the camera though.

[XaiLo]

In that case it really makes a difference. I notice now with the demp if I am in close proximity to the subject I can get away with using far less power than before while achieving some pretty cool results.

[wh0128]

Very adorable. I like the second one coupled with the head in hand photo, and the feet photo.

Great job!

[tim11]

...and very professionally done. You should send them a bill.

[Classic96]

Thanks so much everyone :)

Here is a basic idea of the setup I used. $5 piece of fabric from walmart, center section of a 5-in-1 reflector/diffuser held a few ft from the subject, the Nikon SB-800 fired a few feet from the circular diffusuer, and the demb diffuser with the flip-it closed to help keep the light contained. The light was fired wirelessly via the camera.

In the hospital the lighting was was further away from the subject and all lights in the room were turned off. I also had my wife holding the diffuser and flash in different areas to highlight the baby depending on the pose. I could have done it with a tripod and umbrella holder type deal if I had more room. If you can see the fabric at all in the photo and you don't want it, you can just add a lower exposure layer, mask it and paint the subject back in.

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[XaiLo]

what size is the five in one... performance wise and functionally how does it differ from a soft box??? I know newb questions. lol ;)

[Classic96]

I believe its about 30" dia. A softbox would definitely be a LOT nicer setup than this. It's just what I had on hand :)

Find yourself a fold-able softbox and you'll be in business.