Baby Toes
Aug, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I captured this image at my home studio in the Washington, D.C. suburbs.Time
I made this photo in the late morning. I schedule all of my newborn portrait sessions for the late morning hours, as that is the time of day at which my studio room receives beautiful indirect light from a large south-facing window, and it also seems to be a common time of natural sleepiness for babies.Lighting
I shoot all of my newborn portrait sessions using only natural available light.Equipment
I shot this image with my Nikon D700 and my 105mm 2.8 macro lens.Inspiration
At all of my newborn portrait sessions, I ensure that I capture macro shots of baby's toes, fingers, lips, eyelashes, etc. Babies grow and change so quickly, so capturing the little details helps to document and preserve the memories of that fleeting period of time for new parents.Editing
I always clean up babies' skin to remove non-permanent imperfections (like acne, excessive flakes, etc.) with the use of the cloning and spot healing tools. Also, babies' hands and feet often are much more red/purple than the rest of their bodies, so I usually make some levels adjustments on those areas to correct the color. Finally, as I do with many of my newborn images, I added a layer of "haze" to this photo to give it an airy, ethereal appearance.In my camera bag
I now shoot primarily with a Nikon D750 (the ISO performance is superior to the D700 for indoor work) and, for newborn portrait sessions, I always use my 35mm 1.4 lens and the 105mm 2.8 for the macro shots like this one. I also always have an extra, charged battery and extra SD cards on hand, and I additionally keep a reflector close by.Feedback
The most important/useful tool for creating an image like this is a good macro lens. Although you can capture detail shots with nearly any lens by shooting wide open and in close proximity to the subject, a macro lens will definitely yield better results. Sufficient lighting on the subject is also critical, as the 105 mm 2.8 has some difficulty focusing in low light conditions. In this particular image, the baby was sleeping soundly, so I was able to take the photo without much difficulty. In circumstances in which the baby is awake (or is asleep, but is moving quite a bit), however, you can get a good shot of baby's toes by placing a wrap around his/her feet and lower legs, leaving the toes exposed, and holding the legs with one hand. The wrap will not only keep the baby's feet in place, but will also serve as a nice solid, non-distracting background.
