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Lesson Info

Shoot: 6 Month Old

We have a six month old marcello and his marcello sitting up on his own still a bit wobbly he looks he look he once he's done me hi I know you are so cute I have this gorgeous bed that I want to use and because he's not fully sitting up at least we can put him in it and he can hold on to the sides and I've already put a town on a blanket in there yes, I have and I'm gonna put it on my light background because and when it comes to styling um I have this beautiful natural colored backdrop and then the cream and the bed has got the cream in it as well so I can throw that color in it's still gonna look great but for me personally I would ghost continue to go with those creams and then use that red is that splash of color and now which has really cured yes I do yeah on a gentle cycle um with will wash and do you have well wash in america well well washes a cold wash yeah, something that you wash your woolens and things like that in and then I put it in the tumble dryer okay, so come on over...

so what I'm going to do is get mum to sit down exactly all you'll the aunt which this is my baby but he's not ow you're lucky on oh my goodness. Okay, yeah and you know what? I'm not going to take his nappy off because I can put I can put this between the nappy in may so pop him in sitting in here facing me now I want you to keep your hands on him because it's soft in here and it's not entirely supportive we've got this and we've got a little rail at the back but I need you to make sure that he's nice and secure in here not going anywhere and I just wanted to pull that blanket up and he's like, what is this I want to play hi. Hi, gorgeous. You're very cute use so you could hold him. I need you to keep hold of him. All right? Okay, I'm gonna hold on to him now will you get comfortable? So what I want you to do is put your back to the war and your bottom on the floor in your feet out towards me that's it and just go that way just so you just move your bottom back here just to the edge that's it perfect. So she's not in my shop and there's, you know, space all the way around everything but she's close enough to keep her hands on him and I'm not gonna haze like moving his legs in the feeling takes care of it so when I got to do is pull his legs around this way a little bit so we can get him in here yes I am what are you doing what are you doing there we go does it taste good does it taste good so if you can use one of your hands to put his hand on one of the rails yep that's it so we can hold on to god and I'm not gonna ask you to lift your hand up for away from him until you feel that he's sitting comfortably and securely and not going to go anywhere hi huh okay and when you're ready just lift your hands straight up above hi hi hi how are you esther cures marcello boat hello oh, you are dreamy hey so cute okay grab hold of him you want to eat the blankets do you want to eat the banker you want to eat the blanket yeah, I did. Oh no he's bulling forward d'oh okay let's get him out of there so I would mix it up when they're starting to sit with a prop and with the floor and rugs and things like that you're a good boy so I have over here some gorgeous little pet collies could I get a whoa babies do not like getting dressed okay and if you lift him up I will pull them up I can use it to people it is get your gorgeous thighs are you drilling ok, clever boy okay, so if you lay him down on his tummy there you can stay right there I'm just gonna see what he does and if I can get something oh, you good teeth you can see your teeth home yea well done. Well, jane marcello boot hey, hey, save my you're a big boy, right? Do we do we have any more babies coming in? Yeah, I think that's it for this segment. Oh, good boy. Let me help you take his pants off yes, because they're a bit tight. So that is an easy way to cover a nappy um with just a little pair of pants I'm gonna find out who makes these and get come back to you because it's gone from the top of my head I've had so many names to remember yeah you're welcome thank you. Any questions? We can start the studio audience of any of you ladies have any questions? Alright, we have plenty of on. We have twenty questions online what a few people are asking questions about parents um line fish studio would like to know how do you handle parents that have really strong input for the shots that they particularly want and if they have too many suggestions or props they want or perhaps ideas you know won't work well and ended in addition, chelsea ellingson said how do you coach parents who are uncomfortable or in experience comforting their babies as new parents and I want to I want to make them feel comfortable and use their help without making them feel inadequate by any means so and I'll answer that part first and then we'll go to the other part but I think you know when you are trying to get the most out of your clients with your parents and like I said before your parents don't know what to do when they come in so ten reassuring them that every baby is going to do what any baby wants to do their baby you know, they they can't you know you're not going to say go and sit over there in the corner because they don't understand that they just need constant reassuring the parents that their baby is doing the right thing because whatever baby does is the right thing like they can't be naughty they can't be bad they don't know how to be so every baby is a good baby because they're just doing them and you know we're born with personalities like everything and you've seen the babies that have just come in every baby has a personality and it's just developing and shining through each more each day so it's up to us to learn to adapt to them and go into a session without too many expectations off what we want from that baby so when they come in I talked to them I find out what they're capable of and tell them that's fine like we're going to do your we're gonna photograph your baby the way your baby is like every baby is perfect and everybody is going to do what they want to do and then the other part of that question wass second half was how do you call their parents that's right sorry to parents yes so the minute they walk into the studio it's my session so I'm not bossy you know or anything like that but I have to guide them through the session so they've seen the photos on my my internet sites they come in with slight expectations that they're going to get these beautiful images and they are but I have to tell them how the session's going to go and because they're only coming in for, say, a forty five minute session with a baby that age because they're going to get overstimulated they're gonna lose interest and they're gonna want to go pretty quickly. So I tried teo tell them you know that we're going to choose a couple of different props I'm gonna photograph your baby on this this color and this color are there any particular colors that you like or anything like that and I'm going to go for around five to six different setups so I'm gonna move pretty quickly throughout those but I take ownership and I tell them exactly what I'm going to do during this session but I asked for the input based on the colors that they like whether they like pats or anything like that because some parents don't some parents don't like putting hats or anything on their heads, so I have to ask them because if I go a hidden do what I want to do and they don't like it they're not going to buy those images so I guide them through what we're going to do in decision but I asked for the import on like styling and what sort of colors and textures and is there any props that they've seen that they like um and when it comes to, you know, getting them to relax and enjoy the session as well like the more information you give them, the more comfortable they going to feel because they don't know what to do so they don't know how to sit I want them to sit and support their baby, but they don't know where to sit so that there are other in the shot or they're outside of the shot and if you reassure them and tell them that they're doing a great job, they're going to feel like they're doing a great job they're not going to sit there and go by doing this right so always talk always communicate with them and try and get a cz much information is possible but take ownership of your session and guide them through it and say right this is what we're going to do today it's going to take about forty five minutes but they've really got that information that you've sent prior to decision but we're going to use this this and this like we're going to use a couple of different props were going to use the fabric and we're going to use sit down on the floor and they're like great because then they know what to do so give them as much information about decision but also get a cz much information about them and their baby and what they like so that you can you know create something that they love I think that's so critical so critical so thank you I just want to ask you just a couple of quick technical quest shins about your shooting style that some folks are asking s o from belinda who noticed that you have are going between two point eight and four and your aperture when are you making those decisions and why and then secondly is it based upon the the pose and you know how far you are from the baby and then also when you are shooting the twins where were you focusing and then finally do youse back button focusing people were noticing oh, I am tuggle with my focal points in my camera, so I'm constantly because I want to focus on, you know, on the eye, I always want to focus on the ice, so I'm composing the image but making sure that my my focal point is on that I so I'm moving at constantly with with inside my camera, and when it goes to changing my aperture and things like that, you know, I find photographing a single baby and it's on an angle to the camera I'm gonna I'm going to open it right up and shoot a two point eight because I want the rest of it to be soft. I don't want the whole image to be sharp when I'm shooting one or like two or more subjects, I'm going toe, you know, narrow down my aperture and bring it up to around for five point six anywhere in between there so that I can get a better, you know, a better focus on both sets of eyes. Um, that year depends like, if I'm shooting a proper and I want a large prop like that little bid, then I might want more of the bid and focuses so I would, you know, increased my aperture, but the majority of the time, I should it two point eight because I want that beautiful soft background