Lessons

Lesson Info

Shoot: Mason Fussy Babies

we're going to teo family posing parent posing and family posing we have two gorgeous families with us today and I'm so excited to photograph them and their babies are just delicious as always I'm gonna be switching lens is here this is where I know stephen yesterday you were asking about what I use this time I am going to be using my eighty five millimeter I used the eighty five millimeter one point for dylan's an icon um this lens is delish I've actually only owned it for about a year now and it is like my go to favorite lens both outdoors and indoors for portrait's especially with parents the depth of field that you achieve on dh that compression is so lovely with parents and what you could do is I'm going to be shooting around f or f four point five to kind of get that nice plane of focus but when you come in close you can lower that f stop and get have baby and focus and parents out of focus and it just creates this gorgeous mood okay so the focus is still about baby we still want...

to highlight baby parents are simply the prop okay the other thing that's truly important about parent images is emotion this is the moment that has changed their life this new baby coming into the world remember what I told you yesterday about my purpose for me this moment is about the day these two people have a new reason to exist in the world okay to raise this this child impart their knowledge onto it and help it grow up and be a beautiful adult is so this is the start of that and it's our job as professionals to record that beginning um so that's what we're gonna do today the issue with baby posing with parents is you've got more hands and feet to deal with you still want to keep baby in that compressed curled up look the comma shaped okay that's always going to be a rule the comma um you the other thing you're gonna want to take into consideration is shooting down the nose we don't want to shoot up big thing this is not attractive is it you want to shoot down the nose so that chin is going to come forward and down for mama we're going to make sure we flatter her by shooting down on her too especially you know the women we have in here today I mean it's really fortunate we have gorgeous mamas and not all of them who come in look like this ok nine times out of ten they've got thirty pounds to drop before they're going to feel like themselves again they just had a baby so I'm going to teach you some techniques for slimming mama and making her feel beautiful the other thing too is I always tell my mom's photo shops a gorgeous thing and I can drop off fifty pounds if I wanted would I do that of course not but I will use liquefy tto help mama be her absolute best and when you're folding your arms like this something you know it's not the most attractive thing all the time to have your arms and tight like this against your body holding a little one so we do help them out a little bit in post production with that on dh then the second segment today we're going to actually do that we're going toe it's not the second the fourth segment last segment of today we're goingto do some post work I'm going to show you this techniques and liquefy and skin correction and all that so let's get started shall we I'm going to start off with a pose that we do almost all the time so I'm gonna have my my mama and baby and daddy come on over and introduced you guys so come on in we have um let's see it's mario and christine that's right so mario on christine thank you so much for sharing your little one with us we appreciate it very much and then this is their little one who is this this is mason and mason iss eight days old six six days old so we have a little little one here so yeah awesome thanks for them from the sea I should have known that to be with holy things so many things to think about um okay so we're gonna go ahead and get started with you guys and mario bless his heart has agreed to be a modest with us so I appreciate it very deeply well here's what happened he came and and this happens a lot he to the studio he came with a very dark shirt ok and it's actually okay I would normally be okay was shooting this terrible color it's not deep black but I don't have a charcoal backdrop here all I have are really light tones so the combination actually have mario wait you come on over and sit on the stool here and we've got to show what this looks like the and he has dark hair so it could work it's not the worst thing in the world I mean it doesn't look good but the dark is really dark I mean you your eye just goes right to that dark shirt okay against the white background so I asked him if he would be comfortable taking his shirt off and bless his heart he is he actually has some really cool ink too he's got some tattoos on him which is always amazing with babies because it creates that juxtaposition of sweet innocence with the kind of you know tattoos have this you know kind of connotation of being rough and tumble so it creates that contrast which could be really beautiful in an image and tell a great story so come on hop on up we're going to dio mom first so come on over here christine and all I did with christine I mean literally you guys this is one of my beanbag blanket backdrops and I literally just took a little home depot clamp and clamped it behind her back I mean these buy these things for two dollars a home depot you don't we're not gonna see the back of her so just clamp it back there and go for it is going to have a seat doing oh bob lee are you all right are you are you okay to sit down I am you feel okay c section I know that's why I think she's um and this you have to be aware of this guys I mean I told you yesterday I pushed for three and half hours and how to c section and so I know how this feels and it is it hurts to get up on the stool so she's amazing for having that smile on her face t do that but you have to be very cognizant of that my stool at the studio is a little bit lower so sometimes that can help but you don't want it to be too low because if dad's really tall but he's gonna be hunching over in the background that doesn't look good so you definitely want a stool that has some adjustable height this one does not but I think we can work with it okay today so okay okay and also keep in mind mama sixty old baby who gave birth the natural way that could be painful too I mean so when you're sitting him down just be wary of that and that it's you know especially men out there who don't quite understand or who haven't had a baby it can be very painful to sit on a chair so skip them I'm getting really we're getting real here so now the other thing that's that's bothered me a little bit is this fabric up here is bunching underneath her arms so I'm gonna go ahead and lower this just a touch and kind of bring it down and the other thing you don't want us don't make this so tight you know how the little pads come out the top here like that it's so annoying every woman knows this we hate it so try not to make the fabric so tight that that happens and then I always try to make everything nice and smooth on her ok I really want you to listen I'm just gonna go ahead and photograph christine with her baby okay I always start off with mom poses first I just want you to listen to me when I tell her because what I tell her has great impact on the sale okay so let's just watch for a minute so if he's so worried about you okay okay mom um every newborn baby pose we dio has three points of contact for safety okay so one two three your chest is a third I'm going to be in your bubble a little bit so I apologize most women who have had babies don't really care about people in a bubble anymore yeah nothing I have nothing to hide anymore okay and she does have this rather bright nail polish on a studio I have no polish remover I would have taken this off just so you know okay because it's a little bit bright but that's okay we will but just for educational purposes I want you guys to know that I wouldn't normally photograph with I do take off nail polish all the time so keep that in mind I want you to just let me move you impose you you're basically my prop okay so don't help me let me do the work and we're going to put little baby mason in your arms okay he will never fit like this again no I'm serious so he's going to grow super fast so I just want to enjoy this and um it's kind of fun okay so I want this hand up here like this and get your hair out of the way just like that his little bottom's gonna go right in here and this thumb is going to help control his legs to hide his little private parts because we don't want to show them and then this hands this is the tough one ok all the way up here and I want you to be able to bend these fingers like this because his head's gonna go here and I want to be able to pop his head forwards and I need you to pop it for you and this feels funny it looks fantastic okay what feels weird in three dimension looks gorgeous and too so just go ahead and trust me on this one I know that it's gonna look good okay tiffany's here standing by so he'll be safe in your arms and if he does that you know how they jump like that around there sipping that's why she's here okay okay it's going to take a blanket so I go ahead and take mason with the blanket he's wide awake case this is actually really good for us to experience now turn on this heater um can you prove that closer for me thank you now mason boy you're cute yes you are when you're staring at me okay so again let me do the work I do with this it's hard to enjoy it when thousands of people watching and he might get a little cold and complain a bit finish what you talked about just go ahead and let me move you way ahead and take this gun and kind of try to control the legs with your hands okay mama's voice is the most magical thing in the world to him so sometimes just having mama talked to him is one of the best ways to soothe and keep him calm okay what kind of bring that head forward for me I think you might have to if you need me to help you move that arm a little bit you got it there you go see what a difference that made the minute she brought her hand up behind him and was able to bring him forward he's in that little curly position just go ahead and keep those legs nice and tight and uh going really good okay just let me w wait have to wrap him in this case like when a baby's this fidgety and awake I sometimes I just go ahead and wrap him yeah he's gonna need happens grab uh actually I think I have a cream over here that I pulled aside sixty old wide awake see it doesn't matter sometimes it's just whatever it's just random sometimes you just don't know what you're gonna get when he has a stretchy little guy that's perfect yeah he's very wait wait I want to know I'm thinking honey just for a second normally I would do this ana being bad guys so just so for reference I'm gonna get this underneath a moment more keep his little privates from getting on public tv here this's not easy on a flat surface rafa smooth structure yeah that's gonna start your job this is not somebody you hang out with me for a second okay uh okay no I'm gonna do scarred bold type just a quick comment the internet is absolutely in love with this baby they love that baby he's so cute you think they're swooning their smooth I know but it's my fault I'm sorry sweetie sorry also I know julius cole okay yeah I'm really feeling a little awkward here can we pull out the beanbag or something so I have a proper service to put him on I just feel like this is not working here I'm leaving my lap I could even do my lap normally I'm a bean bag and I was just pop him in the bowl of bean bag and just just head wherever you want okay uh thank you make my life easier no I can't okay he says to me that's better huh e yeah I'm crazy huh you just call me crazy lady thinking you're you tell it like it is home you tell me uh uh are you happy yeah you're happy now I see all these lights all these people it's hard work being a baby oh really this is real life you just pay back so you know what isn't it yeah that's awesome way that will make the blooper reel way should probably change the raps and he's all wet now sorry guys looks much happier yeah revenge is a a dish best served cold huh thanks you guys you're patients maybe we should do some q and a well yeah like do that rafael wanted to know the best ambient room temperature about degrees is as much as you need eighty yeah and some people do eighty five or ninety but you can cook your parents and you don't want to like sweating on here so eighty is enough to keep me warm and that space heater really helps too so keep that in mind as well we had a question in the studio is that right they're making a list for adoptive aunts and uncles I think we all want to sign up ah he's super curious any doll baby yeah for on location photographers that carry everything with them these shots would you suggest what would you suggest if you don't have the background dropped the paper the posing is going to be the same you khun do the posing now granted my posing is a little bit more I made you know it's a little more opposed right but you can still create that natural feeling with it on I thought I was going on location I would do these poses with window light against a wall or in the bedroom and you know keep my depth of field so that the rest of the room is out of focus and get the babies like they're holding their baby at the window light enjoying the world outside you know that kind of thing so the poses are definitely usable for that but yeah I mean this is definitely a more contrived environment onda more made image rather than a taken image thank you a little bit of ah he's definitely struggling a bit not gonna happen okay he's needs to be calmed down a little bit so it's just mommy might feed okay let's go ahead and we'll pull her off her feet and I think we have another baby here don't weigh have lou bou and her hubby as well yeah we'll bring him in on the meantime can I ask you a question from there please so people were just wanting to clarify so you have mom bring a strapless bra or was that a tube top or both yes and what you'll often find is that your mom's don't fit in there strapless bras anymore breastfeeding tends to make things larger and so the bras you used to have don't fit anymore anyone who's a mom probably experienced that so what they often bring is a nursing bra and we'll just the key for me is bringing a new color so that I can put it underneath any fabric and then we just take the straps down and tuck the straps in and she has a nice little new tube top that works beautifully and it wouldn't be a bad idea toe buy some of those I know I know anna brandt did a class here and she sells these gorgeous little maternity tube tops and those air perfect for that kind of thing so and they could go underneath the fabric nicely on and I have a few of those on hand as well so if you have something and granted every woman is different chest size so you need to make sure you comedy all this but if you have like three or four sizes those in your studio you should be fine but for the most part most my mom's just bringing news choppers broad of our force with the one with straps and then we just took the straps down into the fabric because once we're in the pose you never even know that stuff is there so in kind of a follow up question from sweet rose she says the wrapped fabric looks beautiful but are there some more simple more modest options that cover the shoulders have you ever tried anything like that for ladies who may be a little bit more yes yes and what you can't and in the concept shoot we're gonna do this afternoon we're gonna actually put some tool over mom which is obviously a little bit more fun and ethereal and not very natural but that's kind of that's the fun of it but you could do like the scarf we were working with so can I like you somebody from my audience yeah come on up sweetie um and to go ahead and take your sweater off if you don't mind and sit on the perfect so like imagine she was wearing strapless up here you could so go ahead and put your hands in this position like that you kid with mom on baby you could I've done before and kept it really it actually has kind of a religious connotation love it but I've wrapped mama like this before keep that modesty you could do the same thing like this and just keep it wrapped with naked baby in there and that that will keep it more modest but elegant ok obviously the black and white don't go well together or you can interline tool so imagine this was tool I have some tool around her somewhere go ahead and drop your hands for a second like that like that okay and the tool is nice because it frames mama here and so you could do something like that and the tool would drop down and be very ethereal we're going we're going to do that this afternoon with tool on dh that's a more modest you think too sometimes mom's bringing really pretty sundresses or things like that the work really nicely they have spaghetti straps and I've had mom spring in like sheer chiffon type blouses that are modest and beautiful as well so I have no problem doing it thanks so you're so you're so awesome to help out I have no problem doing it with clothing some moms are modest but but I've also discovers a reason almost ninety percent of wedding dresses or strapless because it looks really good on almost any woman even if you have a few extra pounds to lose it still looks nice and then with photo shop and our skin correction all that we could make mom skin just glow and that the skin on skin with babies for me is beautiful