More baby photography!

Julie had her first Mother's Day!
Reagan was oblivious, of course, but daddy took very good care of mommy.
What mom wouldn't love a gift card for a day at the spa?



Last night, though, I really wanted to shoot some dramatic shots of my two girls. I'm designing a photo book of Reagan's first few weeks for my Mom's birthday and these were the last shots I needed to complete the series. This is the same type of book I create for my portrait clients but it's even more fun when it's your own!
I decided to keep it simple and just use my 2 Nikon flash units; one through a white diffusion umbrella and the other with a mini-softbox as an accent light. We were amazed at the results; I converted them to b/w using Adobe Lightroom.


Here is Julie and Reagan on the couch lit only by the umbrella from the right and slightly behind. I thought about setting up a reflector to bounce light back from the front but we usually have a very small window of cooperation from the little princess.







Here are two that I really love! This one is the dramatic look I was going for; umbrella about 24 inches away on the left and the other light above and behind on the right. I love the dramatic shadows and you can still see the detail in them.



Right after that shot Reagan got fussy again; we've learned to bounce her up and down for about 30 seconds then we have about 10 seconds to get the shot. Julie is sitting on a chair in our dining rooom and I'm shooting from the kitchen; I took this shot when she brought Reagan over for more bouncy-bouncy from daddy (yes, I said bouncy-bouncy.) Julie calls me the "baby whisperer" because, apparently, Reagan likes my bouncing better because she almost always calms down; I never would have envisioned that two years ago! Anyway, the lights were in the same spot and we loved that bright, blown-out background effect; she's also lit from the front by the kithcen light.




Ten little piggies! I can't believe I'm actually talking like this; somebody shoot me! :-)


Finally it's my turn to be in some shots. Julie is a natural with the camera; she doesn't quite know how the equipment works yet but she's got an eye for design and fashion. One day I'll give her some basic lessons and she'll probably surpass my skills in a hurry.

These are my favorite shots to date. In fact, the flash units were off and we're lit only by the dining room lights; I added a little b/w effect in Photoshop and I think we have a winner!



Back to the lighting as before; Julie chose a great moment to capture this one.


Daddy's little angel!