To begin, allow me to introduce the stars of the photo-shoot. They are baby Chloe (my lovely daughter) and her cousin baby Melanie (my lovely niece). Both Chloe and Melanie were born in August this year, just a day apart from each other in the same hospital. Somehow I feel, these two baby girls are destined to be as close as sisters when they grow up, just like how close their mummies are to each other.
As I seek to add pictures to my portfolio, being a daddy photographer gave me the opportunity to do just that. Having these two precious little babies allowed me to constantly practice shooting with my baby models, play with the lightings to ensure the lights compliment the subjects, meddle with the props, think on my feet, etc.. I must say, I can handle babies really well now (after the few months of practice Chloe gave me).
In my previous post, I mentioned that in a baby photo-shoot, most of the time is spent on every other thing related to the babies Except photographing them. But when you do get down to taking their pictures, their expressions can sometimes blow you away.
Take for example this picture below, Chloe was busy crying and Melanie was well.. shocked! Priceless expression from baby Melanie.
Some behind the scene pictures.. Having a two Profoto B1 Air made a world of difference in lighting these precious babies.
[Picture left] So as the shoot progresses, it ended quickly (within 30mins) because both babies started being cranky (time for their nap). [Picture top] We all know that photographers love to 'Seize the opportunity' and that's exactly what I did, seized the opportunity to take the both of them sleeping, just like the picture below.
After about an hour and a half, both Chloe and Melanie came awake. So immediately, the mummies and I sprang into action by helping them change into their next outfit for the next shoot. Like all human beings, babies too need time to warm up after they come awake but perhaps we were too anxious in changing their diapers and clothes, the babies became agitated and showed me their displeasure in this photo.
Another two behind-the-scene photos to show how the next few pictures will transpire. Seriously, it involves the mums hopping up and down and making all sorts of baby language noises just to gain the attention of the two little ones.
[Picture above] Any home can be a make shift studio. With the right backdrop and a sofa, voila! We've now got a red background. [Picture right] Most parents would know that the colors that babies first see are Red, Black and White. As red background is too distracting for the babies, we had to quickly change a background to one that's of a more neutral color.
The babies being 3 months old have gained a fair bit of muscle mass hence rendering them less flexible as compared to when they were just infants but we still managed a few good pictures nonetheless.
Remember, babies are precious and they grow up real fast. So seize every opportunity to capture fun portraits of them, just like these pictures. If you're interested in having such portraits of your kids done, just drop me an email at info@kelvinluffs.com and I'll be most willing to sit down and conceptualize ideas for the shoot.
Here are a few more pictures for your viewing pleasure. Have a great week everyone!