Terice's Training Sessions

Although Terice has been working with me for a few years now, most of her experience has been on location. When our studio opened in August a lot of different possibilities became available to her and I both. Since that time we've intermittently done training sessions to help her master some of the basics and become more comfortable with this working environment. Today we photographed a very nice family of four as part of this training. I think she's doing quite well and here's a photo to prove it.

Our subject is 3 month old Emmit. Isn't he darling? The image is very simple to do really. The baby is laying on his stomach being propped up by a Boppy pillow covered in a white fuzzy blanket. The background is  the same blanket. I'm holding the blanket up behind him. The single light source provides a pretty broad lighting pattern while keeping some shadows for dimension and that all important catch light in his eyes.

As I mentioned yesterday, we used a remote to release the shutter and tripod so as to focus on getting the little guy to smile. His mother was also a great help in getting his attention. The pose is one of my favorite parts. Three month old babies are normally very good at holding their heads up in this position, but keep in mind they tire easy! Another good position for babies this age is on their side. Prop up the baby on the back and side so he's "lounging". Also keep the parent close at all times ready to jump in if the baby begins to slide or needs any help. The last thing any photographer needs is an injured child! I always keep my infant subjects as close to the ground as possible since the idea of a baby falling off a posing table scares me to death.

For this shot Terice was laying on her stomach to be at the baby's level and the tripod was extended to it's smallest height of 24 inches. Having the right equipment, and a little flexibility can really pay off!

Exposure: 1/200 @ f11 ISO 200