Lifestyle Newborn Session in One Room with One Light Source
As a lifestyle newborn photographer, I am used to photographing my subject in all types of settings and often with little light. Prior to walking into a client’s home for a newborn session, all I know for sure is that I am going to make beautiful photos of the growing family in their home, regardless of what their home looks like or how much light it has.
When I arrive at the house, I’ll ask either the mom or dad to show me around and have them tell me if they had anything specific in mind for the photos. Then I’ll make a decision based off of where I think the light will be best in their home. Often when I shoot a newborn session we pick two combinations of either a living room, master bedroom or nursery, but I have also shot in an office, den, spare bedroom, kitchen and even on a staircase. In some cases, the best light is in just one room of the house, and in that case I may make the decision to stay in that room for the entire session (which I did in the case of this session). When shooting a session, I try to get as much variety as possible, and you may be amazed at how much variety you can get from just one room.
One of my tricks when photographing with one light source is to have my clients stand as close to my light source (in this case a window) as possible. I will stand opposite the family with the window to our side and have the family turn at a slight angle toward the window. This allows for flattering light to fall across my subjects face, without me blocking the light or backlighting them. This is the technique I used in the photo below. With my subjects in one spot, I’ll move around to get different angles, close ups and pulled back shots, or I’ll shoot from above.
When it comes to crib shots, I always like to make sure that I am placing the baby with the top of their head closest to the window. This way the light falls down their face and not up, which creates more natural and flattering shadows. I’ll get variety by shooting from above, the side, pulled back and close up.
When doing close ups in the crib, I’ll often look at the mattress to see where the light is falling and which parts of the mattress have the most light, then I will move baby into that section of the crib. I may also choose to angle baby so that his face is turned more toward the light.
When it comes to all those tiny detail shots, I prefer to have my client turn so that the detail I am trying to capture is in direct light. Especially when photography the bottom of the feet, I try to have the feet opposite my light source so the bottom of the feet are fully lit.
The ultimate goal in all newborn sessions is to highlight the baby, mom and dad and that is possible to do even in challenging or low light scenarios. I prefer in-home lifestyle photography because I think it is so special to capture the growing family in the comfort of their own home and I definitely think it is possible to capture beautiful portraits even in just one room with one window.
