Hey guys! I photographed baby Ella last fall. She is such a sweet baby and I loved her pictures so much she's all over my website & even on my business cards. A few weeks ago her mommy called and asked if I would do a Spring / Easter session for Ella. I say: "Heck yeah!!!", then hang up the phone and wondered how the heck I was going to do that! lol That's usually the way of it.
Anyway, after a few trips to Home Depot & Wal-Mart, I built a nice (in my opinion) spring-looking set for the studio that would use my white backdrop as its base. I bought a small green carpet, for grass; a whole-darn-bunch of silk flowers and some flower pots; a really big flower pot that would be big enough for baby to stand in; some bits of garden fencing; and a few other odds & ends.... and there ya go! Oh yeah, I also made a plaster of paris tree truck using an old flower pot. :D I'm so pleased with my little set, I named it Ella's garden.
Anyway, Ella was here yesterday. Mom & Dad loved the set in the studio and Ella was in a great mood. We shot for about 2 hours. I swear this kid just gets cuter & cuter... here are my early favorites...
Sorry there's so many, I'm having a hard time narrowing them down.
Very cute and well done! I have a little girl and this gives me some ideas for Easter, though I am doing a St. Patricks Day shoot with her on Thursday. Would you mind posting your lighitng setup, if it's not too much trouble? Thanks, Trevor~
This is basically what the set looked like when they arrived. As you see everything is easily mobile so I moved things around lots while we shot. Ending with a pure white floor again for the family shots.
I don't have a pic that shows the lights, but can tell ya easily enough. There are 2 lights behind the set, one on each side, both aimed at the background. One 4' softbox in front of the set on the left aimed at the set and one octobox behind and above me, slightly to my right, aimed at the set. The softbox is key light and octo is fill. :)
I usually move my lights around lots during a session, but for this one I only needed to swivel the softbox a few times.
Edit: Cost --- The 2 bits of garden fence were $5 each, the big flower pot was $20, silk flowers $1/stem (maybe $60), $5 green rug, $4 plaser of paris,... Maybe $150 for everything. I can see using many of the same items in differnt ways for other sessions. Way cheaper than the studio sets that you buy as kits.
Did you use your flash meter to take these shots Cindi? Especially the shots in the story board. It seems the baby only shots look a little hot on her face. Now, that may be exactly what you're aiming for. Just curious. I'm wondering if you're getting some side lighting spill from the background light on the left. A flag might help with this. I love the shot of her with the glasses and her tongue out. That would make a neat business card shot for baby photo business. I love all these images. She has a very strong personality and obviously you had a very strong connection with her. Keep up the good work.
Did you use your flash meter to take these shots Cindi? Especially the shots in the story board. It seems the baby only shots look a little hot on her face. Now, that may be exactly what you're aiming for. Just curious. I'm wondering if you're getting some side lighting spill from the background light on the left. A flag might help with this. I love the shot of her with the glasses and her tongue out. That would make a neat business card shot for baby photo business. I love all these images. She has a very strong personality and obviously you had a very strong connection with her. Keep up the good work.
You spotted my one real error! Good eye. The spill you see, that's hitting her cheek on the left is the background light on that side. While moving pots of flowers around I must have bumped that light without realizing it sometime during the shoot. When I went back to check that light after the session, it was facing toward the back of the fence and definitely caused the spill-over. I shot RAW, so was able to easily fix the problem on some of them, others I pushed toward high key and left that side bright.
Do you ever see a thread title and avoid going into the thread because, well, it's just "another" one of those and there are only so many hours in a day and you have so much other stuff to do and well ... you know what I mean.
Well... I was avoiding this thread (by title), but I stumbled upon this picture in your portfolio and came looking to see if there was a thread on it:
Wow Cindi! I'm just in awe... this is such a GORGEOUS image! And I'm not even the lil' tyke's parent. I can only imagine their reaction!
Okay, I could cry. I knew mommy would love these, but had only just posted the gallery link to her when I posted these few here. Just got her response....
WE LOVE THEM!!
...followed by a very nice message, an order and questions about more! That's what this is about to me. Well the orders are nice, but its about the "wow". I live for the moment they see the finished pictures and smile and love them and see what the hoped to see. God, I love my job. :)
