Baby Photography Classes Part II. The Wrap. Tape no.1. Same lighting as Part I.
Wrapping the baby with your scarves. This is a great way to take holiday photos.
The Wrap Tape no.1 Same lighting as Part I
Baby Photography Classes Part II
Wrapping the baby with your scarves. This is a great way to take holiday photos. Each holiday has its own colors and you can add a fun background or do some editing on the computer. So this is what we will start with. I chose a blue background paper. Choose any color. If you do not want to use the paper and just want to use your white wall, go ahead! You can even decorate your wall with balloons, ribbons and just create your own motif.
I have wooden and iron bowls, you may have something similar, or a basket. This can be a square object. Any shape as long as the baby fits! On some shoots I use a pillow and others I used several towels. See what will fit and make it comfy.
The lighting set up is the same: 2 continuous lights pointed towards the ceiling.
I placed the baby 3 feet away from the window and 3 feet away from the background.
I used reflectors for the images where the baby was sideways.
Here is how I wrap: I fold the scarf in half, and make a V like shape I place the baby on the bottom part. Fold the right side first, bring it over to the left and do not worry about it not being even nor perfect. This has a way of working itself out. Now fold the top part of the scarf , cover one side of the head and bring it down at an angle
Take it to the left side.
This is where you can have fun and add a fold, roll it or keep it straight. I added a fold. Get the left part and bring it over the baby Again do not worry if it’s loose Tuck it under the baby’s body.
You have a wrap.
The fun part is that you can change the look by having a tight hood or a loose hood.
My first motif is spring colors. I added a pillow to the iron bowl. Wrapped the baby loosely. Photographed from Bird’s eye view. Changed the camera position. Lowered it to eye level. It was a bit dark so I brought in the reflector and brightened up the face. For These next shots I used a different color for the wrap. Notice how loose this is and I left the wrinkles on the scarf. It may be a good idea to iron it out before the shoot so that you will only have the folds that you make and it will look smoother. This time I wrapped the pillow a bit and photographed from birds eye view and eye level.
I also had to tuck in the pillow to keep the focus on the baby. I used a reflector for the sideway pose.
When you are photographing, change the camera position a lot and see what works best. Make sure that the background is clear and free of any clutter and the main focus is the baby. Tape no 2 Lets think of the different occasions these photos can be used for. A bright red will be great for Valentines. Take you photos from different angles. Be attentive to show the baby’s face as the main focus. Look at how this angle made the face look tiny and how the wrap took over the whole photo. Photograph from above to show the whole set and then come very close. The camera should be at an angle so that you can emphasize the face, the hood and some folds on the wrap. The folds on the wrap will make the image look more dynamic. Here is a second idea on how to wrap. Open up scarf and place the baby almost in the middle. Fold the bottom to hide the feet. Then bring in the right side to the left creating a triangle. Do the same with the left side and tuck the extra fabric under the baby. There will be left over fabric at the top and you can tuck it under the baby or create a hood. Let start personalizing the wrap.
For a formal announcement add a black belt. To make it more feminine add a flowered belt. Or just place a fabric flower on the front. Different colors will emphasize different holidays, blue for Hanukah, red and green for Christmas Notice that on this Christmas one I used two scarves. One is the blanket that is folded like an envelope and the baby is wearing a green wrap.
The wraps don’t have to be for holidays of course. This is just a simple way of dressing up a baby and then creating an easy background. Use different wraps and then choose your own fantastic backgrounds. You can use a paper like I did or just use another fabric. You can also add toys or special gifts that you baby received from someone and make that into a thank you card. So many possibilities!
For evenings don’t forget that black is still sensational and when you add an heirloom it will be even more sensational!
