Child's Play

Damian and Linda's Photography

Babies

Every parent sees their baby as beautiful. It's in the job description.

Babies are easy to photograph (they are usually more co-operative than teenagers) but can be hard to photograph well.

Some babies are very distracted to see something held up in front a parent's face and quickly become puzzled or worse. A baby quickly picks up on a parents anxiety about "getting a good picture" and this is a great way ensuring everyone is unhappy.

Someone who isn't a parent stands a much higher chance of getting a picture but getting a baby to make eye contact with a camera is very difficult; many baby shots have the baby looking away from the camera, but not all.

A key ingredient of any baby-photography is an astonishing repertoire of noises from the person behind the camera and a level of patience to wait for the baby to look right down the lens.

Parent and baby shots are fabulous for showing the bond between the two. While the typical mother-and-baby shot has a great deal to commend it, fathers like their babies too. Remember that iconic Athena poster of a hunky chap and a baby? You'd be amazed what a little posing and lighting can do.

If the baby is awake then the shots are usually very carefully lit to ensure a "wet-eyes" look, which is an important instinctive cue for humans. The need for "wet eyes" is present in most photographs of people but particularly in babies.

Some people are unsure about subjecting babies to flash photography but the objective truth is that sunlight is much, much brighter than any studio flash; of more concern is that babies can become troubled by the intermittent nature of the light, but this is usually sorted out with some judiciously applied cuddling.