Portrait Plus Retouching Software – A Review

  Tags: Photography for Beginners, Portrait Plus, Children, Portrait Photography, Travel Photography

 

By: Jeff Guyer

Portrait Plus from ArcSoft packs powerful facial retouching tools into a
user-friendly program

One of the most difficult tasks in Photoshop is also one of the most common. Since we are in the business of making people look good, solid portrait retouching skills are perhaps some of the most important tools in your digital bag of tricks. A couple of months ago, I wrote an article detailing one of my favorite techniques for basic skin smoothing in Photoshop. It’s a pretty straightforward approach to smoothing skin and removing blemishes and I use it all the time. As convenient as it is, though, it can have an impact on editing time, particularly when I’m dealing with a lot of photos at once.

Portrait Plus from ArcSoft is a portrait retouching program that works as a stand-alone application (Windows and Mac) or as a Photoshop plug-in under the filters menu (Currently Windows only). It has a simple, user-friendly interface designed for efficient, seamless integration with your portrait workflow.

How does it work?

Simply put, Portrait Plus automatically detects the faces in your photos, and then identifies 24 key facial features. While this auto-detection is really pretty amazing, it’s not always perfect (and therefore my only real complaint).  Profiles turned too far away from the camera and semi-obscured features (think bangs over the eyes) will throw auto-detection for a loop. I had a couple of images where the auto-detection did not work, requiring me to manually select the facial features and target areas. While a bit frustrating, I don’t view this as that much of a negative, since you are likely to manually adjust the target areas yourself anyway as you become more comfortable with the software.

The overlay on the left shows the facial features automatically detected by the software.

Once an image has been imported, you have a choice of using one of the program’s ten presets, or editing the photo manually, with the option of saving the results as a preset for future retouching work. While the manual editing tools are very extensive, and allow users to select specific areas and facial features, many of the test photos I ran through Portrait Plus for this review achieved excellent results with the presets alone. Facial retouching that could take several minutes or longer can be drastically reduced down to just one or two clicks of the mouse. In order to ensure consistency throughout the photo, Portrait Plus also detects all visible skin, giving the editor as much or as little control over the final image as possible.

Powerful editing tools

Here is a breakdown of the manual retouching tools.

Skin

Some skin retouching software simply blurs over the imperfections.  By identifying very specific areas of the face, however, Portrait Plus gives you extensive control over what to repair and to what degree, for a more natural-looking result. By taking this targeted approach, Portrait Plus eliminates deep scars, pimples, scratches, and other imperfections, while restoring or maintaining one of the most important aspects of all–original skin tone.

• Skin smoothing
• Skin tone
• Brighten skin

Original on the left – skin-smoothed version on the right

Enhancements

If you’ve ever wanted to get in touch with your inner plastic surgeon, here’s your chance. By giving the user control over specific areas like the mouth, cheeks, eyes, and nose, reshaping and fine-tuning facial features has never been easier. Tools included are:

• Remove eye circles
• Blemish removal
• Brighten eyes
• Deepen smile
• Lift cheeks
• Slim face
• Enlarge eyes
• Enhance nose
• Remove shine
• Whiten teeth

Makeup

Depending on your lighting and camera settings, makeup does not always have the look you were going for in the final image. By having the ability to make these adjustments in post-production, you can either save your original idea, or go in a new direction. You’ve got to be very careful with this set of tools, however–a single mouse click can be the difference between a subtle adjustment and “alien eyes”. Effects included:

• Blush
• Lipstick
• Colored contacts
• Eye color
• Eye lashes
• Eye liner
• Eye shadow
• Shape eyebrows

Comparison

The original version of this portrait is straight off the camera, only edited for size. In the Portrait Plus version, you can see how edits like basic skin smoothing, along with a wider smile, slimmer face, whiter teeth, and digital lipstick provide subtle, but significant changes.

Many of the effects in this software package would take months to learn, and years to perfect if you were to attempt them yourself in Photoshop. While Portrait Plus does have a bit of a learning curve, it is far less steep than what you’d experience by trying to learn all of these edits on your own.

Multiple Faces

Portrait Plus does a great job of detecting multiple faces within the same image.

While I’ve not yet tested it on photos with more than two faces, ArcSoft’s website claims that Portrait Plus can detect up to 20 faces in a single image. This can come in particularly handy for event photographers, who often find themselves editing photos of large groups of people. Portrait Plus also allows you to “lock” faces, selecting which faces in a photo are retouched and which are left alone.

Supported file formats

The Windows stand-alone version can import JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and BMP images of 24 bits per pixel, while the Mac stand-alone imports JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and RAW files with 24 bits per pixel. Both Windows and Mac export JPEG and TIFF files. The Photoshop plug-in will import and export all Photoshop-supported file formats.

Wrap-up and recommendations

As a portrait photographer, I strive to get everything as close to perfect in the camera as I possibly can. While even the best portraits can always use a tweak or two, the reality is that some portraits require significant retouching. As important as the editing is, though, so is time with my family. So, whatever I can do to cut down on my editing time is a bonus. As good as I am at retouching, Portrait Plus is a bit of a game-changer. An intuitive, user-friendly Photoshop plug-in, Portrait Plus can seamlessly add a whole new dimension to any photographer’s editing arsenal.  Share this article.

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Anthropics Portrait Pro Editing Software Review

  Tags: Photography for Beginners, Portrait Pro, Children, Portrait Photography, Travel Photography

 

By: Carl Spring 

Anthropics Portrait Pro 19 is the latest version of its incredibly popular retouching software. This piece of software allows users to create professional retouches without needing to spend hours learning several techniques. Instead, Portrait Pro uses a simple, user-friendly interface that allows advanced retouching in a simple to understand and time-saving manner.

What’s New in Portrait Pro 19

Anthropics Portrait Pro 19 brings a host of improvements that make this software better than ever before.

Clearskin 5

There is a big improvement in the skin detail over previous versions of Portrait Pro.

The first I must mention is the Clearskin 5 technology. Based on state-of-the-art A.I., Clearskin 5 intelligently maps the contours and features of the face and retouches skin accordingly. It also replicates the face’s natural skin texture, allowing users to subtly remove blemishes while maintaining the subject’s natural appearance. When combined with the improved Fix Lighting tool, this new technology makes it even easier for photographers to achieve amazing results.

When compared to previous versions (which themselves were very good) this is a subtle but noticeable difference. For me, this alone is enough to recommend this version, but there is a lot more under the hood.

Let’s look at what’s new in Portrait Pro 19.

Advance Hair Retouching

Hair detection has been improved and gives users more options than ever before. After choosing a base shade for the hair, you can tweak this to create a variety of styles, from a subtle improvement of natural color all the way through to more extremes of pink and blue hair.

A subtle tweak or a radical change? Both are possible in Portrait Pro.

Expression Sliders

This tool offers a variety of ways to subtly change the expression of your model, letting you get the perfect smile every time.

It’s easy to get your subjects smile just right when using this software.

Accurate Lens Correction

Utilizing 3D modeling, the software accurately corrects for lens distortions created by wide-angle lenses such as mobile phone cameras.

Optimized Plugin (Studio exclusive)

This plugin allows you to harness the power of Portrait Pro directly from Photoshop and start editing right away. By updating the technology, the plugin returns to Photoshop up to five times faster than previous versions, which means less time processing and more time creating great portraits.

Improved Automatic Batch Processing (Studio Max exclusive)

PortraitPro Studio Max 19 allows photographers to automatically process batches of images simultaneously. The software detects faces and features in the image, applies your chosen presets and automatically saves the result. Again, thanks to PortraitPro 19, the software handles images 2x faster than before, allowing you to retouch a batch of images quickly and easily yet achieving amazing, tailored results.

This tool (exclusive to the Studio Max edition of the software) is something that I can see being amazing for sending proofs from a headshot session. Imagine the ability to send all of the client images to select from, all retouched to your specific style. Not only will it wow your clients, but it is effortless for you to do this. 

You do not need your subject to be looking directly at the camera. In this example, which was part of a batch, it still picked up the features quickly and easily saving me time.

Interactive Tutorials

These tutorials are some of the best I have seen for any software – allowing you to follow along and improve images with a guide to hold your hand.

The tutorials allow users to get to grips with the features of the software quickly and easily. By the time you get through the first couple of tutorials, you will be itching to use the software on your own images, but when you want to push your skills a little more (or just can’t quite figure something), there are more advanced tutorials to help you upgrade your skills.

There are various tutorials, from retouching skin and face shaping (which are the two tools you will probably use the most) through to a series of advanced tutorials that go into detail on things like applying makeup, hair, eyes, and many more. Thus, allowing you to take advantage of the massive feature set on offer with this software.

The built-in tutorials make it really easy to get started in Portrait Pro 19.

In Use 

After going through the first two tutorials, I wanted to put some of my own images through the software. The feature detection on the tutorials was quick, simple, and incredibly accurate. I wanted to see if this was as good in real life as it was in the tutorials. I was amazed that my own images imported quickly and found the models’ features perfectly the first time.

Putting in my first image, I was surprised how quickly it found all the features of the face.

Presets

I thought I’d start by trying the built-in presets. I clicked the Standard Preset and almost instantly the image was good enough to give to a client. After trying the other presets, I found the Maximum Lighting worked really well for the shot below.

Within two clicks, I had an image that was retouched to a high standard. As someone who has spent hours learning retouching techniques in Photoshop, it was impressive. To those who are new to retouching, it will give you a set of tools that would normally take hours to master individually at the click of a button.

I’ll be honest, some of the presets were a little too much for me. However, I tend to go for a more natural look in my retouching. Yet, I can see that for some, they will be perfect. I think the presets have been created to give every style of photographer a great starting point that can be tweaked until they get their own style.

With a few clicks, you can get results like these. From L-R: Original image, Standard Preset and Max Light Preset

Starting From Scratch

It would have been easy for me to leave the review here, as the presets do a great job, but I wanted to dive deeper and see how the tools would work individually. I started over with the same image and worked my way through the panels.

The panels are laid out in a very logical order, starting with Sculpting the Face, which allows you to tweak everything from eye size to the length of the model’s neck. Everything is simple and uses a slider-based system.

I then worked through the skin smoothing (which looks a lot more natural than previous versions of the software) before continuing to work my way down the menu system.

I created my own preset for this shoot. Once I had it how I liked it, I could then save my style as a preset and apply it to more images from the shoot.

A small word of caution, though. Portrait Pro allows you to push the retouching levels to the extreme. You can get caught up in pushing all sliders to the max. This will not give you a great result and like adding salt to a meal, a sprinkle is always better than a handful.

Make use of the before and after function to check you have not pushed your image too far. I have heard complaints that Portrait Pro makes everything “Doll Like” or “Just Not Natural.” That is not true. Just like Photoshop, users can get carried away and push things too far in their edits. 

It was amazing that only 30-minutes into using a brand new piece of software, I was able to fully retouch a portrait to this level without needing a YouTube tutorial. What’s even better is that with a couple of clicks, I now had my own preset that I could apply to other images. This is something that really does create a massive time-saving option. 

I put my newly created preset to the test with another image from the same shoot. It literally took me 10-seconds to import and apply the preset and it was ready to export. If you are working with large amounts of images per shoot, this might just be a game-changer.

Within 10 seconds, I had created this edit, in my own style without needing to press more than one button.

By the time I had finished, I had added makeup, added lighting, and changed both hair and eye color quickly and easily. The feature that stood out for me was the advanced lighting tool. For those who are new to working with light or those who don’t currently have a lighting system, you can add lighting effects that really enhance the image and make it pop.

Who’s it for?

Anthropics Portrait Pro is an amazing tool for those who are new to retouching portraits. It is simple, yet incredibly powerful and gives you pleasing results within seconds. However, it offers much more and encourages you to go back to the software and personalize your retouching. 

For those who are more advanced photographers, it allows you to really speed up your workflow and create signature styles. The Photoshop Plugin (Studio Exclusive) means you can use Portrait Pro as part of a larger project.

For Pro’s, there is a real benefit from the batch processing options found in the Studio Max Edition. If you are shooting several images and want to send clients a selection, by using a preset (either one in-built or your own signature style), you can retouch all images with a few clicks. This saves you a lot of time and allows you to focus on your business.  

If you retouch portraits, you really need to try this software out. Also, DPS has managed to get a special offer just for you. 

How Do You Get Portrait Pro?

You can download your free trial at https://www.anthropics.com/portraitpro/download/

Currently there is a 50% OFF sale everything + DPS readers get an EXTRA 15% OFF when you use the coupon JW9682. 
Get more portrait tips: https://bit.ly/2JzXFdk

I look forward to seeing what you create in the comments below.  Share this article.

 

 This weeks' PHOTOGRAPHY FREEBIES!

 Tags: Photographing Children, Portrait Photography, Travel Photography

 

 

17 FREE Photography Ebooks.  Get your free copies here:

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How to Do Digital Scrap booking – A Fun Activity to do Indoors

  Tags: Scrap booking, Photographing Children, Portrait Photography, Travel Photography,    Photography  for Senior Citizens

 

By: Ana Mireles 

 

Have you heard of digital scrapbooking? It probably sounds a little weird because a scrapbook is associated with crafts and handiwork. But it’s also a way of preserving and displaying your memories with a specific look that can be recreated digitally.

It’s also a fun activity for the whole family, and you can do it indoors. Keep reading to learn how to do it and even keep the crafting involved if you like.

Prep work

Selection

As you would do with any kind of album, you need to go through your photos and select the ones you want to include. Sometimes it’s easier if you choose a topic for it, especially in scrapbooking as the embellishment will be guided by it. For example, you could choose your first trip to the beach.

If you want to make the most out of this exercise, you can even organize all those files that you’re reviewing. There are many programs dedicated to this, some of the most popular are Lightroom or ACDSee.

Decoration

The most characteristic thing about scrapbooking is the embellishment.

You can add notes, frames, and all sorts of decorations around the photos. Digital scrapbooking is not different, what changes is the way you do it. However, if you want to keep some of the craftings, it’s also possible.

Let me give you some examples and ideas.

• Stock Images: This is the fully digital version. You can buy or download images from different websites. Unsplash and Pexels are great sites for free stock images. If you’re just using Google, always keep an eye on the licensing permissions of each photo so you don’t infringe any laws.
• Photograph objects around the house: This is not exactly crafty, but it does involve your own creativity. Do you have flowers, fruits, or any home decors that can match the topic you’re working on? Photograph them! Best if you can put it in a neutral and contrasting background, as you are going to cut them out later. This is great when you want to involve more people in the activity – that way everyone can go find their favorite objects to include.
• Make your own: This is just like the one before, except that you don’t use things that you already have. Instead, you make them, especially for this project. You can do some origami figures or ‘age’ a piece of paper with tea and coffee stains to use as background. This version is the one that includes more crafting and stays closest to the original tradition. It’s especially fun if you have kids. Once you have everything done, photograph it to use in your digital scrapbook.

• 

• 

Digital Scrapbooking

I’m going to do my scrapbook in GIMP because it’s free software, and this way, anyone can follow. You can also use Photoshop as the main feature you need is to work with layers. Just keep in mind that the individual tools and effects would be different.

Get your images ready

Okay, now that you have the photos of your elements, you need to have them ready for use in digital scrapbooking. That means that each one is cut-out so that it can interact freely with others.

For this, you can do the work right inside GIMP, or you can use any of the many free tools to remove backgrounds that are on the market. I’ll show you how to do one here in GIMP.

Open your image and make a selection around your subject using any of the selection tools from the panel.

There is no right or wrong when choosing the tool; it depends on the image you’re working and your skills. For example, here, it’s easier to use the Rectangle because of the shape of the object. However, I could also use the scissors or the path tool to draw the edge manually.

Once you have it, go to Select > Invert so that it’s the background that gets selected. Then right-click on the Layers dock and choose Add an alpha channel from the menu to allow the transparency and finally go to Edit > Clear.

Now save your image in GIMP’s file extension by using Save As or Export to save as .png, which will make it available for other programs while preserving the transparency. Repeat the process for all the images you’re going to use and save them in the same folder for easy access.

Create your layout

To create the layout for your scrapbook, you need all the elements in the same document. To do this, you need to go to File > Open as Layers. Select all the files and click Ok. This will open one document with each photograph as an independent layer.

You can now use the Move, Scale, and Rotate tools to arrange your layout.

Keep in mind the order of your layers, as the ones on top will cover the ones below. So, if you want things to overlap, you can drag and drop the layers to change the order.

Once you’re happy, you can start adding notes, which is another important component of a scrapbook.

Add some text

There are many experiments you can do to play with your text. Here are a couple of simple ideas to get you going.

Use the Text tool to write a title, note, date, or whatever you want to include. If you click and drag, you can create a specific area where the text will fit. Then choose the font you like.

In my opinion, the ones that simulate handwriting are the best for digital scrapbooking.

You can later change the Blending Mode to incorporate it more naturally into the image or create different effects. You’ll find this menu on top of the layer panel.

 

Another choice is to type directly in the background. Then use the Rectangle Select Tool and draw a selection around it. Then go to Filters > Light and Shadow > Xacht Effect which is a default script included in GIMP – 2.10, which is the latest to the time of this article.

This will create a 3D effect that simulates a tag for your text.

And there you go, add as much or as little as you like.

You can use it as a template and just change the image, or you can follow the same steps to create different layouts.

Have fun using digital scrapbooking to design albums, screensavers, wallpaper for your computer and so much more. I hope you enjoyed it!

Try digital scrapbooking out at home and share your results with us in the comments!  Share this article.

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Natural Style Newborn Photos: The Way I Like to Remember Them

 Tags: Photographing Children, Portrait Photography, Travel Photography

 

By: Melinda Smith 

Why natural lifestyle newborn photography?

There are lots of different styles of photography when it comes to capturing a newborn baby. Some    people love to use lots of props, and introduce many fun things into every photo. Some are experts at posing the baby in unique and whimsical positions.

Although I can appreciate all the different styles, I prefer to capture a newborn baby the way that I remember my three newborns. My kids are almost all grown up now, and it’s hard to remember exactly what they were like when they were brand new. Every once in awhile, I have sweet memories of how they were once upon a time. The sweet smell of a newborn’s head. The skinny knees stretching out. The reflex grasp of those tiny fingers. The perfect little toes and wrinkly feet. The million different expressions that could keep me entertained for hours. The soft cheek, and even the peeling skin that inevitably showed up for a little while.

These are the things I remember. These are the memories I cherish. These are the moments I try to preserve with my camera with natural newborn photos.

 

Keep it real

One of the wonderful things about photographing babies more naturally, is that you can let so many ideas of perfection go. If your baby loves a pacifier, photograph him with a pacifier. If she’s having a fussy day, grab a few crying photos. It’s okay, because it’s life. Real life. We’re not trying to create an illusion that the baby is something other than who he is, that very moment.

Be patient and flexible when photographing newborns, and leave lots of time to stop for feeding, burping, or changing a diaper. If your goal is to just capture baby as she is, you don’t have to be as worried about getting a whole session in within the two week old time period. It’s okay if baby isn’t quite as moldable if you aren’t trying to mold them into anything in particular. Since we’re just keeping it real, you can be more relaxed. Shoot another day if the first day you try just doesn’t work out. Also, you don’t have to stress out about keeping the baby sleepy the whole time. If he’s asleep, photograph him that way. If she’s wide awake, capture those eyes. It doesn’t matter.

Get the details

I love to photograph little details. I can’t hold a newborn without pulling her socks off to have a peek at her feet. That means that I can’t photograph a newborn without getting a few shots of those perfect little baby feet, either. Find the little details you love, and capture them. Feet, hands, ears, knees, hair; everything is cuter in miniature. It’s a good idea to capture hands and feet with mom or dad’s hands holding them too, because it will help the parents remember exactly how small they were.

Don’t wait for a perfect expression. Those wrinkly foreheads, big yawns, hungry mouths, pouty lips, and even those sad cries can be perfect photo opportunities. Baby faces are fascinating!

Shoot wide open

I like to use a pretty wide aperture when I photograph these details. If you can shoot at around f/2, give or take, those details will be the star of the photo. You won’t be distracted by other things, and the part you want to highlight will look especially sharp. Shooting wide open is a good idea when you are capturing other newborn moments, like baby’s bath, putting socks or a hat on, swaddling, or anything that you want the focus to be on or a particular action.

Be careful when you are shooting with a depth of field this shallow that your focus is EXACTLY where you want it, and that you don’t move after you lock in your focus. A slight movement from you or the baby could put your photo completely out of focus, and ruin what you are trying to achieve.

For more help shooting indoors with a wide aperture, you can read my article on Indoor Portraits Using Natural Light.

Capture baby’s world

You might want to get some photos of your sweet newborn in her carefully decorated crib or nursery. If there’s a rocking chair that he loves to be held in, photograph mom or dad rocking the baby. One of my favorite memories with my babies was getting them out of their crib in the morning, or after nap time. They always seemed so happy to see me, and they looked so sweet and small in those big cribs. I wish I had photos to help me remember those times in better detail. Think of baby’s little world, and photograph him in the places he spends a lot of time in.

You could also take photos of the little things that are part of life with a baby, without the baby in the photo. Stacks of diapers, rubber ducks, teeny shoes, bottles, pacifiers, etc. can be photographed to remember what life was like when your house was overtaken by baby things.

Show the love

Don’t forget to capture how the rest of the family feels about the new baby. Photograph sister’s look of adoration. Photograph brother’s fascination with baby’s little toes. Photograph mom’s absolute love for her tiny new being. Photograph dad’s proud protectiveness, and contrasting rough, big hands.

Sometimes the relationships the family has with the new baby are my very favorite thing to photograph. The love and bonding that happens so quickly with a new baby in the house is an amazing thing, and those special moments are so important to preserve.

Be careful with young siblings that you keep the newborn safe as you are photographing them. You can capture their natural reactions to the baby while still keeping the baby safe. Let them sit near their little brother or sister if they’re too young to hold the baby. They can pat him, or lightly kiss him on the head. If you have a young child hold the baby, make sure someone is standing right outside the frame to take the baby as soon as little sister is “done”, because sometimes that can happen very suddenly.

If you’ve always thought that baby photos had to be perfectly posed and creatively propped, give lifestyle newborn photography a chance. Try photographing a new baby swaddled in a blanket. See if you can capture a bunch of funny expressions, or capture “a day in the life” of the newborn. You may decide that these natural, real life photos are your favorite after all.  Share this article.

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7 Tips for Photographing Newborns without Becoming Clichéd, Derivative or Boring

 Tags: Photographing Children, Portrait Photography, Travel Photography

 

By: Lynsey Mattingly 

When I first started doing professional photography, newborn babies were the coveted prize. An adorable sleeping creature that would look cute no matter what? Sign me up! Let’s put that baby in a stockpot! In a basket! Wait! –A headband that looks like a flower! In a field of flowers! With butterflies! And maybe a big gift box bow!

Then I realized that Anne Geddes is the landlord of that entire market. And that it’s rare for a portrait client to actually want a picture of their baby in a stockpot. What people do want is a picture of their baby, that looks like their baby. Because in about 5 minutes their baby isn’t going to look like this anymore.

Set the Scene

In an ideal situation, you are photographing a newborn that is less than two weeks old (when they tend to be more “mold-able”), in the morning (when they tend to be a more willing participant), just after being fed (when they tend to be a little more tolerant), and in a warm room (where they tend to be a little more comfortable).

Having everything ready to go before shooting a single shot is taken will serve you well: various blankets for background and warmth, cloth diapers for when someone pees on you (let’s hope it’s the baby), any clothing you plan to use and back-ups of every possible thing. I prefer minimal clothing on newborns, but this is just personal preference. Amble natural light is important because even if you do usually shoot flash, it’s often disruptive enough to wake a newborn and rule number one in photography, parenting, and life is: Never wake a sleeping baby. If there is anything I’ve learned, it’s that.

Be prepared to work fast because babies can be ticking time bombs, but slowly because they are delicate ticking time bombs. You are methodical. You are confident. You are patient. You are the baby whisperer. Because we are speaking in ideals. And if you’re me and we are still speaking in ideals, you also have on your cute jeans and are having a great hair day. Because, why not?

Find the Purpose

Photographing newborns is one of the few times I make a point of asking clients what they are planning on doing with the end result. Often it’s for use in a baby announcement or just as “baby pictures” documenting this time. But if it’s going to end-up as a 24″x36″ canvas above a fireplace, I want to know beforehand. Or if I’m going to need negative space to create an announcement card, I’d rather shoot with that in mind then trying to backtrack later in post.

Another thing to think about is the ratio of images of the baby alone and the baby with parents or siblings; there is no right or wrong answer here but knowing what you or your client is wanting in advance is key. Newborn shoots are not (usually) guided by a free-spirited toddler and therefore require more of a plan from you than shoots with older children. And you never know when a baby will decide that pictures are just not what he wants to do today and let’s you know this in a very unsubtle and loud way.
  

It’s all about the Baby

The only thing I always bring to a newborn shoot is a large piece of black cloth. I have had it for nearly a decade and more babies have peed on it than I wish to think about. I have hung it on walls and used it on floors and beds as a back-drop. I use it every single time because it simplifies everything and allows the focus to be completely on the baby. Lots of photographers do a version of a black background of some sort and I’ve found that there is no need to get fancy.

Many photographers use a velvet, but mine is about 2 yards of a stretchy thick cloth that I bought at a fabric store for ten dollars. It washes well (luckily) and the light sheen of it makes editing out any wrinkles in post extremely easy. I carry thumbtacks and painters tape to hang it with if I need to and it’s thick enough to hang over about anything and not have backlight shine through. I cannot stress having a way to simplify a newborn shoot enough. If a black background isn’t your style, find what is that will clean-up everything and let the newborn to be the focus, and allow it to become your key piece for baby photography.

It’s in the Details

And why shouldn’t it be? Baby details are sorta amazing. I mean have you seen a baby toe recently? Talk about something I’d like to dip in butter and call a snack. We have all seen baby parts photographed in the same boring ways: wedding rings on toes, close-ups of belly buttons and umbilical cords (ew), tops of bald heads in big grown-up hands. I am guilty of doing every one of these, multiple times over. I now see that the shots that will stand the test of time will be very simple close-ups that highlight just how small newborns are: tiny hands holding a parent’s finger, brand new feet that have yet to see wear, yawns and other adorable expressions that only look adorable on a baby.

As Cute as they are Awkward

Oh sure, we all know they are adorable, but what are you supposed to do with them? They are flimsy and tiny and often naked. This is where I think we get into trouble and put them in baskets and stockpots. Because we can. Instead of creating scenes, it’s better to just think of “positions”. Babies can only do about two positions unassisted—laying down this way or that way. Work with that.

They may just lay there, but the beauty in this is that they often let you adjust them however you want. Tuck legs up under bodies, pull flailing arms into blankets, curl them up into someone’s hands. The baby is the star of this show and is plenty cute to pull off this role without a big supporting cast of props. A key to getting the position you want and having it stay that way long enough to get the shot you want is to keep your hands on the baby longer than needed after positioning them.

Think of it as long hug—you don’t need that extra ten seconds at the end, but it feels nice. Get the baby settled and then stay there for a bit longer. The warmth of your hands and the consistency and reassurance is often exactly what the baby needs to “hold” the position you are seeking.

 

Got Extra Arms? Use them

I like to include siblings as often as I can, no matter the age. This gets tricky because the very definition of tricky is a two year old holding a newborn while exhausted parents watch the situation go down. Enough pillows and promises of lollipops though will get you a shot or two and a little variation in the final images. Interaction is the name of the game here—look for whatever the emotion is that’s happening and play on it. If it’s pride, comment on it to instill confidence and document a sweet moment in sibling history. If it’s indifference, engage the older child so they forget there is even a new addition in the photograph and are happy to be your star for a moment.

Stop Worrying

I love a good worry and consider myself to be quite good at it. But as jobs go, photographing newborns is about as close to shooting fish in a barrel as you are likely to get. It’s easy to feel the pressure given that babies are so fragile and grow every single second. The truth is any picture you take of a newborn is a gift. Just as any time spent getting to photograph a newborn. I don’t get sappy often, but newborn babies are pretty special. Enjoy it.

Especially if the newborn belongs to someone else and you get to walk out of there without a crying baby and go home to a bed where you’re permitted to sleep through the night.  Share this article.

 

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Baby Photography 101

 Tags: Photographing Children, Portrait Photography, Travel Photography

 

 

By: Chas Elliott

The last how-to article I did was on photographing expectant mothers. It only makes sense that we follow that up with how to photograph babies and an exploration of Baby Photography. Much of the setup information is the same, such as lighting and equipment, so if you need a refresher, read the previous post on photographing indoor maternity sessions.

Baby Photography Tips

1. Timing

This can be rather tricky as all babies seem to be on their own schedule, especially cute photogenic newborns. Here are 3 things to be aware of.

• First, babies can loose the ” newborn baby curl” within about 10 days of birth. If your looking for that little rump to be up and the baby to be mold-able, try to shoot within this window.
• Second, coordinate with the mother beforehand and the two of you should plan the sleepiest time for the shoot. The sleepier the better, and no one would have a better idea of when that is than mom.
• Third, before the mother comes with said sleepy baby, make sure she dresses him or her in something easy to take off without disturbing the baby. Clothing that doesn’t have to go over the head is good or even bring the baby in a swaddler. You need to be able to undress the baby without losing the deep slumber. Don’t be afraid to have mom help you move and mold the baby. With practice you will feel more comfortable with newborns and babies, but in the beginning advise mom on how she can help you position the baby and shoot away.
  

2. Don’t overload with ideas

If you are a fan of Anne Geddes or an avid baby photo lover, it’s easy to set your expectations too high and overload your photo-session with so many “concept” shots that you end up with a big headache and little to show for it. Choose 2 or 3 poses only. If you nail those, take a break a try a couple more later.

As always, I recommend doing a quick google image search for baby photographs to stir the creative juices. For babies it seems like the simpler the better. Unless you have a human sized flower or clam shell lying around, the baby is so new and perfect they can easily stand alone as the center of your photograph. Have fun with them and make sure the mom and dad know they have the cutest baby on earth.

3. Heating up the Room

More than likely, the shots you will be attempting to get will include cute baby buns, baby feet and baby bellies. All this clotheless shooting can quickly add up to a cold, cranky baby. You might want to invest in a small space heater to get a little extra heat in the baby’s direction. Be sure to turn the heat up to around 74 degrees about an hour before the shoot.
If you are shooting in a clients home this will require prior planning but I would suggest bringing your space heater as well because baby is usually not used to hanging around in just a diaper.

4. Prop’s

As mentioned above, the baby usually provides enough aesthetic appeal for most shots. Prop’s though, when tastefully used, are wonderful. They help convey perspective, size, fragility or add a hint of color to show whether it’s a boy or girl.

For this session we wanted to create the popular “baby on a stack of ultra-soft, I wish I were small enough to sleep on towels too, cause that looks so comfortable” look. The list of what you need for this is short.

• Clean white towels ($4 each)
• pink ribbon ($2)
• some baby wipes (priceless)

When I took the baby’s diaper off, a quick cleaning was in order. Save yourself from staring at baby poop particles magnified at 10X in Photoshop as you try to do cleanup.

A couple shots into this pose the baby decided she didn’t like her bedding and peed on the top layer of towels. Fortunatly she was laying on a large stack of replacements. Although I didn’t notice till the shoot was over, after mom lifted the baby and I rotated the top two towels, I wasn’t as precise in layering them back neatly.

It didn’t completely ruin the shot, but remember to take your time and be delicate with the baby and the props. Babies can sense when there is stress or tension. This is not high fashion, it should mellow and beautiful.

5. Know your simple tricks in post production

Unless you are a very experienced shooter, the pictures may not look exactly how you envisioned straight out of the camera. Not to fear, post production is here.

In the sample shots I showed here, there were a couple problems.

• Problem #1 Mom’s black sweater was plainly visible and I wanted the viewer to really only see the baby.
• Problem #2 In the white images, things weren’t lit exactly right. One side of the white wall behind the baby looked whiter and brighter than the other. I wanted a near uniform whiteness.

Can you guess what two tools I used to correct these problems?

If you said the dodge and burn tool, you’re wrong. I decided to go an even quicker route using the vignette tool and the devignette tool. By cranking the dark vignette to its maximum both in size and amount (I use Apple Aperture) it perfectly hid mom’s torso from the shot but kept the baby unaffected. By using the devignette tool it bleached out the edges of the white photo to lose unwanted shadows and tinges. Although not conventional, I find this worked great with just a few clicks.  Share this article.

 

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