Archive for February, 2010

Baby Photography – Using Props

A range of props, especially for individual portraits will be useful, for example flowers, teddy bears, dolls, hats, balls etc. limited only by your imagination!

Obviously if you want to remain portable and travel these will be smaller, however if you have the luxury of a studio you can use a vast variety of props.

For example some of the props I use consist of, baby baths, rocking horses, skateboards, bikes, bats and balls and a variety of others. I find an ornamental baby bath an excellent prop, it not only looks good but it stops the young child moving too far! I usually sit the bath on a table about 2 foot off the ground, the table is draped with a simple sheepskin fur and then adorned with some cheap netting material, some of which is overlapped into the bath.

Any prop similar to a mini bath is just as useful, for example a big cooking tin or storage crate. Obviously with this type of container you need to pad it out with soft material. It also a nice touch to use some white netting to fluff around the container. As I said above the biggest advantage of a container is that it contains the child from moving! Try this with your next shoot, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at it’s effectiveness to root the baby in one spot!

Last minute simple props can turn an ordinary picture into something special. One of the simplest and best tips I can give you in this respect is to place a baseball cap on the young baby’s head. What would otherwise be an ordinary shot can be turned into a memorable and amusing shot that the parents will treasure for years, just by the quick addition of a baseball cap! Experiment here, use a variety of ‘last minute’ props.

Here’s another favourite of mine, a soft white towel, which provides a natural frame for the face.

Props come in all shapes and sizes, you can use a prop bigger than the subject! You may imagine this would look awkward, however it can show the loving side of a young child cuddling their (giant!) beloved soft toy.

Remember photography is about emotions, it is about sparking that emotion in parents through the creativeness in your images.

Ideally if you are posing groups of people along with the baby, you would want to use posing stools of varying heights. For example if you want to shoot mum dad and baby it may be that dad is very tall and mum very small. You can get round this by sitting dad on a smaller posing stool.

Many photographers use a much less expensive but just as effective option, bottle crates. These can be arranged and stacked at a variety of lengths and heights and draped with cloth similar to that of your background.

If you purchase no other props for your baby photography the two I would recommend would be a small baby bath and a big soft bean bag. The bean bag is excellent for positioning very young babies in a way that allows them to feel safe and comfortable and allows you to root them to one spot.

A Chaise Lounge is also an ideal prop for children around 9 months, who are finding their feet! The curvature on the back is ideal for them to lean over and the height of the back is perfect for this age.

When looking for ideas for choice of props, look at some of the baby shots in mail order catalogues.

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The Perfect Digital Camcorder Buyers Guide

Digital camcorders are coming down in price. You don’t have to break the bank to get good video. Digital camcorders are becoming more plentiful, lower priced, and more versatile. And digital editing comes in for lots of attention.

If you are on the market for a digital camcorder, know that one of your best resources is going to be a digital camcorder buyers guide. Especially if you are new to the world of electronics or simply find yourself overwhelmed by the multitude of options that are available to you, a digital camcorder buyers guide is going to help you get through and find the best digital camcorder for you and your needs.

Getting Started

This digital camcorder buyers guide is going to start off by offering some information about the different brands that are out there. Panasonic, Samsung, JVC, Fujifilm and Sony, these are just a few of the many top names that you can choose from for a digital camcorder.

Among the different models and formats of camcorders in the market, some models and formats are better than others. This is because as new technology is developed, camcorders are equipped with a number of features that allow for better recording, better resolution and easier editing.

Features

You also need to be aware of the different features that are available on digital camcorders these days as well to be able to make the best decision here. Zooming is one of the most significant considerations if you need high quality and professional looking video output. Be wary of camcorders claiming very high magnification capability because the quality of picture will sometime suffer.

If you plan on shooting out in the field, battery life is a major consideration. Lithium is lighter than the others, and therefore becoming the standard, but the key point is that some camcorders will only use one type. There are rechargeable options available for camcorders.You also want to see what sort of progressive scan the camcorder has to offer, but remember that this is a feature that is nice but not absolutely necessary.

Image stabilization is very important unless you will only use the camcorder on a tripod. The performance under low light conditions is also an important feature you need to check out. Camcorders come in a wide range of different recording formats. The digital camcorder that records directly to PC data format will provide the best for storage, transfer and editing. Probably the most significant feature when choosing a digital camera is the number of megapixels. Choose too few for your needs, and your images will suffer.[

Price

Next to be discussed in this digital camcorder buyers guide is price. It is important to set out at least some sort of budget for yourself before heading out to make any purchases, because some camcorders can get to be quite pricey and you do not want to go overboard with your spending.

This digital camcorder buyers guide should have at least helped you out enough to get you started, give you an idea of what is out there, and set you on your way to buying your own digital camcorder, one that is going to offer you the features and components that you are looking for.

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Sharp VLNZ100U MiniDV Compact Digital Viewcam w/3

Developed for consumers on the go, the VL-NZ100U digital Viewcam offers a number of exciting features, in a sleek, compact design with a three-inch color LCD view screen. With Sharp’s return to the two-handed Viewcam form-factor for its digital line, the company has created a line of exceptionally compact and user friendly digital camcorders. With a 20 percent overall size reduction and handy new shoulder and hand straps, it’s possible to carry these camcorders almost anywhere. Each Viewcam is approximately the size of a paperback book, weighs only one pound and has both still and full motion recording capability.The VL-NZ100U digital Viewcam with digital still capture has an 8MB SD memory card included for an easy transfer to a PC and for e-mailing images easily. The 8MB SD Memory Card/Slot allows the Viewcam to operate as a digital still camera and as a camcorder. The full motion video is recorded onto a DVC tape while digital stills are stored on the supplied memory card for easy transfer to a PC. The 10x optical lens provides the best picture quality and the digital 300x zoom allows images to be captured at a distance. Digital Picture Effects allow different digital effects (B&W, Sepia, NEG) to be viewed without effecting the original recording and to give your video a custom edited look.

Features

  • MiniDV camcorder
  • 10x optical, 300x digital, zoom with digital image stabilization
  • 3-inch color LCD
  • Records digital stills onto included 8 MB SD card
  • Digital effects include black and white, sepia, and negative shooting modes

Read more: Sharp VLNZ100U MiniDV Compact Digital Viewcam w/3″ Color LCD, MMC/SD Memory Card Slot & USB Interface

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It is only natural to want to capture the special qualities of your newborn in pictures. And many parents are quite meticulous in using their digital cameras and camcorders, snapping photos of each and every event – no matter how minor. Yet many of these pictures do not end up looking very memorable in the end. After all, most parents are not trained photographers; therefore, they do not know the best ways to take digital newborn photos.

So, here are some great tips that can help you to make your photos really charming and high-quality. Of course, just about any photo of your beautiful newborn baby will be lovely simply because it stars your newborn. But these tips will help you to take photos that are enchanting, high-quality, and quite impressive.

Pose your baby. Newborns do not pose at all. Instead of maneuvering around the baby, trying to find an angle from which to take a photo, pose the baby. Do this gently, of course. But try poses that will look delightful from above or from the side.

Consider the background. Do not be so focused on how adorable the baby looks that you ignore the background of the photo – the wrong background could spoil an otherwise wonderful shot. For instance, if your newborn is still in the hospital and you want a photo of her sleeping, try draping some fabric around her to hide the not-so-cute hospital bassinet. Solid backgrounds are typically best, as they show off your newborn’s features.

Think about the entire baby. Some of the most enchanting newborn photographs are those that simply capture one part of the baby. Consider taking photos of only the baby’s feet or hands, for example, or maybe a close-up of her profile. But also, as you think about the entire baby, make sure that any full-body shots do include the full body – in other words, do not chop off the edge of a foot in a picture.

Take a lot of photos. It may sound obvious, but this tip doesn’t just refer to taking many different photos. Rather, this tip is to remind parents to take several shots of the same image. For example, pose your newborn into an endearing position; then take many photos of that pose from quite a few different angles. In doing this, you will be much more likely to end up with more high-quality shots.

Don’t always seek out a happy baby. Some of the most interesting photos of your newborn baby just might be the ones you take when he is fussy or upset. This isn’t to say that you should ignore your crying baby just to take a few pictures, of course; instead, enlist your spouse or a friend to assist with taking care of your newborn while you snap some pictures.

Use natural light or diffused light. Your baby may get fussy if you use your camera’s flash. Natural or diffused light will keep your newborn calm and will show off your baby’s cuteness very well in photos.

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Canon FS11 Unboxing

Canon FS11 Flash Video Camcorder. Has 16 GB of internal flash memory and SD card support. 45X optical and 2000X digital zoom. Extremely light weight and small. A great thing to have!

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