In this short video I show a little behind the scenes of a 9 month old baby portrait session. The photos were taken in studio using Westcott Spiderlite TD3s, in softboxes, and against a white background. Constant lights are great for baby photography because they don’t startle and frighten the child. The downside to constant lights is that they aren’t as bright as strobes. This means that you will likely need to use a higher ISO, which can increase noise, or a larger aperture, which can decrease depth of field.
Equipment Used in this shoot:
Westcott Spiderlite TD3 –
Sekonic L-758DR Light Meter –
Canon EF 85mm 1.8 USM –
Canon 1D Mk III –
White Seamless Background Paper –
Parents jumping up and down in the background drive me nuts. The child /children look off or up at them. Have to be very patient and tactful with parents.
Hai sir .. what lighting meter you used in strobe light ??
Very helpful and informative but now I'm in trouble cause I'm a beginner and have my first photo shoot with a 9 month old and I'm all set up to use my Nikon speed lights UGH!
What size background stand?
What do you mean by "strobe light"? I'm guessing it's the attachable flash?
Glad I saw this. I have studio strobes but lately have been considering some constant lighting. The big knock on them is poor color unless you spring for Kino-flo which is WAY out of my range. Are you pleased with these westcot lights? Do they tend to cool or warm colors or are they actually balanced to sunlight?
Great idea, I will be using your technique, Thanks
Hello Tommy, just wanted to ask, i'm planing to start a small home studio to shoot babies, and i don't know what to chose for the lightning, if you can help me =D
Really interesting… I wanted to do a shoot with continuous lights as I am not a fan of strobes especially with children. Can I ask how if you wanted an all white background how you go about lighting that? I assume you use more lights if so which ones? and position them closer to the background itself or? Appreciate any advice.. Also do you know the output of the lights you used in your video please?