Baby and family shots

Months ago a friend of mine from work had her baby and I was lucky I was picked to do a couple of shots of her baby and the family. It was awesome because this is going to be a really quick photo shoot, with minimal studio equipment. Less hassle of setting up lights here and there. The shoot was going to be in her house so I knew it was going to be pretty easy and fun.

I had a very minimal light setup. I brought 2 speedlites, 2 umbrellas, stands, and 2 flash triggers. I love using the speedlites as studio lights, they are light, small, fast, and portable. Of course the downside to them is power but for a small group of people, it's enough to do the job right. I'd rather bring them along instead of the bulkier studio lights.

So I got there around 2 and the sun was pretty bright. Although it was really overcast that day. I set up the lights in the living room and took my first shots. I snapped my trusty 50mm f1.8 and the camera was good to go. I setup the lights at around 45 degrees on the left and right of the subject, with a ratio of 1:2. Basically you can set up the lights to however you want them.






We then moved right next to the sliding glass door. This time I was going to put that natural lighting to good use. In combination with my artificial light, the lighting setup gave my subject a wrap around soft light. Perfect for portraits.




And of course...my favorite shot of that day...