Baby photos, new born

Slomas11

Hi guys any good tips on camera settings using my 50mm 1.8g prime lens Nikon d7200 DX body for taking new born baby photos
I am thinking something about f4 1/160 sec ISO 100 with speed light 910

heartyfisher

sounds good.. just bounce the flash off the ceiling/walls. Don't be afraid of turning off the flash, going P mode with Auto ISO and just enjoy the experience. :-) what other lenses do you have ?

BVS

Newborns don't move very much, so you should have plenty of freedom to experiment. The 50 1.8 is pretty good at f2.8 too if you want more background blur - important if your room look anything like mine. Once the kids start running around you'll need to crank up the shutter speed.

Definitely bounce flash like heartyfisher suggested. You'll get softer lighting and won't blind the baby. Also, using flash you can get away with slower shutter speeds than without flash, so 1/80 with the 50 1.8 can totally work for portraits if lighting is poor.

In terms of photographing babies/kids in general:

1. Get down on their level. For babies this could mean you lying on the floor or in the grass, but the photos will be awesome.
   
2. Give them cute clothes/hats/accessories to wear/play with. The cuteness factor will multiply.
   
3. Take LOTS of photos to maximize the chance of getting the perfect shot.
   
4. Once they start moving around, back button focusing is your friend. It lets you continuously focus with your thumb while triggering the shutter with your finger at just the right times and not have to worry about the half press.
   
5. Mind your backgrounds (although I guess this would apply to all photography). There's nothing worse than a perfect shot spoiled by a laundry basket in the background.
   
6. Pick your focus point(s) manually so you can target the eyes. Don't let the camera auto-pick the points (unless it has face detect, which I don't think the D7200 has) or who knows what it'll focus on.
   
7. Wide angle lenses can work well with kids too, especially on playgrounds, slides, tunnels, etc.
   

heartyfisher

Face recognition is only available in live view on D7200. I think.. not sure ...

Msmoto

I would shoot available light no flash for a newborn. You should be able to get ISO 6400 out of the D7200. And, one of the new LED fill lights may help but not subject newborn eyes to flash.

Lens....anything will work, the 50 is a short telephoto on a crop sensor so may be perfect. I find the 1/160 very good for people, and this should be good in a room filled with daylight.