I really must blog!

When the year started I had this personal goal to blog at least weekly. However mundane the post would be it will be satisfying for me to look back and enjoy what ever it is going on in my life. Well there is a lot going on. Babies, beautiful busy grandgirls, new drop dead gorgeous airplane and home improvements. Pictures to come. 

And they grow so dang fast...

Baby 1 month at a time

Louie in July

Louie in August

Babies and Photography

My experience with photography & babies is limited.  I have some very cute pictures of babies, but they are not posed and squished into a special sack.  Last Sunday I tried VERY hard to do just that with my grandson Louie.  The room was set with five layers of blankets on a bed (used as our poser),with a nice wedge in the middle for baby posing and a portable heater to keep the room warm.

 The wedge is there!  How exactly does the baby lay in it again?  Not happening.  Oooops no diaper..three layers of blankets suddenly wet.  So now what to do?

Baby Photography Today

The experience I have photographing babies is minimal.  The baby portrait today is very different from the baby portraits from 10 years ago.

Here is an example of today:

The goal is to swaddle the baby to resemble what they looked like in the womb?  This is a challenge!
There are classes for photographers that teach you how to do this not to mention all over YouTube!

I was a sucker and I bought a class so I too could learn this new art.
Here is what I learned:

1. Swaddling a baby for photography is an art and will take tremendous practice.
2. It takes a ton of blankets and little pillows to create that soft foundation of angles that prop the baby in the perfect bundle.
3. The lighting is soft and low.  The aperture is low to add to the softness.  
4. My 50mm lens is a bit tricky - I need to focus on the eyes...literally.
5. The actions for photoshop that you can buy ARE WORTH IT!

My first attempt with King Louis:

The before shot:

He is hardly swaddled.  That is yet to come....I'm practicing.  But this is an example of what the photoshop actions help you achieve.  I see today that I need to warm the photo back up, just a little to "blue".   Notice the soft creamy skin...this will take a little time to perfect too.  Even though Lou was in a nice pocket, clearly I have to work with the little pillows to mold his little body into the perfect angles.