In the category of another of life’s waypoints,
several of our friends have had babies within the last few years. With
each birth, you can’t help but reflect on how such a small, new life can
have such a large impact on the lives of those around it. If you haven’t
experienced it, either as a new parent or as a close friend of a new parent,
I’m not sure I can explain it in writing. I can illustrate it, however, and
of all the newborn images I have made, this one does so best. From the
fragile nature of the new life to the tender yet strong parents who will
protect and support it, this image conveys more than I could ever express. I continue to study at this image, hoping to find the words that just
can’t seem to be found. Until then, the image will have to do the talking.
Technical Details: 1/125 sec at f/8 - 17-55mm lens
at 44mm - RAW ISO 200 - pixelroom conversion to B&W
I’m not a huge fan of studio lighting – I prefer to use available light
as much as possible. Sometimes, however, studio light offers you something
available light might not. In this case, it was simplicity. I wanted the
strength of the relationship between the newborn and the father to dominate
the image, so I chose a simple, soft light. I used a single Nikon SB flash
unit with a shoot-through umbrella on camera right, high. This provided the
soft overall glow. On the left, a white reflector filled in some shadow
without negating the directional impact of the main light.
