Wow this was fascinating After 25 years away from my photography career, i am getting back into portaits of children I took the break to raise our children. I love my canon 50mm 1.8 rf lens Years ago i had 2 studio lights that i would take with me when i had my on location infant children and familiy photography business (yes,I went on location before there were newborn photographers and begore it was common to bring the studio with you to the family's home. I am doing a newborn shoot in 2 weeks im really excited. I loved the TLR medium format cameras I upgraded to a mirrorless canon camera in july 2023 and every time i go to shoot macros of flowers or an event or a baby portrait at my home i learn so much. Could you do a video on how you process the portraits I use lightroom and i am relearning photoshop
I'm glad you found your way back to photography after 25 years. It gets in your blood and spoils you for any other type of job. I would be very happy to do some videos on editing. So keep an eye on the channel in the next week or so, and I should have something posted. Have a great night, Daniel
This happens a lot. most of them really don't like the feeling of frosting. Check out this video for some tips on how to get around that ruclips.net/video/gy8Y1cAlwqA/видео.html
I currently have the flashpoint xplor 600 and c stand with 68 octobox. The room I am using has very little natural light. What other light would you recommend to complete my setup? I own a speed light and a Vflat if that helps any. I am just starting out so I am definitely starting on a budget Thank you so much!
Okay so you're on a budget and you need a lite that's actually going to do the job. If you don't mind having a power cord running from the light to the wall then I would recommend the Godox MS300. I did a video on this light and you can find that video here ruclips.net/video/MQ7Xzv81IMw/видео.html I also like this light because its battery operated and portable. Http://Amzn.to/37lhJvq Please keep in mind though it is a speed light and the recycle time is a bit slower than your Godox AD600. Please let me know if you have any more questions I'm always happy to geek out with a fellow photographer!
Question: With the paper background, how do you do it after a cake smash if it gets dirty? Are you able to reuse it or do you dispose of it? In other words, is it sustainable for several cake smash sessions or is it more temporary? Thank you.
The only way a seamless paper background can be reused is if you put sheets of plexi glass over the top of it. Otherwise you have to cut off the section of the paper that has smashed cake on it. BUT...we just filmed a video where we tested a seamless backdrop system for a company out of Australia and it uses cloth backgrounds instead of paper. We will be posting that video soon here on RUclips as well as pics of the backdrop system on our Instagram feed @the.smash.cake.education. I Hope that answers your question and that you have a great day!
For the most veritilty, I would bump up one light to a 300 or 400 watt and use it for your main light. A 200w light doesn’t have enough power to be used in a larger softbox effectively. Technically, it can fill the larger soft box, but you'll have to use the light at a high power, which will cause the light to take more time to recycle. I own a couple of 200w lights, and at full power, they can take 1-3 seconds to recycle. Meanwhile, you're missing shots because the flash isn't ready. It's really frustrating. So use that larger light as the main, and because it has more wattage, you'll be able to run it at a lower power and avoid slow recycle times. For your hair light or kicker light, the 200w lights will do the trick because generally speaking you want your hair lights and kicker lights to not be as bright as the main. This means you can run them at a lower power, possibly avoiding slow recycle times. But if you really wanted to be safe, just buy 3x 300w or 400 w lights. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions and have a great evening.
@@troutmanphoto I see! Glad Ive only bought one so far. :-) thanks for the tips. PS: The walls of the room is painted light-blue. Will this affect my photoshoots? My ceiling is white.
I love all your recommendations especially adding a personal touch to it. So I have a nice Fuji camera. I’m planning on doing my sons cake smash photos. I’m on a budget so I’m not able to buy nice lighting. What I got is a kit on Amazon- it came with (2) umbrella reflectors with a 45W CL light bulb and (2) reflector soft boxes. Can I get away with using just the umbrella reflectors? I’ll have some natural light too. My other question is can I get away with a 4.4x16 seamless paper or do you recommend the size you have? Thank you!!
Rebecca thank you so much for watching my videos and for the great question. The first thing that I would do is... I would send that lighting kit back to amazon. Those kits are mainly put together so that people can photograph products and still life photography. The 45 w light bulbs just don't have enough juice to allow your camera to capture fast action. So for a smash cake scenario they simply won't work. Not to worry this is only going to help keep your photo shoot budget friendly :-). As far as the 4-ft roll of paper goes I would also send that back to Amazon unless you're set on shooting the session on a seamless roll of paper. If you are, no worries, just make sure that you put your child close to the backdrop so that you're not photographing the edges of the paper. As far as lighting goes I would set up near a window in the kitchen and use that to light your child. If you don't have a window you could set up some seamless in the garage and open the garage door or find a spot on your patio outdoors. For the easiest way to photograph an at home first birthday session I highly recommend ditching the paper and the lighting and simply take your child out into your yard or to a local park with a lot of grass. There you going to look for a shady spot and set up two or three feet into the shade so that the sunlight streams past your child. This way the sunlight will still light your child but won't shine directly on them causing harsh and nasty shadows. At the park you can still set up banners by stringing them between two camping chairs that you have put a couple of weights in or possibly cases of bottled water. Throw in some of the cheap and easy props that we showcased in our cheap and easy prop video and you will stay well below budget and still have quality first birthday images. Once again thanks so much for the great question. I will definitely be using your question as the subject of one of my next upcoming videos. 👍
@@troutmanphoto okay so before I saw this comment I got the large seamless that you recommended. Now should I cancel that and just do outdoor lighting and ditch doing an in home studio shoot all together? Because of not having a good lighting system? Also his theme is “you are my sunshine” his romper is blue, yellow sun in the middle and yellow straps. Any ideas on colors for this? Would it still look good outside? One more question my camera lens is 15-45 mm. I will have to go into Lightroom and blur the backgrounds for some photos. What f stop, iso and shutter speed do you recommend? Thank you so much for responding you don’t know how much I appreciate it!!
@@rebeccavan4335 yeah unfortunately without a good lighting system indoors your pictures aren't going to be what you want them to be.. you can still set up a seamless shoot indoors if you can be near a sliding glass door or an open garage door or somewhere where you're going to get a ton of light that doesn't fall directly on your child or the set. Really and truly the easiest way to go and the one that has the highest chance of giving you the results you're looking for will be an outdoor session. Sounds to me like the romper you have picked out will work just fine outdoors. I would add a bunch of sunshine related props in the background as well as a cute banner and I think it would look elegantly simple and extremely cute.
As far as your lens goes I would recommend keeping it zoomed out to about 45 mm. And don't shoot too close to your child because a wide-angle lens like the one you have will distort their head in a very unflattering way. My recommendation would have somebody wrangle the child for you while you scoot back a little bit and take the pictures from there. Even three feet or so will be enough. The aperture I would recommend would either be F2.8 if you want a very shallow depth of field so that you don't have to use software to blur out the background or F4. F4 will give you a better chance of having all of your images be in focus. The shutter speed in the ISO are dependent on the lighting conditions on the day. So it's really hard for me to say what settings to use. Your camera does have an aperture priority mode that will allow you to lock in the aperture at f4.0 and then it will automatically change the shutter speed and ISO for you. You can usually find the setting on the command dial and it will be marked with a capital AV. This setting is really good at getting you a correct exposure or at the very least very close. I hope this was helpful, Daniel
You’re awesome thank you so much for all your recommendations! I couldn’t have done it without you! I do have French doors in the kitchen so that will give light or like you said open garage! I’m super excited! Thank you so much I love all your videos!
We have an account on Instagram where we post our work as well as feature work from other photographers like yourself. You can find us @the. smash.cake.education
I forgot to mention that at the end of all of these behind the scenes videos we do show the images that we took while creating the set. Hope that helps. Have a great day!
Great question! The thing we always do before every shoot is take time to play a quiet game with the baby. For example the baby and I will play with blocks together. This establishes trust and a bond that usually prevents crying before it starts. If that fails I lower the energy level on set. I make my voice quieter and I tell the parents ( politely) to be quite. After a few minutes this will usually start to work. If not we take a break and give the child a snack and something to drink. After a good break we then continue to shoot quietly. If that doesn't work we keep trying but sometimes you just have to reschedule. Kids have bad days too. I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. Also let me know if you'd be interested in me doing a question and answer live stream. Have a great day! -Daniel
@@troutmanphoto Thank you, yes we do all what you side and even after reschedule baby never stopped crying, this was my first and hope it is the last :) it would be nice to add it to your next video
As always guys feel free to leave me any questions you might have and I'll get to them as soon as I can. Thanks and have a great day.
Wow this was fascinating After 25 years away from my photography career, i am getting back into portaits of children
I took the break to raise our children.
I love my canon 50mm 1.8 rf lens
Years ago i had 2 studio lights that i would take with me when i had my on location infant children and familiy photography business (yes,I went on location before there were newborn photographers and begore it was common to bring the studio with you to the family's home.
I am doing a newborn shoot in 2 weeks im really excited.
I loved the TLR medium format cameras
I upgraded to a mirrorless canon camera in july 2023 and every time i go to shoot macros of flowers or an event or a baby portrait at my home i learn so much.
Could you do a video on how you process the portraits
I use lightroom and i am relearning photoshop
I'm glad you found your way back to photography after 25 years. It gets in your blood and spoils you for any other type of job. I would be very happy to do some videos on editing. So keep an eye on the channel in the next week or so, and I should have something posted. Have a great night, Daniel
So excited for another sony user!🎉 thanks for the lense referral!
Glad to be of service and thank you for watching.
I’m preparing to take pictures for my niece’s first birthday, and your videos have been SO helpful! Thanks for sharing all this knowledge!
Thank you so much. I hope your niece has a great birthday 🥳🎉
Now I tried so long to try this on my baby but she freaked out when she touched the icing and that was it lol 😂
This happens a lot. most of them really don't like the feeling of frosting. Check out this video for some tips on how to get around that ruclips.net/video/gy8Y1cAlwqA/видео.html
Mumma smashed the cake instead
Thanks for the link. 🔗
I currently have the flashpoint xplor 600 and c stand with 68 octobox. The room I am using has very little natural light. What other light would you recommend to complete my setup? I own a speed light and a Vflat if that helps any. I am just starting out so I am definitely starting on a budget Thank you so much!
Okay so you're on a budget and you need a lite that's actually going to do the job. If you don't mind having a power cord running from the light to the wall then I would recommend the Godox MS300. I did a video on this light and you can find that video here
ruclips.net/video/MQ7Xzv81IMw/видео.html
I also like this light because its battery operated and portable.
Http://Amzn.to/37lhJvq
Please keep in mind though it is a speed light and the recycle time is a bit slower than your Godox AD600. Please let me know if you have any more questions I'm always happy to geek out with a fellow photographer!
Question: With the paper background, how do you do it after a cake smash if it gets dirty? Are you able to reuse it or do you dispose of it? In other words, is it sustainable for several cake smash sessions or is it more temporary?
Thank you.
The only way a seamless paper background can be reused is if you put sheets of plexi glass over the top of it. Otherwise you have to cut off the section of the paper that has smashed cake on it. BUT...we just filmed a video where we tested a seamless backdrop system for a company out of Australia and it uses cloth backgrounds instead of paper. We will be posting that video soon here on RUclips as well as pics of the backdrop system on our Instagram feed @the.smash.cake.education. I Hope that answers your question and that you have a great day!
Question.. I have a small lounge which I’m planning to convert to a small studio. Will 3x 200w strobes enough? It is only as big as a double bedroom.
For the most veritilty, I would bump up one light to a 300 or 400 watt and use it for your main light. A 200w light doesn’t have enough power to be used in a larger softbox effectively. Technically, it can fill the larger soft box, but you'll have to use the light at a high power, which will cause the light to take more time to recycle. I own a couple of 200w lights, and at full power, they can take 1-3 seconds to recycle. Meanwhile, you're missing shots because the flash isn't ready. It's really frustrating. So use that larger light as the main, and because it has more wattage, you'll be able to run it at a lower power and avoid slow recycle times. For your hair light or kicker light, the 200w lights will do the trick because generally speaking you want your hair lights and kicker lights to not be as bright as the main. This means you can run them at a lower power, possibly avoiding slow recycle times. But if you really wanted to be safe, just buy 3x 300w or 400 w lights. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions and have a great evening.
@@troutmanphoto I see! Glad Ive only bought one so far. :-) thanks for the tips.
PS: The walls of the room is painted light-blue. Will this affect my photoshoots? My ceiling is white.
Interested to know where the greenery is from
That batch is from Hobby Lobby. But I try to source it from second hand stores when possible.
I love all your recommendations especially adding a personal touch to it. So I have a nice Fuji camera. I’m planning on doing my sons cake smash photos. I’m on a budget so I’m not able to buy nice lighting. What I got is a kit on Amazon- it came with (2) umbrella reflectors with a 45W CL light bulb and (2) reflector soft boxes. Can I get away with using just the umbrella reflectors? I’ll have some natural light too. My other question is can I get away with a 4.4x16 seamless paper or do you recommend the size you have? Thank you!!
Rebecca thank you so much for watching my videos and for the great question. The first thing that I would do is... I would send that lighting kit back to amazon. Those kits are mainly put together so that people can photograph products and still life photography. The 45 w light bulbs just don't have enough juice to allow your camera to capture fast action. So for a smash cake scenario they simply won't work. Not to worry this is only going to help keep your photo shoot budget friendly :-).
As far as the 4-ft roll of paper goes I would also send that back to Amazon unless you're set on shooting the session on a seamless roll of paper. If you are, no worries, just make sure that you put your child close to the backdrop so that you're not photographing the edges of the paper. As far as lighting goes I would set up near a window in the kitchen and use that to light your child. If you don't have a window you could set up some seamless in the garage and open the garage door or find a spot on your patio outdoors.
For the easiest way to photograph an at home first birthday session I highly recommend ditching the paper and the lighting and simply take your child out into your yard or to a local park with a lot of grass. There you going to look for a shady spot and set up two or three feet into the shade so that the sunlight streams past your child. This way the sunlight will still light your child but won't shine directly on them causing harsh and nasty shadows.
At the park you can still set up banners by stringing them between two camping chairs that you have put a couple of weights in or possibly cases of bottled water. Throw in some of the cheap and easy props that we showcased in our cheap and easy prop video and you will stay well below budget and still have quality first birthday images.
Once again thanks so much for the great question. I will definitely be using your question as the subject of one of my next upcoming videos. 👍
@@troutmanphoto okay so before I saw this comment I got the large seamless that you recommended. Now should I cancel that and just do outdoor lighting and ditch doing an in home studio shoot all together? Because of not having a good lighting system? Also his theme is “you are my sunshine” his romper is blue, yellow sun in the middle and yellow straps. Any ideas on colors for this? Would it still look good outside? One more question my camera lens is 15-45 mm. I will have to go into Lightroom and blur the backgrounds for some photos. What f stop, iso and shutter speed do you recommend? Thank you so much for responding you don’t know how much I appreciate it!!
@@rebeccavan4335 yeah unfortunately without a good lighting system indoors your pictures aren't going to be what you want them to be.. you can still set up a seamless shoot indoors if you can be near a sliding glass door or an open garage door or somewhere where you're going to get a ton of light that doesn't fall directly on your child or the set.
Really and truly the easiest way to go and the one that has the highest chance of giving you the results you're looking for will be an outdoor session.
Sounds to me like the romper you have picked out will work just fine outdoors. I would add a bunch of sunshine related props in the background as well as a cute banner and I think it would look elegantly simple and extremely cute.
As far as your lens goes I would recommend keeping it zoomed out to about 45 mm. And don't shoot too close to your child because a wide-angle lens like the one you have will distort their head in a very unflattering way. My recommendation would have somebody wrangle the child for you while you scoot back a little bit and take the pictures from there. Even three feet or so will be enough. The aperture I would recommend would either be F2.8 if you want a very shallow depth of field so that you don't have to use software to blur out the background or F4. F4 will give you a better chance of having all of your images be in focus. The shutter speed in the ISO are dependent on the lighting conditions on the day. So it's really hard for me to say what settings to use. Your camera does have an aperture priority mode that will allow you to lock in the aperture at f4.0 and then it will automatically change the shutter speed and ISO for you. You can usually find the setting on the command dial and it will be marked with a capital AV.
This setting is really good at getting you a correct exposure or at the very least very close.
I hope this was helpful,
Daniel
You’re awesome thank you so much for all your recommendations! I couldn’t have done it without you! I do have French doors in the kitchen so that will give light or like you said open garage! I’m super excited! Thank you so much I love all your videos!
Did you have account on instagram? I want to see the results of the smash cake ..thanks
We have an account on Instagram where we post our work as well as feature work from other photographers like yourself. You can find us @the. smash.cake.education
I forgot to mention that at the end of all of these behind the scenes videos we do show the images that we took while creating the set. Hope that helps. Have a great day!
How do you deal with a crying baby
no matter what you do they will not stop?
Great question! The thing we always do before every shoot is take time to play a quiet game with the baby. For example the baby and I will play with blocks together. This establishes trust and a bond that usually prevents crying before it starts. If that fails I lower the energy level on set. I make my voice quieter and I tell the parents ( politely) to be quite. After a few minutes this will usually start to work. If not we take a break and give the child a snack and something to drink. After a good break we then continue to shoot quietly. If that doesn't work we keep trying but sometimes you just have to reschedule. Kids have bad days too.
I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. Also let me know if you'd be interested in me doing a question and answer live stream.
Have a great day!
-Daniel
@@troutmanphoto Thank you,
yes we do all what you side and even after reschedule baby never stopped crying, this was my first and hope it is the last :)
it would be nice to add it to your next video