Jen here with another First Year post! Today I am sharing with you how I used one of Me Ra’s photo recipes from her book, Your Baby in Pictures, to help me capture my baby and dog together.
Now that Logan is able to sit up on her own with no problem, I thought it would be the ideal time to capture Logan and our dogs together. Not quite! Last week, Logan discovered how to crawl. And her favorite thing to crawl to? The dogs’ tails! Now whenever we put Logan on the floor, the dogs stay clear of our little mobile one. But with a little coaxing – and the promise of a dog biscuit! – I was able to get MacKenzie to spend a few moments next to Logan for some adorable shots! Here’s what I did…
When
You will want to photograph baby and dog at a time that is best for both of them, as well as a time when the natural light is optimal. This can be a little tricky to get your three elements in sync, but it is an important step. Make sure baby is fed and changed for a happy girl. If you don’t have a lazy doggie like we do, then make sure he or she has had time to play and mellow out. If your dog or baby is not feeling up to a photo session, then take a time out and try again later or perhaps another day. The happier your subjects, the better your pictures!
Preparation
There is not much room in our home for a big doggie and a mobile baby to hang out, so I cleared a few pieces of furniture away in our living room. This also helped to simplify the background in the images.
Camera Settings
I always have the flash on my DSLR turned off. I set my camera to Continuous Shooting mode because I was hoping to capture some kisses, and since MacKenzie’s tongue is super fast, I was going to need to capture as many frames per seconds as possible. I set my camera to Aperture Priority mode and selected my f-stop to be f/3.2 to ensure Logan and MacKenzie were both in focus just in case either of them moved a little. To help me freeze the action of MacKenzie’s kisses, I would need a faster shutter speed. The only way to do that and have enough light in my images would be to raise my ISO to 1000.
Compose & Capture
Since MacKenzie laid down for the whole session, I chose to shoot horizontally. This format choice also helped to simplify the clutter in the background. I focused on Logan’s eyes and began to shoot away!
Logan’s got her eye on the prize – the paw of an unsuspecting MacKenzie!
Success! Logan reached her goal. MacKenzie gives her a little kiss as a reward.
Once she starts, she can’t stop! MacKenzie goes in for a few kisses on the face, which are a little too wet for Logan. Gotta love that expression!
Now it’s YOUR turn! Try out Me Ra’s photo recipe for yourself, and share your favorite images on Me Ra’s Facebook page. We can’t wait to see what you capture!
Meet me here next week when I share with you how much life has changed in our home since Logan began to crawl!
First Year Cheers!
