Captive subjects.
Good light, natural reflectors of tile walls and glossy tubs filled with white suds.
Fun, even with a tired baby, most kids like baths.
Post bath cuddles with baby wrapped in a towel are the perfect time to grab a self portrait with your child in the bathroom mirror.
You can even pass it all off as a task but get to take great photos at the same time. Tell your partner that you’ll bathe the kids and they can do the dishes…it really sounds like a good deal.
rachel’s note: Be safe! As fun as it is, the bath can be a dangerous spot. Make sure you take your camera bag into the bathroom and get set up first before you ever put the kids in the water…you never want to take your eyes off of them. I always have my camera bag within reach and an extra towel to toss over the top of it so I can switch from being a photographer back to mom in an instant. Oh and make sure you have a UV filter on your lens…that front glass element is going to get wet.
tech tips: The best bath photos seem to be a balance of shallow depth of field to render the faucet and taps inconspicuous and a fast shutter speed to catch the splashed water droplets. If you have enough light from the windows (try a morning or late afternoon bath) then you should be fine shooting around 1/200s and f/3.2 and larger (ie: the smaller numbers). You may have to raise your ISO to get that fast of a shutter speed. If it is too late for window light and you have a flash*, put it on, set it to TTL, turn the head around and bounce it off of the wall behind you (IF and only if that wall is white, you do not want to have a color cast to deal with).
*We will get into flash photography tips later on and cover it well in the classes. For now just know that flash is not the enemy it is rumored to be. Two of the photos in the montage above were taken with flash…can you guess which ones?
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love it! this blog is going to make me beg my husband to buy me a nice camera and throw my point and shoot out the window like i’ve been threatening for so long. i love it rachel!
Thanks for the tips! I’m in love with this blog already!
Great tips! Will put them to use next bath time.
my guess on the flash phtos would be th very firt one stub the five girls in the tub? And Clover and Elmo?
one of your guesses is correct! i want to see if anyone else guesses before i reveal the answers!
great advice – am going to try today!
my guess is the first one of rachels with the five girls in the tub and the shot of petas with the little girl in the kitchen sink with dishes to side?
My guess on the flash photos:
the five girls in the tub
the 3rd shot — mom, dad and the baby wrapped in a towel
I am going to agree with Karen Z. The five girls in the tub and the tight shot of the family. My other guess would be the green-eyed boy at the very bottom on the left. =)
Thanks for all the great advice!!!
This is great Rachel…I am totally going to be stalking this blog!
My guesses for the flash photos are….
- the first shot of Rachel’s with the five girls in the tub
- Rachel’s shot (next to her shot of Clover and Elmo) of the baby in the sink
awesome post. i think the one of chloe (baby in sink with green & yellow tile) is flash, and the 1st photo.
beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, just love it.
What an absolutely gorgeous blog (and fabulous ideas), love it! Bravo to both of you for doing this! xox
thank you, myla! we have both worked very hard on and for this!
Not sure which ones have the flash…but I can’t believe it…I think the antique tub photo has the kids of a photographer on flickr I used to follow before she went f&f…Serena…can’t remember her last name. Loved her work!
But I’m also laughing because I received a Nikon Speedlight back in Christmas 2008 and it’s been in the bottom drawer of my desk all year. Shhhh…don’t tell my benefactor (the husband). Now I’m going to put it on TTL and bounce some light of some walls! I think it’s possible, Rachel, that you can actually teach me how to embrace my flash from long distance! My kit is spare…D200, 85mm f1.4, and standard zoom lens. And a pair of brollies I don’t know how to use either. Really weird to divulge what’s in my bag since I really think it’s more about the seeing than the glass, but alas, my (lack of) technical skills are keeping me from moving further…
So now you know what your up against!
This is so wonderful!! I’m so excited for this blog!!
Ok, my guesses are… The girls up top and the baby on the bottom next to Maya.
I can’t wait to see what’s to come on this blog!!
Rach, when u say flash u mean a real one and not the one that pops out of my camera? What sort of flash do I need to get?
Loving this blog. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. My guess about the flash – the first photo of lots of kids in a bath, one of my favorite bath photos. and the second one i believe it’s carrie’s little girl in the sink?
I am in awe of these shots. I have no natural light in my bathroom. I had to shoot at 800 iso to prevent blur of my little granddaughter. The noise with the Nikon D200 is hard to take. I have some wonderful memorable photos of her bath, but the light in your shots is magnificent. Keep on inspiring me
bath time is always a fun time to take pictures. my two guesses would be the close up the little babe with bright blue/green eyes (2nd one down on the left) and the one of the little girl in the sink
awesome blog! i’m bookmarking it and will be here often! ( :
My guess is the first one and the little boy in the teal and yellow bathroom
If I could reach across the ocean and hug you, I would. This blog is like cyber gold. Your tips are priceless to those of us who are still learning this photography thing blind. One of these days I’m going to get into your class. Pennies are being saved.
Thank you again for this blog!!
Great post! I love kids bathing in sinks – I used to when I was a small child, and I recently got this (great, if I do say so myself!) shot of my nephew taking a bath in my mother’s kitchen sink: http://www.flickr.com/photos/diaphanous999/3899682646/
I’m guessing that the second flash shot is Rachel’s shot with the green and yellow tile.
This blog is already so awesome! Thank you so much for making it! I will get into your class one day! You’ll see
I think the 5 girls in the tub and the one of the mom/dad and baby wrapped in the towel. Nice shots. Some seem a tad overexposed to me, although that seems to be the trend anymore….especially at the end of the precious little one with just the nose on up peeking over the tub and tiles in the background. He/she is almost washed out. Beautiful photos! Thanks for the great site so far!.
thanks for the comment. it does highlight the issue of viewer perception and monitor calibration which is something that we will cover later on this blog. while i would say that we both have a very clean and bright style, i don’t think we do anything by trend since our styles have been consistent over the years.
going to reveal the answer to the flash question shortly!
Loving the Blog girls!!
If only I had a Lovely big window OR lovely white walls instead of my horrid Black tiles and Pink walls in my Bathroom LOL! (its ok, its ok…. Breath… Bathroom Revo starts soon hehe)
xxThanks Girls Mwah
well, now you can factor in photography for the plans of the renovation! oh and if you have a white ceiling, you can bounce the flash off it, just point the flash head straight up!
wow, what fabby tips, and great shots too!
So glad to know the flash isn’t always the enemy. I get frustrated with my d90 and my old bungalow ( and it’s small amount of direct light) I prefer shooting without the flash, but the blurriness drives me insane!
My guess is girls in tub and baby in the green & yellow bathroom:)
Love the new blog guys! I’m going to try a tub shot tomorrow. First I have to clean the tub Hehe.
first of all, great tips and adorable photos. I am so going to love this site.
I vote for the family of three, and the five little girls.
Terrific bath shots. It has been a while since I photographed my son taking a bubble bath. He is almost 5. Thanks for the inspiration I will be taking my camera in at bath time soon:)
This is soo cool girls….what a great tips and lovin this blog already! I will be coming back to stalk you girls for sure
This is such a natural extension of both your talents. I am already addicted. Good luck with this venture guys! There are so many of us out there who want to be able to capture our children’s moments with such beauty. Can’t wait to start learning.
P.S. No idea which photos have been taken with flash. You guys are too good.
my guess is:
1. the girls in the tub.
2. chloe in the bath.
btw- love this site. thank you ladies for all of your awesomeness.
Thank you! This is a wonderful idea!
Your examples are just beautiful.
Love this blog! Thanks, ladies!
i am SO excited about your new blog…cannot even tell you.
GORGEOUSNESS!
I published a comment on facebook! Thank you guys for this site I love it!
Oh, I am going to play at bathtime this afternoon. Perfect.
Better go clean it…
I AM. SO. EXCITED. Seriously! I think this is going to be JUST the type of information I need to mix with what I already know to round out my skills! AWESOME. AWESOME!
Love these! Bounced flash has become my friend in these darker winter months of indoor family client shoots! Just had one recently where it wasn’t a super bright day, but you can’t tell from the sneak peek of the shoot (http://hollysissonphotography.com/2010/02/16/miles-the-adorable-toddler-toronto-family-photography/). Some of the images had bounced flash, some did not. Even when you have decent natural light (i.e. right by a window) bounced flash can help bring down the ISO and produce a much better quality image.
I just purchased the new Canon EOS 1D MkIV, and used it for the shoot linked above, and it is awesome. It would be ‘perfect’ if I could set exposure comp in manual, with auto ISO, hope Canon will change that with a firmware update. But what I can do is shoot in Aperture mode (as that is the most important element to me), use auto ISO, and then set the minimum shutter speed (but not perfect as it jumps from 1/125 to 1/250). It’s wonderful when shooting in changing light conditions, as ISO will just shift to maintain exposure. Works excellent with bounced flash, too, and if I accidently shoot two frames, both will be exposed correctly, non-flash shot will just have a higher ISO.