We are going to start showcasing some of our joint sessions on this blog. First up is this sweet newborn, what a strong little guy he was at only 3 weeks!

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?