Diverse Reflections

Nikon D3200, NIKKOR 18-55mm lens, f/5.6, 1/500, ISO 100

This is my newest sister, Aspen. She’s the sweetest little baby, loves to be held, and has smiled since she was less than a month old. My toddler brother adores her and is nearly always lying beside her or kissing her on the top of her head.

I didn’t know much about newborn photography when my last sibling was born, and I thought it was up to the “professionals,” the photographers with the well-lit studios and secret techniques. But the more I looked up “newborn photography” on Digital Photography School and Pinterest (the best place for inspiration), the more I thought, “Hey, I bet I could do that.”

Nikon D3200, NIKKOR 18-55mm lens, f/6.3, 1/50, ISO 100

Since my Mom and Dad don’t find out what gender the baby is, it’s always like a birthday present when the baby finally comes. It’s also one of the reasons I was in an excited rush to find every single baby girl prop on Amazon once she was born! Tutus, tiaras, headbands with big flowers…I was going all in on this photoshoot! (A special thanks to my Mom for funding a majority of the props used in the making of this shoot)

The first thing I did was plan what background I wanted. The white background in all of these photos is simply a white bedsheet. I used a toddler bed in my bedroom for a “studio.” Right above the bed is a window which let in beautiful lighting (I did the photoshoot around 10AM while Baby was calm and asleep). To hold Aspen up, I used a pillow underneath the sheet (if your pillow is any other color besides white, you may want to cover it with a white pillowcase so that the color won’t show through the sheet). My Mom, who acted as my assistant, held up the other end of the sheet behind Baby to act as a background.

Nikon D3200, NIKKOR 18-55mm lens, f/6.3, 1/100, ISO 100

At one point, Aspen woke up (in a very good mood, thankfully!), and did a “one eye” thing, keeping one eye closed. It wasn’t very pretty, but she soon opened both eyes, which led to some cute photos.

Nikon D3200, NIKKOR 18-55mm lens, f/5.6, 1/60, ISO 100

I use PicMonkey for my editing (Photoshop is a little hard to understand at this time). The above photo was put into Black-and-White and faded ever-so-slightly to keep some of the color.

Nikon D3200, NIKKOR 18-55mm lens, f/5.6, 1/30, ISO 100

The photo above is my absolute favorite from the photoshoot. I didn’t edit it at all, loving it the way it was taken. She looks like a baby ballerina with her little hands stretched out. I love her expression, her mouth almost a smile, and her bright eyes. She is definitely a beautiful little girl…

I hope she doesn’t ever get tired of my camera lens.

Here are the details for this photoshoot:
(affiliate links)

Since babies “in the buff” aren’t at all my thing, I used a white, long-sleeved onesie with a pink tutu. The headband comes in a 10-pack of multiple colors, so I have many different choices.

A bed, couch or chair works great for an easy set-up. Use pillows to help Baby sit upright, and cover the pillows with a sheet or quilt. I promise, it will look great! If you bought a twin bedsheet pack (I bought one from Walmart for under $10) for the background, don’t forget to toss it in the dryer for a few minutes to smooth out any wrinkles.

If you know the gender of the baby, by all means, go out and buy props immediately. Since I ordered mine, they took longer to be delivered, and I lost a little time. That meant no tiny baby, easily-posed newborn photos. Babies tend to grow out of the easy-posing stage within the first month. After that, they wake up easier and are not as easy to pose, though it is still possible.

Aspen woke up in the middle of the photoshoot and cried for a few minutes. My Mom calmed her down quickly, then set her on the bed again. Be patient if the baby cries, and let mom hold him\her. Crying usually doesn’t last long. Work your photoshoot around the baby’s schedule. This might mean dressing the baby in his\her chosen outfit an hour or two before the photoshoot, just in case he\she falls asleep (but be careful of the outfit if your baby has a tendency to spit up). My Mom dressed Aspen just before the photoshoot while she was sleeping, and she wasn’t disturbed, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.

My “studio” isn’t a studio at all. It is, in fact, my bedroom. I have two windows, one of which lets in beautiful lighting no matter the time of day (except for nighttime, of course). I don’t have expensive flashes (yet) or beautiful backgrounds. Even the corner of a room can make a great impromptu studio. Or the kitchen, dining room, living room…Anywhere with good lighting and a good background (or you can set one up like I did).

I’ll be doing a review on the items I used for this photoshoot, so check back soon! Also, I’ll have more baby photos from a new shoot up soon!

Check out my Pinterest board for inspiration for baby photos and set-ups and check out these posts for more tips on newborn and baby photography:

Newborn Lifestyle Photography Tips
Setting Up for a Baby Photoshoot
10 Tips for Photographing Newborns
How To Easily Prepare for a Baby Photoshoot

Last year, my parents treated me to something special: my first concert. I’d read about Matthew West, a popular (and funny) artist, coming to my area, and had asked them about the concert. They surprised me a few days before the concert, and I was so excited. “What should I wear? Who’s coming with me? Can we get floor seats? Can I take photos?” That last question was probably one of the most important to me. If I was going to my first concert, I was definitely going to see if the place allowed photography.

Matthew West Concert 2014 | Megan Roberts DiverseReflections.com

Nikon D3200, NIKKOR 18-55mm lens, f/5.6, 1/200, ISO 200, Spot Metering

I was extremely impatient as my Mom and I walked to the ticket office. The floor seats had long since been sold out, but I didn’t mind. At least I was going to see Matthew West! But the ticket seller said that two floor seat tickets had just come open while we stood there! My Mom gave me a look, and I shrugged. “You have the wallet.” I laughed. Floor seats all the way. That must have been a God-incidence (there’s no such thing as coincidence).

Nikon D3200, NIKKOR 18-55mm lens, ISO 200, 1/200, f/5.6, Spot Metering

As we sat in the second row (a bonus because the first row had no one in it!), I fiddled around with my Nikon, setting the “correct” ISO, shutter speed, etc. I decided to leave it on Shutter Priority because I didn’t feel comfortable with full manual at the time.

Nikon D3200, NIKKOR 18-55mm lens, ISO 100, 1/6, f/5.6, EV -0.7 Spot Metering

The opening band performed for a while, and the sun behind the grandstand fell quickly. By the time the set-up crew had removed the extra equipment, tuned the guitars and furnished the stage for Matthew West’s entrance, it was completely dark. I had to change the settings on my camera again, and took a planned shot of the drum set with the blue lights and smoke in the background. This was a must-have shot for me.

Matthew West finally made his entrance and impressed me much, much more than I thought he would. He had me smiling the whole night away. Being my first time at a major concert, I “followed” the artist’s and other fans’ actions. I’m not much of a wave-hands-in-the-air type of person, but I clapped a lot. Matthew West included the crowd in everything, holding out his small microphone so that everyone could “help out” with the bridge or chorus here and there.

He shared plenty of stories (most of them honestly hilarious) and even more jokes. He’s a funny guy. At one point, he jumped off the stage and over the gate to stand in front of us. He was positive he had hurt his knee in doing so, but he said it was for the fans.

Without hesitation, he jumped onto the front-row seat in front of me! He bent down, shook my hand and asked, “Hi, did I scare you? What’s your name?”

I replied, grinning with a smile too big for my face, “Megan.” How could I be scared? I was too busy thinking, “WOW, I JUST SHOOK HANDS WITH MATTHEW WEST!”

“Well, everyone clap for Megan,” He returned the smile, and added, “Because I think I might have scared her a bit.”

See? There are huge benefits to buying the last floor seats available. Getting the best seating for taking photos (awesome), and getting the unexpected possibility of shaking Matthew West’s hand (double awesome).

Matthew West Concert 2014|Megan Roberts Diverse Reflections

Nikon D3200, NIKKOR 18-55mm lens, ISO 200, 1/200, f/5.6, Spot Metering

Here are the details for my first concert “photoshoot”:
(affiliate links)

I decided to use my 18-55mm lens because, although I could have zoomed in closer with my telephoto lens for some face shots, I was more interested in the atmosphere and adding it into the photos.

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Matthew West has some really good faces (by “good,” I mean he’s either got a beautiful smile or a full-of-feeling, scrunched-up look) when he’s singing, and when he sang “Forgiveness,” his look was amazing. I had left my camera bag open in order to retrieve my Nikon D3200 whenever I felt like a good shot would happen, so I quickly got it out and readied it for the ever-hopeful “next time.” Thankfully, he made the same look, and I got the shot shown at the beginning of the post. A super-important tip in the Boy Scouts, as well as in photography, is “Be prepared.” Remember that you may only get one chance to create a great photo.

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In some photos I took during Matthew West’s first songs on stage, the highlights are, well, high-lit. I had forgotten to reset my ISO and shutter speed after the opening band, so, while Matthew West smiled into the camera for me, the photo would take a lot of editing to show it. Again, be prepared.

I used a 32GB SD card, but didn’t take many photos because I wanted to “cherish the moment,” something I have a bad habit of forgetting to do.

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As for editing, I used some contrast to boost the skin tone, which was an unnatural gray from my camera. I also cropped out the uninteresting parts of the stage to focus more on Matthew West. Black and White conversion, which I’ve seen in quite a few different concert shots from other photographers, didn’t look good with the photos I took. Color did more justice, I thought, so I left my photos that way.

I definitely plan on going to more concerts with my camera in tow, and this won’t be the last time I participate in a Matthew West concert. I’m all smiles just thinking about it! Thank-you, Mr. West, for the best first concert ever.

For more info on Concert Photography, check out these posts from my favorite tutorial website, Digital Photography School:

Choosing the best camera settings

Concert Photography tips

The Basics