Maternity Session

[trisha_hebert]

<p>I am doing my first maternity session for a friend tonight, and I was looking for any advice or tips to get some great photos. Positions, etc. She's not sure if she wants to do any bare belly because she was one of the lucky ones to get a lot of stretch marks.<br>

I am looking for some nice positions. I also want to incorporate her husband & son in a few. I am going to try to do some outside and then some in the studio. I only have a couple of backdrops. I have baby blue, black & white seamless paper. However I do not have a 3rd light to light the background on the white, so it ends up looking more grey when I use it. Also, because I am working in a very small space the black tends to look more grey as well. I also have a greyish blue muslin, that I like alot. If I do take some shots on the white & black, is there a way to fix the color of them in photoshop afterwards ( making the black appear jet black rather than grey, and the white, pure white)?<br>

I currently have 2 lights in my studio, one main light and one fill. If I use my fill light to light my background on the white, How should I position my main light to get good results, so there isn't alot of shadows?</p>

[kayumangi]

<p>If lighting is your main concern, why not buy a pair of $25 500W worklights from Walmart they should be enough to light your white background.<br>

<br /> You did not mention if you have any softbox or umbrellas but assuming you don't have any you can get some white linen again from Walmart and hang them and have your strobes fire thru them, that should give you some nice even lighting.</p>

[lindsay_dobson]

<p>Grey backgrounds are very 'en vogue' at the moment. </p>

[mark_hartman]

<p>You can certainly get away with using just one light on your subject, if you want. The shadows can help create a mood. Look at all the great stuff done using just window light and a mom-to-be. </p>

<p>Of course, you may want to have a large soft box or shoot through umbrella if you want to get close to that look in studio. Attached was done with just a large soft box to the right of camera. You can add a reflector too, if you are not a fan of shadows in your work. But, with dad and child added to the setting, you'll need to keep them very close together and watch how they are positioned if you plan to go with one light.</p>

<p>You can dodge and burn in the background after the fact if you want to get a darker or lighter effect. Good luck!</p><div></div>