“Capturing babies and young children requires you to increase your camera's shutter speed"
As a photographer who specialises in family and newborn images, Louise’s timeless images aim to tell a story about each family. She does this by creating a relaxed and organic atmosphere to capture the raw beauty of the special bond between family members. “If the subjects aren’t fully relaxed, then it shows,” Louise says. “But taking a short break to reset can really help.” Lots of patience is required, especially with newborns but, having young children of her own, she understands what’s required to get the balance between the perfect shot and a happy and calm family.
Louise prefers working in her clients’ homes and shooting with natural light. “For this shot, we were in their apartment, which had high ceilings and was flooded with natural light,” she says. “Capturing babies and young children requires you to increase your shutter speed as there are sudden movements and changes in facial expressions.” With her background in design, Louise uses a mixture of textures and fabrics to create further depth and interest. “The new mother chose a beautiful dress from a collection I have for these sessions. The delicate sleeves add a touch of elegance to the image,” she says.
In post-production, Louise carried out some basic editing steps, adding some texture around the newborn’s hairline to ensure she visually dominated the frame. “Newborns tend to have a red undertone to their skin, which quite often has patches and pimples, so I took the saturation down along with the texture,” she explains. “Once I had removed the main blemishes, the skin appeared much smoother but I avoided heavy airbrushing to keep the subject looking natural.”
Tech details
Camera: Nikon D750
Lens: Nikon 50mm f/1.8
Aperture: f/1.8
Shutter speed: 1/200 sec
ISO: 320
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