I don’t know about you, but when I was in school, far and away, my favorite lens was the macro lens. This lens allowed me to get within inches of my subject to capture the details in the detail I was photographing. Not only that, but this lens really makes your subject stand out. When your focus is properly adjusted your subject will be the ONLY thing in focus! Sadly, I am now shooting with a digital camera and have not saved up enough to purchase a macro lens but rest assured, it’s on my “To Get” list!
In newborn photography, your baby is the subject. You want these photos so you can go back and remember those juicy little details, like the peach fuzz on the top of their ear or the wrinkles on the bottoms of their teeny tiny feet! A macro lens will go far to ensure you capture the details of those sweet details.
But what if you only have a point and shoot, and can not switch out the lens? Well, get as close as you can while still having a clearly focused image. While enlarging the image may not be possible, if you have Photoshop you can use the blur tool to pull the focus to your baby by blurring everything that is not on the same plane as your little one. Another great option for those who do not and can not afford Photoshop or other photo editing software is picmonkey. I know, I know, if you are a photographer, you are cringing right now. I do, too. But, as I was just beginning to learn how to edit and what I liked, picmonkey (then, picnic) was fantastic because it was free, or for a nominal charge allowed additional editing options and backup! I don’t use it anymore, though, because it simply does not allow me the control over the finished product that I have using Photoshop. But, if you don’t plan to become a professional photographer, picmonkey may be the website for you to use as you edit the images of your precious new little one.
And here is a link to a site that has some beautiful examples of what kind of images are possible to capture when using a macro lens: Bruises and Bandaids.
I hope you enjoy capturing the details in the details this weekend; be sure to share your precious pictures with me!
* My adviser does not find it necessary for me to add this information, but I am so “blog illiterate,” that I cannot help but to imagine others may be in the same boat with me! It took me a bit to figure out how to leave a comment here, so in case you want to leave a comment but can’t figure out how: Simply click the yellow bar that runs across the top of the blog post you would like to comment on. It opens that post in a tab of it’s own, the links necessary to make a comment are at the bottom of the post! Fun!