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Photographing the birth of a baby is a monumental event. The pictures taken will be memories to last a lifetime and to cherish always. But obtaining the best pictures can be a difficult, at best, task.
What to consider before planning on photographing a birth is what type of camera you have. A standard point-and-shoot, like a Nikon One-Touch, can handle most situations because of its automatic flash. This is particularly useful during a poorly-lit birth since you cannot manually operate the camera.
For a point-and-shoot camera, using 200 speed film is a good approach. Higher speeds like 400 can be used as well but the pictures will appear more grainy and that will take from their quality.
A zoom point-and-shoot camera can also work well to focus closer on the actual birth or on expressions on faces.
If an SLR camera, single lens reflex, is what you are using like a Canon Rebel, you have more options available to you for the birth. You can use a flash or not, depending on lighting. If the lighting is purely daylight, you can manually adjust the shutter speed and aperture to avoid needing to use the flash. The same holds true at night, when the room is very dark. Though a flash may be necessary, if the room is not too dark, hand-holding a shutter speed of 30 to 60 is possible. The key with this is to use 400 speed film and adjust your camera's setting for 800 speed film instead. Then when you take it to the developer tell them to push it to 800. This will require a photography lab, like many one-hour places, so they can make those fine adjustments.
Now that you have your camera and film ready it is time to consider different angles and framings for pictures. The obvious is photographing the laboring woman wherever she may be. Full-body shots of her lying on her side or resting in a birth tub are very nice. Avoid taking pictures of the genital area until the delivery is actually taking place. Labor is a great time to focus on people's expressions and how they interact together.
Many photo opportunities will arise in simple scenarios like the laboring woman holding the hand of her partner. Or maybe she has an expression on her face that truly shows what she is feeling. If many family and friends are in the room, try for at least one picture of all of them near the pregnant woman in labor.
For the actual delivery you will need to find a position to get the best pictures of the baby being born. This will depend a lot on what position she is in and what the practitioner feels about your presence. Discussing this ahead of time with the midwife or doctor would be a good way to know where you will be allowed when the delivery takes place.
Pictures of the baby's head first appearing and then crowning as the birth canal is stretched can be fantastic shots. Once the baby's head is delivered is another time for great pictures. Take them as quickly as you can as the actual delivery part usually goes very quickly.
Once the baby is born and in its mother's arms you will know exactly what pictures look best.
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