These are much fun but require us to be quick, agile and focused ... A couple of notes before you start:
 | I set up the chair, and the light, and have 4 - 5 rolls of 35mm film ready and opened next to me. |
| Sit on the floor with the 35mm camera in hand and the 35 - 105 zoom. |
| Manual focus is necessary as these must be fast |
| They must also be tight ... I find I am working generally at the innermost focusable zone. That means that I'm zoomed in all the way, and focused as close as possible, and moving myself in and out slightly to get the parts in focus. |
Some problems we have had are:
| Too far away ... requiring much cropping in the lab ... I shoot exactly what you see here in the lens. |
| Not enough exposures ... shoot at least 3 - 5 rolls of this stuff. |
| Too much contrast ... keep the light close. |
Shoot at least 1 - 1 1/2 rolls of the face ... lots of expressions ... cut off the head if you want ... tight ... shoot the ear, the eye, the mouth, the corner between the ear and shoulder
Have the mom put her hand in and interact with the child. Have the kid hold their moms hand ... and shoot the connection.
Lay the holder back and have the mom put the baby's feet into his/ her hands ... these 6 month old kids love to hold their feet. Zoom in and get a close up of this foot hand interaction ... and also back up to get the expression.
If the mom snuggles ... shoot it ... put the kid on it's stomach and shoot a close up of the ear like this ... the interaction if it happens ... often they will cross their feet ... shoot just the feet crossing.
You are not done until you have shot 3 - 6 rolls of film ... and three is on the way stingy side for these.