Like most photographers, I have a bag of tricks to help bring out your personality at photo sessions. But 3 month old babies were a challenge until I learned this neat trick from Karen Rubin at the PPNC convention. At 3 months old, babies don’t have full vision development but they see contrasting patterns like black and white well. A black and white lens wrap does the trick! Karen uses foam core, but I decided to try a paper plate and it worked great!
First, trace the large end of your lens without any hood attached in the center of your plate. I use a 50mm f/1.4 lens for baby portraits.
Next, cut a hole using your tracing. Use a black marker to create a pattern on the bottom of the plate. Then attach the plate to your lens. Be sure that you do not impede the focus ring or controls.
As you can see from this precious three month old girl, it works!
See Karen Rubin’s work at http://www.karenrubin.com/.
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