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Cooper

Lesson 24 from: Bellies & Babies

Sandy Puc

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Lesson Info

24. Cooper

Next Lesson: Questions

Lesson Info

Cooper

So now you're going to jump back in and we have some new babies here now I made a mistake earlier was never what was never you I believe we thought she was six months old and when she came in I could tell that she was actually much stronger than a six bill that she was actually our nine month old so that made a lot of sense after because she was super strong I'm she's very petite, so it was kind of one of those what we want so now we actually have our six month olds here, which is good because now you'll see a definite difference instability, how strong they are, what they can actually do. So this is little cooper right? And cooper is six or seven months six, six and a half so he's writing that crossover and you're going to see he's not quite a strong effect asked mom he's stable but needs support so that's that's that situation where you cannot predict it. If I told mom six months he definitely would not be sitting up if I had said seven months, he would have probably been there but w...

e're right in the in between so she's gonna be my helper today we're gonna go ahead and bring him in here we're using studio strobes again I'm going to get rid of this first of all because he's not stable we use a lot of boxes and chairs and fun things but because he's not stable the last thing I want to do is try to balance him on something first we may not do this at all the pitting on his true stability so we're gonna start super and simple no props we're just gonna have cooper sitting down at this age the milestone is that he can sit mom is going to come actually on my side I apologize and I'm gonna lift him up and you're gonna touch his pants if that's okay already bag here ago okay, I'm going to have been no straight laced with a with a good deal. Okay, so if you kneel here your knees go straight into the baby what I do when I'm telling her to do that she's actually staying out and just a hair this way apologies if she's straight in she's out of both of my lights and a little closer moms are always within inches cooper's the biggest priority here so we're gonna be running around doing crazy things do not take your eyes off him this a really hard floor and you definitely don't want to let him fall so I want you to hang on to him real died you're pretty stable though yeah, you go ahead and grab on he's like I'll just keep it jeans all right now, at six months babies become aware of their environment. You can see he's curious. He sees a lot of movement anybody that moves is going to take his attention away from me. So, um, in a studio environment, we obviously don't have people moving around if he gets his, you know, if he catches something it watch him it's our job to make sure that we can bring him back and we do that through noise and sounds and fun little things. This is just a test. So your hand is fine. It's beautiful. Ready? So when I start shooting watch him keep your eyes on him. When I start shooting, you can actually put your hand in any time. He's gonna fall do not worry about wasting a shot in particular. Now I might say you have a very long version of this let's get an extension pole. We'll need it for tomorrow. Very goes. Hey, cooper. Ready so hot. Oh, there you are so high that he can see lots of people out there. Cooper e now I'll show you again how I use a tripod. Keep your eyes on him. Why use a tripod? Because I even with the seventy two, two hundred, I am probably right it's seventy millimeters right now, but our seventy right now, but, um if I had a small space and I had to work by myself which many of you d'oh you khun see okay put your hand on his back because I don't want to fall back cooper teacup how you like that is a little drill on his lip if you catch that and now now you can go and pull his hand now that we know he's a follower tio tio high we're going where you going huh I know uh hi hello berg I think we're good teo did I get you yes I did what's this what's this hey there you go good job so we're doing great already let me just check the focus and everything looking great all right now what you could do is put him down now that we have the sea uh shot of him sitting that's really are milestone shot so now pretty much anything is ago let's get him down on his tummy head facing towards this light over this way and it's six months I want to show the whole body size so yeah just pull back a little bit and he's going to show that he's strong hey scooter but oh that's really impressive for six and a half months by the way that's actually closer to a nine month movement most six month olds can not do that but they also can fall forward on their chin if they're not super stable and that makes for a bad day let's wipe his mouth again that's better but I think you got it this's what we have in the studio what's that uh I'm not going to come in because on his toes like that he literally could fall into a chance a mom get ready I know you know he's stable but it goes vast that's how we learn huh? Hey stroud what are you doing baby pushing something hey what is this how do you do teo there he is now watch his eyes will go exactly where the tickler is so if I come in and tickle him and I bring it back here his eyes never come up if I go like this and bring it up here his eyes go up so I have to put it right above the camera sticklers are our lifeline e t o I t I'm going to get cooper there he is young boy good job, kids yeah buddy ready here comes one you are scaring me to death but you and those tippy toe that's so funny ah was this what is that? Uh beautiful good job buddy ready one more ok, now come in close. The only reason I'm not coming in super close because he's up on his toes like that if he reaches out for it he's definitely gonna go down let's pull him back actually he's moving forward he's leaving us. Go ahead and grab that. Okay. Oh, thank you, mom. You're hired. All right, so now we're gonna go for that big smile. One time now I'm gonna come in since he's a little unstable ee oh ee oh happened? See that's what? I mean that's, why you have to be really careful with this? Hi, there you are. Good job. Now we can go ahead now that I know how stable is, we can easily is the box. He actually is strong after that's let's, lift him up you go. Wait could actually put him in the box as well. Know that girly stuff? They can't. So if he weren't super stable, this is a great way. He's, right at that point where this could support his back. But he's not the right time, but if he doesn't do it that's okay, don't smash yourself. Where you going? Just watching this. We just wanted to bang on that. All right, here we go. Cooper, you're doing a good job ready? Oh, what did you find? This could be for a serious keep your eye on a mom. So I'm gonna shoot a horizontal because I'm gonna bet that I would either go off it's awesome, I would either go square now watch how fast I can shoot a serious mom pulling me back just a hair let's get that wrinkle out of there if somebody can that background just oh mom can get help get it mom you're good just like him okay outside that way. All right. Ready here we go we're gonna get and let's fix the bear real quick so just put it in his lap just yep just slip it up there go ready we're gonna go for a fast siri's ready but there's one but what's that tap on the bare mom just tap on it so that he sees it's a cooper teo oh, there you go even better rock ready and now pull it out of his mouth d'oh I got you I could do it again but I had you did I get you years old bunny? Uh cooper uh teo that's awesome but it's gonna be the shit shot on the face of god take that away. What time? Good ready a cooper oh, good. I just need to get him looking the other way for a serious so we have four for a panel ready row with that beautiful thing his eyes are over they were done okay, you can take him out of there, you got that we're gonna actually change his clothes and bring our little girl in here you ready to go um we're going here at the company name on this one. Thank you. So cooper's actually going over there for a sec shooting so we're gonna, um get him changed, okay, so I'm just changing up something really simple. We have another six month old. Um this is kind of the backgrounds that I started with a lot of muslin backgrounds. This one is from dynamic designs as well as the gods. This I have every color in the universe. Um and we're going to get these up on. You can do really soon, but these are absolutely, like we have every single color could imagine we use them to wrap newborns, babies, pregnancies, you name it, you definitely want as much gauze as you can get your hands on. All right, all right, so I'm keeping this really simple. I'm pretending like, you know again my first backgrounds he's there a lot more inexpensive. I'm not a fan of wrinkles, so having had if I had more time, I would definitely, uh, steam that out, but we can use clamps if I get a couple clamps here we go, there's one on the other side for that other background and we can tighten it up. This drives me crazy, I cannot stand these types of wrinkles, and again, you have to take the time a spray bottle of water if you sprayed on the back side and you just shake it a lot these wrinkles will come out they're not going to come out today there's not much I could do about that and that's okay um because once you once you learned about the other thing you need to know about working with muslims is that you never fold them to put them away you just ball them up and shove him in a bag because yes still have wrinkles but they'll be more natural wrinkles as opposed to these strong lines I could work around this because as long as I put the baby here I'm not gonna have that intersection in her head so yes I would have to retouch it but maybe it won't be such a huge destruction I also can eliminate light on it so that it's falls off a lot more so I don't have to deal with it as much so we're gonna go with just a darker that's much much darker I need a little more kick key that light back in yeah I think I'm gonna keep going to keep some light on it just because I think it's just going to get a little too strong looking there we got was put some right over the top of her here she is and tell me her name again alex that's an easy one focal point here okay we're good all right, alex so again simple simple design we're not going to spend a lot of money on clothing cute hat gauze uh less expensive background she is stable correct incredible say well that's good still gonna have you kneel here um while your shoes up I'm gonna tie this around her hello darling she's stable and mobile dio so she's out of here pretty much which she's seven months that is also incredibly rare typical seven month old babies do not crawl in fact both of them for him to be up on his haunches all the way up on his feet like that is pretty impressive too so make it a little scary fair so this age I'm gonna tire because she's going to move a lot and so if I don't it's gonna droop in that diaper is going to show all the time so I'm also going to talk a lot and we're gonna sit her down turner this way a little bit and actually I want to make sure she's right not middle that wrinkle they're gonna get one going this way I'm going this way now with her I would you know what could have a little flour helen or anything seven into something for her to play with c if I want crap I'm gonna let that float kind of out between the legs is kind of pushed that that way you don't have anything on a stem do we ask helen thank you. Okay. No, I don't actually you know what why not uh dc brandon are you flirty oh my goodness at this age they recognize a single man and jump right in yeah he's pretty cute highs nice guy he saved me all the time all right there you go now princess let's see I wanna polka I'll make you mad for lots of fun things have so keep your eye on er you're in a perfect position just want to make sure she does not go over and you just re decorate for me okay and it's alex correct hold how much you're adorable alex we just get a light test real quick because she's back a lot further that's cute alex do baby girl hi are you an angel? Are you so cute? Uh well they're a little hand by the elbow just kind of wiggle it down e good now what I want you to do this age they keep their arms out like this quite a bit take our hands and play patty cake just go patty cake alex this is yeah okay, pull back yea god alex patty cake patty cake oh you're really good and strong all right? We're going for the secular ready uh I have to go very slowly at the toe she likes it tio what was that I'm gonna get you uh teo you what's this what is that good girl ready? Uh by what it hears you go she says I'm going to put her up in a crawling position if you're sure she's comfortable polar back just a couple inches right there good deal I'm just gonna hopefully letter come on through alex your eyes um alex grab pull that flower right out between her legs just right now when there there you go oh she is practicing like a super baby here we go yeah uh noises like that will stop babies one more time turner sideways we'll even get her out of motion one time I need the chicken this is a good one this is a really important technique watch this we're gonna stop her we owe you that's awesome good girl hold her back one more time you're fast but I can't let it go through and one way that you could lift her out of there she is done for them actually you know what I'm gonna get one more shot okay cool um let me get her while she's down let's have her sit right down there tom anita ladder again I just perspective is important we talked a little bit about it yesterday but doing things that are not repetitive different angles really low low angles really high angles just get her little foot out there you know that's actually keeping throw that they're gonna keep it inside ready my own ideas but I want to give my clients something different and unique rah uh oh what oh, what is that? Oh, hey rah ah yeah they're actually let her go that's cute okay, I got it that's awesome taking lets her out of there all right we're just going to switch over to continuous lied so we're going that way all right, so what do we have to do first you guys my balance, my balance a great balance whatever you want to call it and we're just all the settings for the camera because we're now using continuous life there's less light I was at s o one hundred won twenty fifth at f eight were now coming over here I know continuous light does not kick out anywhere near that amount of light so now I have to goto I s so probably four hundred we already know the answer because we shot here all day long I s o four hundred four point oh, at a sixtieth of a second now she's pretty speedy so I might want to push that toe one twenty fifth if I had teo turn that off um so we're there we're dead on I mean, I did do need about a white gown so thank you so exposure wise, we're good now color, we're going to be good now way are good all right? So we're almost done this has been an incredibly fun day these babies have been absolutely magical what's great is they've done all kinds of things that are very typical with babies and that's what I'm always hoping for, I never on stage one a perfect baby ever. I honestly don't. Because with a perfect baby, I teach nothing with our tours when I get on stage and we have screaming children and children that refuse, those are absolutely the best sessions, because what happens is people see me struggle, and people see me figure out solutions and for me and for me, that's, the most important thing, I want to make sure that people understand that it's not easy for me, I have to work very hard to get the images that babies don't just show up and do what I want. You're cramming her in that hat. I know. All right? So let's, have a little bit of fun here I get ready, you're almost done, let's get a little pink flowering time was so awesome. Okay, we're gonna sit her in this corner here, so we're kind of going with that. Tell me away theory. Um, back in here a little bit more, and if she doesn't turn in far enough, then and you're going to stay right where you are, do not take your eyes off for that is a very for our fall I need um I'll need it I wanted a hair bow if I want to take the hat off for a couple just for mom okay? She doesn't like it okay so I like to shoot for a way to compress um if I were newer in photography I would not ready what your mom you're awesome behind me. Thank you, zip here we go. Uh oh if I want to get serious and this will be a lot with a one year old oh no no no what happened? Ah uh oh like a little mouse that's okay let's try to pull that hat down a little bit on her head just towards her video a little bit more and hang on tight he's getting tired you can see she's kind of slowing down a little bit oh, what's that phase hi, boo I getting can't wait to go oh, you thought I was going that way, huh? Weird tio way no, this will work for sure but she'll reach for it so mom stay close uh what's out gun what's that good girl that's beautiful. I'm going to come in for one second. We'll pull that had done a little bit more watcher what is that going out? Oh, what do you think, theo, you were such a cute little angel here in qd what is it what is way up there, huh? Good uh let's go ahead switch because I don't like the hat that close yet we're gonna take the head off we're almost done are you ta hear she's glad she's like I've been here so long hanging out so with hats I have tons of hilarious hats that I love but I always give parents options let's fix that a little more she's got so much here in hello dolly I know who knows what to do with it all huh wait here we go ready yeah could stay on here we go I know it's awesome, huh it's awesome okay hang on mom watch because we got to give it a second to get the care of a second so everybody out there in low internet khun c just a minute she's like I will be out of here in a minute all right I think we're good uh nope still busy two seconds I'm sorry. I know I know uh hey bad good here we go I hear it one to ten you're going let go you can watch your watch your watch you ha ha you're funny that's yours bounty give me a heart attack ah oh, hey, legs yeah yeah, he is very, very common for babies yeah big girl oh, so big I owe you one to what this uh what is it oh there it is a good girl now she is young for this but we're gonna try is she stable enough to hold on to something and julian let's go and lift her up then this is really more of a nine month post couldn't lift her out for second turn the chair just a hair but um we're gonna try to stand her here get ahold on here she doesn't do it this is actually she's very young for this but you could later tell me all the way into the center of the chair so she's stable how I know you think you're burning up so since we showed a photo after a nine month old already this would actually be she's being you and do not take your eyes off her let me get a light test first the shadow looks good get in the shot here girl there you go keep close mom she can bang her chin on the chair okay good we're good here we go I'm not gonna come close alex ross hi hi gorgeous, huh? You're awesome really? I was going to fix her hair but so hold on to her for a minute because if she's being good I can worry about details um obviously if she were upset I wouldn't even I would either pull the hair bow off or not even try to fix it cause it wasn't horrible it was just not perfect all right already got away from camera in a way are you gonna give me a heart attack your finger to the gravity bomb just get her stable pull your fingertips just back a hair but grab any time you need thio alex but you're just going to give me a hard time it's you hi what are you going are you done with that let's try one more time there you go uh chicken her feet are too far in she'll fall back yeah that's ok now you're doing a great job you're good gun and pull your finger tips back if you can you grab her any time you need teo what is that miss alex hi good she's stable so I just want to hold on to her body for a minute and rotate the chair since she's talking so far this would make it easier for her ready and I'm just gonna come in a little closer I know you're hilarious I know oh I know one more a little bit alex bra actually I have to get a chin down boo hi hi uh where's alex uh oh everybody likes that better than they like me huh I too was a pretty girl who is a pretty girl alex we going but by let's get that tickler again alex get serious on me that's cool too we'll take that good one two I'm not going to touch you with it. You shall fall. Uh t you come in you go good to go there's a goes there we go one more e o high got it done let's give her a big round of applause I know you're all right we're going to switch over to cooper real quick um this background we talked about barbara backgrounds the floors are silver lake backgrounds that one goes uh silver like floors also I have to show you this well we have two seconds while they're switching stuff out this is also a product from silver like and could I get the bag these come in this is the coolest thing ever in the universe because you couldn't take it any way I am not kidding you they just came out with this they haven't we have like fifteen different colors and I'm absolutely loving it it does come with support um toe hold up the sides and it actually comes with another piece that makes it a small piece that makes it a total of eight feet long but typically with babies I only use one piece and I'm sorry I can't even drive here because there we go so you can have a great little base there and takes two seconds so any this rug straighten up a whole lot we need it down into the subway all right we're just gonna get us on the wall back way to the wall where we're going we're going that's fine that's fine that'll do all right let's just settle the lights up and we're gonna finish with mr cooper I could take a couple questions if you like well they said the seven lutely all right about over one hundred people have asked if you ever use a uh remote release everybody asked hey that's a good question I shot film for thirteen years r z sixty sevens and r b sixty seven so big medium format cameras with those we had remote we also had to manually focus so of course we knew how to set our cameras and we manually focused now when I went digital we were very early digital over thirteen years ago we were like anybody remember phase one fifty thousand dollar camera then we were kodak seven sixties eight thousand dollars a piece all the way on down to where we are today which is cannon lovers and users um the original cameras that came out that were digital there were no options to trigger wyler's wireless release so I literally felt like somebody cut my arms off I was devastated going from an r z sixty seven to a kodak seven sixty I was so used to going anywhere in controlling it it couldn't be done they had no there was no choice so that's really where although I used a tickler all the time with kids that's actually where I learned to control where they looked and what they did with that tickler because before I could walk over here and say, all right, look right here now I had to get their eyes in that direction, so for probably eight years, seven, six or seven years, I didn't have a release, and so I got used to that. Now they have options for wireless releases. I've tried three or four of them, I have never found what I like, and I'll tell you why with digital captured, most of us use auto focus when you're standing over there, and you're touching that release if that baby moves a little bit and that camera starts looking for focus, you're either gonna lose the shot or it'll be totally out of focus. So that's, why I don't, as I've found that just being right now, if you see me, I'm always near my camera, but I'm never behind my camera. I'm usually within arm's length of the camera and that's thie answer and that kind of answer. The other question, if you're on auto focus or manual focus on auto focus, um, for thirteen years with medium format, I was always manual that was even with our seas, I was always manual went to digital digital focuses so fast, and the cannon systems are so incredibly fast that I have never had to go, I mean manual today on the macro lens one hundred millimeter mackerel because the baby was moving so quickly the focus is a little slower so of course I went manual there but otherwise with this I'm always out of focus all right let's finish cooper up so we could get back teo school we've got a cowboy here all right we're gonna stay with continuous lead I'm gonna darken it up a little bit I think make it a little more dramatic here so we're putting the grid's all the way on it might be too dark because we are this room is eating a lot of the light so cooper has done a lot of he's been a very good baby so we're just gonna finish up with a little siri's how are you guys getting tripods after this that's what I thought thats good now I want to be honest with you I honestly make it look easy your body becomes an extension of your tribe but and if you watch my feet in my arms were like a giant octopus over here takes a little while to get used to that so understand don't give up because if you put the time and the effort into it and you learn how to do it I tell people to six weeks learning curve honestly if you're using it at least four or five times a week it will feel heavy it will feel awkward you'll feel like you're struggling with it give it six weeks and use it at least four times a week and after that you will never want to live without it helen you would agree that um when you started it was like a no go on the tripod right and after we may we insist that our photographers keep their camera stable now she would never shoot a baby without it so you just have to kind of keep that in mind you can get there this is super cute scene I'm taking this wall home with me so awesome I'm mr cooper kidder done okay we're gonna start without the hat because we had to this age they tend to fall on me all over the place so we're gonna I know now you're pretty big guy I'm not sure we can cram you in here let's bottom here you know what? Hang on a second let me get something just for it's gonna be cold so just you know what? Um that brown uh no, the little thing the baby was in this morning in the bowl yeah, his back hits that he's probably not gonna think it's really that great so we can I don't want to see a lot of it, but at least if I can cover somewhere where his thighs they're gonna hit I don't mind if it shows I'd rather him be comfortable so his body's facing that way if we can and then I'll tuck it down once he gets in there all right, big guy here you go he says and I'm going to re decorate for you let me check that lighting over there and let's see mom bring your knees towards me a little bit that's good right there cooper theo hey, I'm the boss, huh? Hey cooper right? We're going let's get that reflector in a little bit more it's actually not too bad is wrapping that's actually cute fix a teddy bear if you can oh, yeah there you mom's hired I'm bringing her home cooper that's cute let him touch the booth for a minute because I'm looking for that story oh did you get my boot right yea big boy you gonna re decorate for me? He says I'm gonna put this right in my mouth when I can I tell you he's a young guy cooper cooper what's that so that's kind of startled him I've got my serious like now I'm just gonna come in from my smile and I've definitely got a good siri's er ugo you teo oh ee oh ah ah but by that that's why he's going to get all the way out oh, and take the other little boot standing up if you can't you now he's into it so we gotta find a total a total distraction here what is that? But jim is not enough you take the guts out of a half too but let's see if we could just get cooper oh oh why you could just take the boots right out of him says I am all about that yeah so big one more cooper rock to hi are you playing cooper oh, but by this not yet I uh hear you uh uh right eyes my smile good we got him you can take him out of there um you know what let's put the hat on for a couple yeah, you could say in there watch the hat's gonna be a struggle so it's super cute shot but I wouldn't want it in the syrian necessarily ho where you going, bud because you're going to seem usually it's a battle maybe not yeah it's a battle here you know what pop behind the camera will just get a shot quick ready? All right boom hey, go ahead bring his hands down again can you go wake slow down ugo all right, we got it. He is done. You can take him out let's give a round of applause he is awesome. Thank you so much. Very good. All right have a drink. Nice work. I need that little table by me so I can have a copter in water and, uh drawing quicker helen, I need a whole bottle of water there's a amazing, amazing I can't stand with continuous line to end stroke, because I'm basically that's way a lot of us at the moment. So I'll just get one flight used. Theirs continues, especially england, because there's no light in england. So that's a great idea. Yes, I like the idea. No way they're getting in the way of it. Wants to know if you guys do exclusively newborn photography, other things, families. Oh, baby, yeah, baby face is my favorite, because after that, just run around like what you like. They're not writing. You can have them back, yeah, trapped in focus.

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Ratings and Reviews

a Creativelive Student
 

I know so many families with new babies at church and have wanted to invite them to let me create studio portraits, both for practice and for profit. You've given me so many wonderful tips and ideas for posing, shooting and marketing. I've already begun collecting appropriate props. I believe in me, but know that selling will be the hardest thing for me. Sandy makes everything look so easy! I related to her emotionalism--I'm the same way. Today at church, a visitor shared about an expectant mother in Ohio who was diagnosed with Stage 3 brain cancer. Thanks to Sandy's pregnancy portraits and the story about the beginning of Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, I emphasized to the visitor the huge importance of that family (already with 4 children) to have a family pregnancy portrait taken. It will mean so much to everyone, but especially the unborn child, who may not ever know its mother. I am also interested in exploring the Now I... training program, if our local hospital needs a special photographer. Thank you for the fantastic seminar I could attend in the comfort of my own home. Cha Ching!

Daniela Moroni
 

This is my first Creative Live course and I'm very happy with it. I don't have a studio but it was very helpful to understand how to begin a career as a baby photographer. I like the way Sandy explains what she does. You see that she loves her job. I'm glad to have known about Now I Lay me Down To Sleep project. I'm not an english speaker so I'd like there were english subtitles 'cause when she speaks very quickly I miss a lot of words... Thanks Creative Live team!

a Creativelive Student
 

Sandy is truly an inspiration! Her fantastic photography definitely urges us on to greater things, but I am most impressed by the way she connects with people. Her clients are not just $$ to her, and her job is not simply a way to make money - she feels things greatly, and it shows. This webinar causes me to not only better myself as a photographer/business owner, it inspires me to become a better person.

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