Today, I am going to discuss baby photoshoot ideas at home.

It’s a beautiful time! You have a new baby at home, and you can’t take your eyes off. Many of you’re thinking of getting a professional baby shoot done, which is always great.

But that’s like one session and one time only. What about the thousands of cute moments you and your family are blessed with? Wouldn’t you want to capture as many of them as you can?

I bet you do, even though you may not know how? So, let’s not waste any more time and get started.

What Is a Baby Photoshoot?

A baby photoshoot is all about capturing cute posed and sometimes not posed photos of a baby. Needless to say, the entire photoshoot is about the baby. Though it’s not uncommon to have siblings, parents, and even the family pet come into the frame to up the cuteness quotient.

Can You Do a Baby Photoshoot at Home?

Yes, you can! The arrival of a baby is a magical time, and every parent wants to capture as many adorable moments as possible. But the photos don’t always come through as lovely as you expect them to be.

So most parents leave it for the professionals. But as I mentioned already, a professional baby photoshoot is expensive, and you can probably do it once or twice. In this discussion, I have curated 30 baby photoshoot ideas at home that anybody with a camera can use.

Hopefully, by the time you have finished reading this, you will get all the ideas and inspiration you need to take some fantastic photos.

What You Need to Do a Baby Photoshoot at Home

• A camera (any camera will do) – An interchangeable lens camera isn’t required unless you wish to experiment with different lenses.
• A large window.
• Some diffusing fabric – This will come in handy to soften the quality of natural light.
• A couple of reflectors to bounce light and fill shadows.

30 Baby Photoshoot Ideas at Home

1. The Frog Pose

The frog pose is probably the most popular newborn photography pose, yet somehow, it can also be a difficult one to attempt. It requires that you keep the legs of the baby on the sides and then place the hands under the chin.

2. The Baby Bums-up

This pose is just as cute as any other on this list when done tastefully. Some parents may object to it, so you must be careful when proposing this shot. The baby tushy should point upwards, and the posture should be, ideally, sideways.

3. The Wrap

This is probably the easiest of all poses that you can pull off. Wrap the baby gently in a soft cotton cloth while ensuring the baby is comfortable. Ideally, hands should be tucked in and with the fists placed right under the chin.

4. Baby Wrapped and Placed in a Basket

This is just a modification of the wrap pose I listed above. You start pretty much the same way as the wrap pose. Carefully wrap the baby. You can leave out the hands and tuck the legs in. Make sure that the baby is safe and comfortable at all times.

Place the baby in a basket. Make sure that the basket is cushioned with some soft blankets.

5. Angel From Heaven

Let’s push the cuteness factor up with this next pose. Babies are angels from heaven. And to prove that point, we’ll need a couple of props—a pair of wings and a flower crown. You can understand where I am going with this.

6. Angel in a Basket

Once you have the crown and the wings, you can experiment whichever way you want it. You can replicate the wrapped basket pose with the props on. In this case, you don’t even have to wrap the baby. Instead, you can use either the baby bumps-up pose or the frog pose.

7. The Little Ballerina

This tip is for photographing a baby girl. If you can manage a little tutu dress this is a great pose that everyone will want to have in their newborn baby photoshoot album.

8. Superhero Baby

Beyond props, there are many ideas that you can work with, e.g., using superhero costumes. If it’s a baby boy, it could be a superman or a spiderman costume. If it’s a baby girl, it could be a Wonderwoman costume. Or even a captain marvel costume. Put that on the baby and let them sleep off.

Use props like hand-made clouds and a cape. Use a bit of imagination with the posing, and you could have great images to shoot.

9. Black and White Photos

I usually do not recommend shooting baby photos in black and white, but when done tastefully this can also be an excellent idea to capture some memorable photos of your baby.

Did you know you could easily convert your color photos into black and white using Colorcinch?

Here’s how you can do it.

Step 1: Navigate to Colorcinch

Step 2: Upload the image to Colorcinch using the Upload button.

Step 3: Navigate to the Filters tab.

Step 4: Choose Black and White from the list of filters.

Step 5: Choose the Black and White filter you like and hit Apply.

Here’s a quick before and after comparison.

10. The Yawn

The cute yawn of your baby is a great photo opportunity. Wait until your baby is sleepy. Pre-compose and pre-focus your camera to be ready to fire the shutter release when the baby yawns. Set your camera to continuous high mode and in release priority mode (if using an interchangeable lens camera). You will only get a couple of seconds to capture the perfect shot.

11. The Cute Fingers and Toes

Tiny toes, little fingers, and cute hands. In reality, one cannot get enough of them. But alas, these cute fingers are going to grow up soon. So, why not capture some close-up shots of them while you can?

12. Have Fun

A baby photoshoot can be a challenging endeavor. But it does not have to be stressful. As a parent, your job is to have as much fun as possible while capturing a couple of beautiful moments. So don’t forget to pick up the baby in your arms and plant a few kisses while your spouse takes up the role of the photographer for a change.

13. The Laughing Baby

While you’re planting a million kisses on your baby, she might respond with a giggle. That’s the moment when someone should be ready to capture that laugh. Make sure to hand over the camera to your spouse before you start gooshy-wooshying those cute cheeks!

14. Play the Letterboard Card

Letterboards are great because you can put any words or phrases and have a blast with them. Just get a decent quality letterboard and some letters and have fun. The baby doesn’t even have to be sleepy when you do that.

15. The Cute Headband

We used to have that cute animal headgear when our daughter was a baby. We had lots of laughs putting that on our daughter and seeing her make all kinds of faces. A cute headband or a cap is an excellent prop for some awesome baby photoshoot ideas at home.

16. Bring the Older Sibling

You are fortunate if your baby has an older sibling. Now is the time to bring the older sibling into the frame. It is even better if you can manage a couple of matching t-shirts with custom slogans.

17. Bring the Family Pet In

Do you want to double the cute quotient? Bring in the family pet into the frame. The family pet will bring more heartwarming moments into your baby photos.

18. Photograph the Twins

If you are blessed with twins, there’s double the happiness in your household. And double the opportunity to take memorable baby photos. Photographing one baby is fun enough; photographing two babies takes things to a completely different level. All you need is a little bit more space, bigger buckets, double the props, and you can shoot great photos of your twins.

19. Capture Their Beautiful Eyes

There is no way to know what goes inside those cute heads. We can only see those expressive innocent eyes and wonder what they might be thinking. A million wonders drift in front of those adorable eyes. You know what I am trying to get to here. Those eyes make for some beautiful, captivating images.

20. Capture a Shot of Them Smiling in Their Sleep

This is a cute idea and is very easy to accomplish. Babies often smile in their sleep. You have to be ready with your camera when they do it. You don’t have to do anything extra. The opportunity will come as you’re preparing for any other pose.

21. Candidography

I have always been a big fan of candid photography. I feel this technique is the best for photographing people and babies. The technique works best when the baby is completely unaware of your presence, and you can get close to capture the baby’s eyes.

22. Career Speculation

Every parent has some dreams for their children. At the same time, no one wants to pressure them into becoming something that they don’t want to be in the first place. However, as babies, we can always have some fun photoshoots with career options.

You need some baby costumes, a few props, and a lot of patience. The approach would be the same as in the Superhero tip. In this case, you have to set up the props to complete the scene.

I love the odd imaginative prop like a false beard and a mustache; some board cutouts of clouds, fences, etc.

23. Babies in Water

Babies are natural swimmers. They need a little nudge, and they’re paddling in no time. Being great with water means it’s also an excellent opportunity to shoot lovely photos.

24. Bubbles and Balloons

I like both, and I would use both, though they each have their pros and cons. I’d use balloons mainly for indoor shoots and bubbles for outdoor shoots. Just fill in some gas balloons and let the baby play with them while you click away.

And now for some essential tips.

25. Try the Continuous Shooting Mode

The burst mode works excellent to capture the best moment among many. Such as, if your baby is playing with a toy and expressing a range of emotions, the continuous mode will let you grab plenty of frames to choose the best one among them.

26. Take the Shoot Outdoors

Sometimes it makes sense to take the shoot outdoors. It is advisable when the baby is a bit older, and it’s safe to venture outdoors. A beautiful location with lots of flowers a lovely park with lots of greenery is a few good locations.

If you cannot go outdoors, you can always set up a scene and add the missing bits using a fun-to-use photo editor like Colorcinch. Here I added the falling snowflakes effect to this picture. Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Navigate to Colorcinch and upload your photo using the Upload button.

Step 2: Navigate to the Overlays tab.

Step 3: Choose the Falling Snow effect from the list of Overlays.

Step 4: Choose the Falling Snow effect you like and hit Apply.

27. Use Natural Light to Shoot Baby Photos

This isn’t a posing tip but a suggestion about the best light to shoot with. The best light for me is natural light. I don’t particularly appreciate shooting with bright blinding flashes or bright LED lights and aiming them straight towards a baby’s eyes.

Natural light can work wonders, but, it can be easily modified with a diffuser and made softer. If you have a large window that gets abundant light, put white diffusing fabric over it, and you can soften the light for your indoor baby photo sessions.

28. Use a Reflector

If you’re shooting with natural light, it’s best to use a reflector to fill the shadows. This serves many purposes. First, you’re cutting down on the need to use artificial lighting. Artificial lights can be bright and often too glaring for the tender eyes of a baby. Third, reflectors are cheaper compared to artificial lighting setups. A couple of reflectors will do the job well if you have a window that gets lots of light.

29. Experiment With the Camera Angle

Most parents are guilty of never putting in too much thought about the camera angle to shoot with. They feel that they can shoot great images of their babies from the default eye-level perspective. That’s understandable because many have only limited knowledge of photography.

The eye level cannot be the only camera angle. You have to keep an open mind and experiment with other camera angles. E.g., try shooting from the top straight down. That’s an excellent camera angle for some unique baby photoshoot ideas at home.

30. Keep It Quiet

While I don’t mind a soft lullaby playing in the background as the baby sleeps and I am clicking away, I’m not too fond of the loud sound that some cameras make when a picture is taken. DSLRs, for example, are guilty of this. I prefer to keep it down by engaging the Quiet-mode. It considerably dampens out the clanking sound that the shutter mechanism makes.

Concluding Thoughts

At the start of this discussion, I mentioned that you would have all the inspiration and know-how you need to start taking baby photos at home by the time you have finished reading this. Hopefully, I have been able to achieve that. Go ahead and try out these baby photoshoot ideas at home. If you feel that you learned something do send us your love.

The post Baby Photoshoot Ideas at Home: An Ultimate Guide appeared first on Photo to Cartoon – Cartoonize Yourself & Create Avatar Characters for Free.

In straightforward terms, the Sunny 16 Rule is a rule of thumb that can determine the correct exposure time for an image outdoors under bright sunny conditions. The number 16 refers to the aperture setting on a camera lens.

This rule states that for daylight photography, you should set your camera’s aperture to f/16 and adjust your shutter speed until the meter says it is the inverse of the ISO number.

What Is the Sunny 16 Rule in Photography?

The Sunny 16 Rule states that a good exposure should be obtained when the shutter speed is same as the ISO and the aperture is set to f/16.

There is a misconception that the ISO always has to be set to 100. It’s not correct.

As long as the shutter speed is the inverse of the ISO number, you can use any ISO you may choose.

The Sunny 16 rule can be better explained using a chart. As they say, a picture speaks a thousand words!

As you can see above, the base value on which everything is based is aperture f/16. That’s the starting aperture you should use on a bright sunny day. It’s also assumed that the ISO is set to the lowest on your camera. Most cameras have a minimum ISO of 100. So, set your camera to ISO 100. Some older cameras can only drop till ISO 200. Don’t bother; set your camera to ISO 200.

As per the Sunny 16 rule, the shutter speed should be the inverse of the ISO value.

That means if you have set your camera to ISO 100 shutter speed should be 1/100 sec. And if you have set it to ISO 200, the shutter speed should be 1/200 sec.

What if You Want to Change the Depth of Field?

The first question that comes to everyone’s mind is the Sunny 16 Rule seems to limit the camera settings to f/16, ISO 100, and shutter speed 1/100 sec.

But what if a photographer needs to play with the depth of field?

F/16 isn’t always the preferred or the most feasible way to shoot, not even when it’s brightly lit outside.

Let’s say that you want to move to f/5.6, three stops faster from f/16.

We have already seen that the Aperture and Shutter Speed of a camera has an inverse relationship with each other.

Opening the aperture to f/5.6 to create a shallow depth of field also invariably lets in more light (thanks to the larger aperture). So, you have to speed up the shutter speed to ensure that the exposure is correct.

Look at the chart; this should give you a fair idea of the revised shutter speed. Every time you increase the aperture of your lens by one stop, the shutter speed should speed up by precisely one stop to compensate.

The beauty of the Sunny 16 rule is that it gives you a reasonably accurate starting point, and you can base all your subsequent exposures values using that as the starting point.

Shooting in Overcast and Other Conditions

But what about conditions when it’s not bright and sunny? Can you use the Sunny 16 rule in other lighting conditions? Yes, you can, albeit by modifying it a little.

Let’s now see how we can take that base camera setting and use it to fit other conditions.

Let’s say that it’s overcast, and you need to open up your aperture to compensate for the lack of light.

Open up the aperture by one stop and choose f/11 as the new aperture. Set ISO to 100 and the shutter speed to 1/100 sec. On the other hand, if it’s a bit more overcast, open up the lens by two stops and choose f/8. Then match it up with ISO 100 and shutter speed 1/100.

For an overcast scene, say even a drizzle, open up another stop and choose f/5.6. Choose the corresponding aperture and shutter speed.

Again, it all depends on the ISO. At ISO 100, the shutter speed should be 100 sec. In the same way, if you’re using ISO 200 or higher, choose the corresponding inverse of the ISO value as your shutter speed.

Effectiveness of the Sunny 16 Rule in Modern Photography

With all digital cameras having excellent built-in metering systems, many of you would think whether the Sunny 16 Rule is at all necessary. It’s pertinent to mention here that the built-in metering system of modern digital cameras works on the reflected light concept.

Let’s elaborate.

The camera’s built-in meter looks at the scene and meters based on the light reflected off of the scene. The built-in meter is fooled to think the exposure is washed out if the scene is too bright, like a snowy landscape. It would compensate by pulling down the exposure.

The opposite happens when the scene has too many dark tones. E.g., a scene with a man wearing a tuxedo. The camera will try to push the exposure thinking that the scene is too dark.

The camera’s metering system is designed in a way to adjust everything down to 18% gray or middle-gray exposure.

This is an inherently incorrect metering process. This is why a lot of professional photographers use the hand-held light meter.

The Sunny 16 rule isn’t based on the same principles the camera’s built-in metering system works. Instead, it works on the principle of incident light—the same as hand-held metering systems.

This is why it’s useful even in the modern era with built-in metering systems.

Beyond the Sunny 16 Rule: Manual Adjustment of Incorrect Exposures

There may be situations where even after applying the Sunny 16 Rule, your exposures may not turn out to be correct. Washed-out highlights are difficult to recover.

However, if the exposure is slightly darker, it’s easy to recover details using photo editing software like Colorcinch.

Here are the steps:

Step 1: Navigate to Colorcinch.

Step 2: Upload your image using the Upload button.

Step 3: Click on the Exposure button.

Step 4: Adjust the exposure sliders as per your need.

Step 5: Don’t forget to hit the Apply button when you’ve done all the edits; otherwise, you will lose the changes you made.

Concluding Thoughts

The Sunny 16 rule, as you have seen above, is very effective in giving you reasonably accurate metering of a scene when it’s sunny and bright. You don’t even have to use an external light meter or depend on what the camera’s built-in light meter says.

The best thing is that it has multiple uses. You can use that exposure value and then recalculate the correct exposure value given the actual lighting conditions.

Additionally, suppose you wish to play around with depth of field. In that case, you can use the Sunny 16 rule as the starting point and then use the inverse relationship between shutter speed and aperture to recalculate the correct exposure for a given aperture.

The post The Sunny 16 Rule & Its Use in Digital Photography appeared first on Photo to Cartoon – Cartoonize Yourself & Create Avatar Characters for Free.

In this discussion, you will learn about natural light photography, what natural light is, how to use natural light in your photography, and some editing tips and tricks.

So, let’s dive right in.

What Is Natural Light Photography?

Natural light photography is all about using the Sun as the primary light source. As you know, the intensity of the Sun’s light does not stay the same across the day. It changes as the day progresses, turning from soft to hard light and then back to soft light throughout the day.

Resultantly, it becomes a challenging process to adjust to that changing light. If you are only going to take a few images outdoors, you’re not going to feel too much of a difference. But if the photography session extends for several hours, you have to understand and adjust to the changing nature of light.

Benefits of Natural Light in Photography

Here are the benefits of using natural light for your photography.

1. Free to Use

The most significant benefit of using natural light is free. Unlike artificial lights, where you have to invest in one, two, or even more lights to get a particular look, all of it is free with natural light.

2. No Need to Invest in Additional Accessories

Plus, when you’re using artificial lights, you have to invest in additional accessories such as light stands, triggers, transceivers, modifiers, and so on. With natural light, all you need is a few diffusing materials and some reflectors, and you would be fine. Plus, these are inexpensive to obtain, so you never feel a pocket pinch.

3. Genres You Can Only Shoot With Natural Light

Natural light photography includes specific genres of photography that can only be shot using natural light. Landscapes, for example, is one genre where you cannot use artificial lights. Sports photography is another genre where artificial lights are not feasible. Wildlife photography is another genre that comes to mind.

4. It Also Works With Indoor Photography

So far, you have only learned that natural light is best used in outdoor situations, but there’s a whole wide world of indoor photography that can also be shot using natural light. Many natural light portraits are shot using the ambient light coming through large windows for their work.

Sometimes they fill in using artificial lights, but the key light is always natural light in such situations.

Different Kinds of Natural Light

As you have just learned in the opening paragraphs, natural light tends to change over the day. It poses a challenge for photographers to adjust to that changing light. Primarily the exposure but also the color temperature.

There are several different lighting situations. The most popular is the golden light which happens twice during the day, once in the morning and the other at dusk.

1. Golden Hour Light

Most photographers prefer the golden light for a range of photography. It is the most popular of all types of natural light. Golden hour happens for an hour after dawn and for about an hour before sunset, depending on the latitude you’re in and the time of the year.

This is the time of the day when the light of the Sun travels parallelly across the surface of the earth and produces a soft golden hue that creates magical portrait photos, among other genres of photography.

The golden hour light is best used for natural light portrait photography and landscape photography. There are many ways in which you can shoot portrait photography using the golden hour light.

As the golden hour light is warm and soft, you should place your subject partially angled the Sun to produce warm, flattering results. Facing the light directly can create squinting eyes which is never a good idea.

If you use a fill light, you can expose for the background, thereby retaining details while using just enough light to fill in the subject’s shadows.

As the light is directional, you can also use it for backlighting and rim lighting. The flash will fill in the shadows to produce a well-lit portrait.

If you do not have a fill light or a reflector to fill in the shadows, it should be metering off the subject’s face. This will blow out the highlights, but at least you’ll have a properly exposed face. Ensure that the Sun is not in the frame. Use spot metering to give you the most accurate reading for proper exposure.

If you are not happy with the result, you can work on a photo editor to lift the shadows and create a more attractive photo.

This is easy to do in Colorcinch.

Stepwise Simple Edits

Step # 1: Navigate to Colorcinch

Step # 2: Upload the image using the Upload button.

Step # 3: Colorcinch opens by default on the Edit page

Step # 4: You can work on the Shadows and the Brightness sliders if it is a portrait photo.

If it is a landscape photo that you are editing, you can also work on the Shadows and the Brightness sliders while bringing down the Highlights and pushing the Contrast slider to produce an image with a lot of contrast.

Step # 5: Don’t forget to click Apply when you are done. Save the image when you are done.

2. Blue Blue Hour Light

The Blue hour happens just after the golden hour in the evening. It is that time of the day when the son leaves a hue of golden origin rated the horizon well the rest of the sky is blue and hasn’t yet turned into black.

This lasts for only a few minutes, again depending on the latitude and the time of the year. Light is beautiful but is insufficient for producing portrait images on its own. Most photographers use artificial lights combined with blue hour lighting to reproduce mainly portrait photos.

That said, you can also shoot beautiful street photos at the Blue hour.

Meter for the background to retain enough light in the sky for maximum effect. Use just enough light so that you can fill in the shadows on the face of the subject.

Also, an excellent opportunity to shoot full-body portraits, but you will need more than one light for that.

3. Mid-Day Hard Light

The midday light is probably the most challenging natural lighting condition you will face. The reason is that the midday light is tough, which

Photographers tend to avoid the midday light because of its harshness and tough to work with.

That said, it is not entirely impossible.

Take some diffusing material with you and some reflectors. The diffuser material will work as a light shaping tool softening the quality of light. The glasses will work as your fill light.

You can also use an external flash to fill in the shadows.

Don’t feel dejected if you do not have a reflector or a flash. It is possible to work your images in a photo editor and lift the shadows to produce a more uniformly lit portrait that appears flattering.

4. Overcast / Diffused Light

Overcast conditions are the easiest to work with because they produce no harsh shadows. It works as a natural softbox, diffusing the light and creating a uniformly lit environment where portrait photos turn out to be excellent.

Even with an image shot in overcast conditions, you may have to work on it in a photo editor to refine it. The usual controls you need are the whites, the blacks, the shadow, and the highlights.

You will also need to tweak the color temperature to make it warm and pleasing.

How to Approach Different Types of Natural Light Scenarios:

Here are a few natural light photography scenarios:

1. Natural Light Portrait Photography

Natural light portraits have already been covered in this discussion. You’ve also learned which is the best light to shoot in as well as some tips on how to edit your photos.

The only thing that we’d like to add is to shoot with the widest aperture that your lens permits. A wide-open aperture will produce beautiful bokeh, which will improve the quality of your portraits.

2. Landscape Photography

When shooting landscape photography, always ensure that you meter for the highlights. That way, you will retain details in the highlights and the shadow areas.

Modern cameras have excellent low-light capability, and they’re good at underexposing shadows and yet retaining detail in them. There is enough tolerance in the files to push the shadows and get back all the details.

Keep in mind to shoot with a small aperture like f/8. Most lenses are sharpest when stopped down to f/8. If your’s is not, you need to figure out the sharpest small aperture that your lens shoots.

Also, aim at one-third of the way into the frame from the bottom. That way, most of the frame will be sharpest.

3. Street Photography

With street photography, the most important thing is composition. Even if your exposure is slightly off, you can constantly adjust that in editing. The usual sliders would be blacks, whites, highlights, and shadows again.

If you do not like the image’s color combination, you can always convert that to black and white.

Step # 1: Navigate to Colorcinch

Step # 2: Use the Upload button to upload your image.

Step # 3: Colorcinch opens on the Edit page by default. Click on Color on the Edit panel.

Step # 4: Make the adjustments you need.

Step # 5: Don’t forget to click Apply and then save the image.

That’s it!

Simple to use photo editor is very handy for all these edits.

The slider you need to convert a color photograph into black and white is the saturation slider.

Did you know Colorcinch has many filters that magically transform your photographs into black and white? You can choose from several such filters in Colorcinch.

Concluding Thoughts

Despite what you may have heard, natural light photography need not be a challenging genre. It requires a good understanding of light, exposure control, and basic editing skills on a photo editor, and you could be making great natural light photography in no time.

If you are interested to know more about compositional skills, check this out.

The post Natural Light Photography: A Beginner’s Guide appeared first on Photo to Cartoon – Cartoonize Yourself & Create Avatar Characters for Free.

Newborn photography never goes out of style. Because there’s nothing cuter than the first few photos of our lives. If you’re a beginner or a professional photographer, you may be wondering how to create a successful newborn photo session.

Well, unlike mirror photography or other photography genres, newborn photography is not just about equipment and positioning. Sure, that’s important too.

However, the first thing you should pay attention to is the newborn photography techniques. Secondly, try to make everyone (and especially the baby) feel comfortable and safe during the photoshoot.

In this guide, I’ll share the best tips for taking newborn photos and learn everything you need to know to sparkle baby poses.

What is Newborn Photography?

Newborn photography is a genre of photography that focuses on taking pictures of (newborn) babies. The goal is to capture the infant’s appearance, facial expressions, and cute little details.

What makes this genre special is that you should always prioritize your subject. So, remember that you are photographing a baby.

Safety is the most important thing at all times. And our newborn posing guide has everything to do with safety and comfort.

What Equipment Do I Need for Newborn Photography?

A professional photo set will help you take perfect photos of newborns. So before we turn to some efficient newborn picture ideas, let’s dive deeper into the equipment you need for newborn photography:

• A DSLR or Mirrorless camera (for custom settings)
• A portrait lens (Nikon 50mm, Canon  28-70 F2.8, etc) and/or a macro lens (for details)
• A tripod 
• A studio light
• An umbrella or softbox (to avoid harsh shadows)
• A laptop or desktop
• Post-processing tools, such as Colorcinch

7 Tips for Newborn Photography

Below you’ll find some tips and tricks on how to master newborn photography.

1. How to Pose a Baby for Newborn Photos

First of all, keep in mind that every newborn (like all of us) has a personality. Therefore, you should adjust the newborn posing tips and techniques you choose accordingly. 

For example, although most babies like to be swaddled, there are some exceptions.

That being said, with baby pose photography, practice makes perfect. You can start by learning some of the basic swaddling techniques and experimenting with fabrics and textures.

Remember that the beanbag and blankets you use in a newborn photo shoot will be your best friend when it comes to posing the baby. Experiment with positioning and angles to find the perfect shot, but try not to move the newborn all the time.

2. Gather Everything you Need Beforehand

When photographing a newborn, always gather everything you need in advance. Although this depends on your personal needs and preferences, most photographers use:

• Blankets
• Wraps 
• Heaters
• A Shusher or white noise machine

3. Choose the Correct Time Frame (When Possible) 

You can photograph newborns at any time. However, I recommend the best time to shoot a newborn is between 5 and 15 days old.

Most professional photographers prefer the morning hours for baby photo sessions when it comes to timing. But, of course, communication with the parents is key to finding out the best time and day for the photoshoot.

4. Newborn Photography: Lighting and Angles

Poor (or extreme) lighting is the main reason for poor newborn photos. Although the sun is by far the best light source, most newborn photo sessions take place indoors.

In this case, use a studio light and an umbrella or softbox to avoid unpleasant shadows. Do not forget that you can also manipulate the exposure (contrast, highlights, shadows, etc.) during post-processing with Colorcinch.

Once you are happy with the lighting, you can experiment with angles and perspectives. This way you can take unique shots without moving the newborn.

5. Involve the Parents

One wise thing you can do in a newborn photo session is to involve parents. Don’t forget that the baby always feels more comfortable and secure when their parents are around.

This is the best time to experiment with different angles and macro shots. For example, use the size difference between the parents and the baby to take some unique shots of the tiny details of the newborn (e.g. toes, fingers, etc.).

6. Newborn Photography and Safety | Dos and Don’ts

As mentioned earlier, safety is the most important thing when photographing newborns. So here are a few basic rules you should always follow:

7. Newborn Photo Session Props

By props, we mean all the elements you use during a newborn photo session to embellish the scene. 

There are numerous props you can use to take an adorable photo of a baby. Some of my favorite props are:

• Hats and headbands
• Baskets
• Wooden boxes and crates
• Toys (e.g. stuffed animals)
• Suitcases
• Seasonal objects (e.g. flowers, Christmas ornaments, etc)

Remember that you can also add props manually during the post-processing phase. Let’s have a look at the simple steps you need to follow to create a unique newborn photo with Colorcinch.

Newborn Photo Editing Tutorial for Colorcinch 

With Colorcinch you can fully edit your fantastic newborn photos in just a few minutes. All you need to do is follow a series of steps:

Step 1: Upload your newborn photo.

Step 2: Start by editing your photo. On the left side of your screen, you can find plenty of editing toolboxes including: the basics (Crop, Resize and Rotate), the enhance tools (Exposure, Color, Vibrance, Tint, Details), and more (Vignette and Round). 

Step 3: Add effects (e.g. Cartoonizer, Sketcher), frames, and filters (matte, skin tone).

Step 4: Experiment with overlays and masks. 

Step 5: Draw, add text and navigate through the extended collection of graphics.

Once you are happy with the result, simply export the photo to your computer.

Conclusion   

If you follow the tips in this newborn photography guide, you’ll capture some stunning, cute photos. As with any other genre of photography, newborn photos are all about lighting, positioning, and the perfect background.

However, when photographing newborns, you also need to make sure the baby feels safe and comfortable. If you do that, you’ll be one step closer to achieving a perfect newborn photo session.

The post A Complete Guide to Newborn Photography + Bonus Tips appeared first on Photo to Cartoon – Cartoonize Yourself & Create Avatar Characters for Free.

Colorcinch offers a ton of great conversion and enhancement tools that can put the “wow” back into your pictures.

One of those tools is the photo editor. It has a set of robust but simple features to enhance the color and vibrance of an image. We’ll show you how this is done.

The Thing With Color

Color is one of the most vital elements of an image. That is because color attracts interest and stirs emotions.

However, we do not take perfect pictures all the time. Some end up dull with flat colors.

Fortunately, photos can be enhanced in Colorcinch with regard to important color attributes. These include hue, saturation, temperature, and vibrance.

Hue

Hue refers to the base color in the color spectrum. These are the primary (blue, yellow, red) and secondary colors (green, orange, violet).

There is a dominant hue in every color. For instance, for magenta the base color is violet. For ruby, it’s red and so forth.

Why should you use the Hue tool? To change the colors in photos (radical adjustments) and to correct white balance or reduce color cast (finer adjustments).

Let’s see the effect of tweaking the Hue slider.

Step 1

Upload image. Edit menu appears on the left panel. Under Enhance click Color.

Step 2

Sliders for Hue, Saturation, and Temperature appear. Move Hue slider -30° to the left and see the shift in colors. On the other hand, if you move the Hue slider to the right by 30° this also results in dramatic color change.

Step 3

An incremental adjustment of just -5° reduces the dominant green and reveals more reddish-brown. Base colors have become much more natural and balanced.

Step 4

If satisfied with the results click Apply and then Save the image (see photo in Step 3) to your computer or Colorcinch account. If you need to make other adjustments, simply go back to the Edit menu.

Saturation

Saturation deals with color intensity. When saturation is pushed up, it uniformly increases the vividness of all the colors in a picture.

How do you know if an image needs a saturation boost? If it has drab colors or looks somewhat grayish, a saturation tweak can help.

Let’s enhance an image using the saturation tool.

Step 1

Upload image. Edit menu appears on the left panel. Under Enhance click Color to get to the Hue, Saturation, and Temperature sliders.

Step 2

Move the Saturation slider by 50 to the right. Notice the immediate color boost.

Step 3

Now see what happens when the slider is moved to the left by -50. Colors have been drastically muted. Moving the slider all the way down to -100 will remove colors altogether.

Step 4

If satisfied with the color saturation in Step 2, click Apply and Save the image.

Temperature

Temperature pertains to the color of light. This can be warm (red, yellow, orange) or cool colors (blue, green, magenta).

Color temperature is associated with white balance. Our eyes can accurately perceive white and automatically adjust even under varied light sources. The camera cannot.

Hence, the camera may produce an image that has a tint or color cast. The Temperature tool corrects white balance so that white appears as such and is not tinted.

This is how it works: 

Step 1

Upload image. Edit menu > Enhance set > Color tool > Temperature slider set at 0 in the middle. Observe the bluish tint that surrounds the flamingos.

Step 2

Move the Temperature slider to the right by 30. The bluish haze disappears and the image gets just a bit lighter and warmer. This could be a more ideal color temperature since flamingos thrive in tropical regions.

Step 3

If results are to your liking click Apply and then Save image.

Vibrance

Vibrance lets you intensify muted colors while keeping saturated colors unaffected. It gives you similar results to that of Saturation – richer and more vivid images.

However, unlike Saturation, boosting Vibrance all the way up won’t give you an oversaturated effect. It works selectively by enhancing more the lower intensity colors. You can consider Vibrance as a subtler version of Saturation.

Here’s how to use this tool.

Step 1

Upload image. Edit > Enhance > Click Vibrance.

Step 2

The Vibrance slider is normally set at 30%. Crank the slider to the right up to 80% and you see a discreet but discernible  improvement in colors.

Step 3

Click Apply then Save image. If you need to make more adjustments, go back to Edit.

In Summary

Play and experiment with Hue, Saturation, Temperature, and Vibrance. It’s so easy to get full, deep colors that pop out.

The photo editor makes it fun and stress-free while giving you professional-level results. But don’t just take our word for it. Go for a test drive. Try Colorcinch now. It’s free!

We hope you were enlightened by this tutorial. Watch out for more guided tours of Colorcinch features in our next post.

The post Working with Color and Vibrance appeared first on Photo to Cartoon – Cartoonize Yourself & Create Avatar Characters for Free.

How cool would it be if you could turn your photos into a sketch, or even an oil painting!?

The great news is that you can do just that in a few simple clicks!

But, before take a look at these sketch Photoshop actions and amaze yourself.

In this quick tutorial, I’m going to showcase some of my favorite features and effects using Colorcinch to transform my photos into art. And when all is said and done, be sure to also check out the beautiful collection of sketch Photoshop actions for true inspiration.

Let’s get right to it!

How to Turn any Photo to Sketch

Step 1: Upload an Image

Click on Upload and select an image.

Step 2: Select an Effect

On the left-hand column, select Effects, followed by Sketcher.

After selecting Sketcher, you will see a whole range of different sketch-based designs to choose from. We offer both free effects, as well as many additional Plus Feature Effects, which are part of our Colorcinch Plus Subscription Plans. (This provides access to all of our premium features and effects!) 

However, for this example, I’ll be using one of our free sketch effects. Effect IC221.

And now for the magic!

All that you need to do is to click once on one of our sketch effects. Boom!

Easy enough, right!?

Now, while some effects might look great right away, I always like to make tiny adjustments to my effects.

In the next section, I will show you how to further customize your sketch effects.

Step 3: Customize your Sketch

Part 1: Using the Effect Slider

The first thing to do is to adjust the Effect slider.

By default, it will apply the effect at 100%. The further you move the slider to the left, the less intense the effect will be.

If you move the slider all of the way to the left, the effect will not be displayed at all.

Below you can see this effect applied at 100%.

Here’s what the effect would look like at 50%.

Now, this is all down to personal taste, so have fun with it and play around with the slider until you find the look that you’re after!

Part 2: Using Effect Settings

To customize the effect further, simply click on the Settings button.

Here we have 3 additional options: Detail, Color Range, and Hue.

• Detail: This slider essentially adds more texture/sharpness to the effect
• Color Range: If the chosen effect has color, you will be able to add additional saturation to the image by moving the slider to the right
• Hue: This will shift the color/tones within the image

In my example, I added 9 to Detail, 35 to Color Range, and 3 to Hue.

Seriously, how cool is that!?

Conclusion:

Whether you’re looking to create sketches out of your photos for Instagram, get them printed, or make an infographic, Colorcinch is a one-stop-shop for achieving your editing goals.

As you can see, with a simple click or two of a button, you can turn any photo to sketch, or an oil painting with ease. It doesn’t get easier than that!

With all of the different effects that we offer, you can easily lose a few hours trying them all out while turning your photos into art. (At least I did!)

I really hope that you enjoyed this tutorial and were able to turn some of your images into digital art.

So until the next tutorial, have fun with these effects and let your imagination run wild! Start editing.

The post Turn Any Photo to Sketch or Oil Painting appeared first on Photo to Cartoon – Cartoonize Yourself & Create Avatar Characters for Free.

Size:

The most important slider of them all! You will find more often than not that you need to adjust this slider.

Simply increase or decrease the Size slider to fit your selection. If you need to reposition the mask after resizing, click on the mask and move it to your desired location.

So now that you have the tools to create a circle image, I’d like to show you how you can put your new skills to use!

In the next section, I’m going to create a business card using the circle crop. I’ll also be using some additional features in Colorcinch that can really help bring your designs to life!

Part 3: Putting it All Together – Using a Circle Image in Graphic Design

I’ve already uploaded my image into Colorcinch and the first two things to do are:

1. Resize the Circle Mask and reposition it
2. Set the background to be a solid color and change the color

Adding Text:

Next, I’d like to add some text to my business card.

Click on the Text tab in the left-hand column, followed by the Add Text button.

Once the Text Box appears, enter some text and drag it to the location you’d like. For this example, I’m the owner of a coffee house, so I’ll name it, “The ABC Coffee House”.

In the text column, there are quite a few options to play around with, including: Front, Font Size, and Color. In addition, we have quite a few other powerful options to really make your text stand out!

Below is a quick overview of the main text options.

• Letter Spacing – Controls how close or far apart the letters are from one another
• Line Height – If you have more than one row of text, you can control how big or small the gap (space) is between the text rows/lines
• Opacity – Controls how visible the text will appear
• Background – By enabling Background, you can add a padded box around your text as a solid color and even change that color
• Outline – Enabling Outline will outline your text with a selected color
• Shadow – Enabling Shadow can provide extra depth and really bring out that wow factor in your text

Keep in mind that the title is the first thing that people will see, so don’t be afraid to pull out all of the stops with the above tools!

In my example, I used the “dancing script” Font with a Font Size of 75. I’ll keep the text color black.

Now that I have my title text, I’d like to make it pop more. To do so, I’m going to use the Outline and Shadow features!

Outline Settings:

1. Enabled Outline
2. Set the Width to 37% (width controls how thick or thin the outline will be)
3. Selected an orange outline color

Shadows Settings:

1. Enabled Shadow
2. Changed the Intensity to 32 (the lower you set the intensity, the softer the shadow will be)
3. Set the Vertical Position to a value of 2 (this will move the shadow up or down)
4. Set the Horizontal Position to a value of 1 (this moves the shadow left or right)
5. The color I selected was black

Next, I added some additional text for my coffee business using the same steps as above. The only difference here is that I changed the Font to “cabin” and set the Font Size to 43.

Adding Graphics:

Now to add some final touches!

In this section, I’m going to Introduce a few graphic elements to add a little more interest to my design.

Firstly, you’ll need to click on the Graphics tab in the left-hand column.

Here you will have two options:

1. Upload your own graphics
2. Search our extensive selection of pre-installed graphics to save time

Since my theme here is Coffee, all I have to do is type “coffee” in the search bar and select the graphics that appeal to me.

To select a graphic, click on it once, and it will appear in the Your Graphics section. From the Your Graphics section, drag the icon onto your design and move it to your desired location.

You can also easily resize and rotate your graphics. 

• Pull down the bottom to enlarge, or push up to shrink the graphic
• To rotate, click the corner selector and rotate it in the direction that you would like

To quickly duplicate a graphic, click once on it, select Layer Properties, followed by Duplicate. Next, click and drag the duplicate graphic to its new location.

Now, I could finish here, but I’d like to add just one more finishing touch using the steps above!

Below I added another graphic from our wide range of existing graphics, which accentuates my lovely circle based image!

As you can see, the options are endless, so let your imagination run wild!

Conclusion:

Well, that’s it for this tutorial, but the good news is, we have plenty more tips and tricks on the way!

Stay tuned and we’ll see you in the next article!

The post How to Quickly Create a Circle Image appeared first on Photo to Cartoon – Cartoonize Yourself & Create Avatar Characters for Free.

Colorcinch is a web-based platform, which means as long as you have a good internet connection and a decent machine, it’ll work on Mac, Windows PC and Linux.

So… Do you have to download or install anything to use Colorcinch? Nope. Colorcinch is entirely a web-based platform, which means no downloading or installing of any apps to your computer is necessary. As long as you meet our minimum requirements, you can access Colorcinch online from anywhere in the world, on any machine.

The post Colorcinch installation & OS support appeared first on Photo to Cartoon – Cartoonize Yourself & Create Avatar Characters for Free.

We offer 2 different account types. Our Basic account is free to use, requires no registration, and provides access to numerous essential effects and features. Click here to start editing with Colorcinch Basic.

Our Plus account costs $5.99 per month or a 33% discounted price of $47.88 if billed annually (once a year). Colorcinch Plus provides access to all of our premium effects and features, all graphics and icons, higher resolution export options and much more! Click here to see all Plus features.

The post How much does Colorcinch cost and can I try it for free? appeared first on Photo to Cartoon – Cartoonize Yourself & Create Avatar Characters for Free.