Evening star., 1949-05-08
- Camera Angles ~
Patience Needed To Get Good Mother. Bah, Pictures
ey Alexander J. Wedoeresrn
SsrSss< - s@~sevrsRAs

fourth month you Won experience
quite 50 much diffculty IN taktns
his picture The wobo!y little head
doesn't wooole as much nov and
ne wll De interested IN certain
eolors, noises and objects, And
once his back is strong enough 10
hold him In q semi i-srect position
for few moments al . time. With
helping hand. o! course. you can
start taking those mother and
baby pictures that you will treas
ure forever after. AL II takes is q
bit Of patience and dextrr!iy on
your part-the baby viii do the
rest.
! Poses are OF first Importance
After making q few portrait shots
with your camera you have prob
ably discovered that II isn't too
tough an assignment after oil.
You have been able 10 place your
lights and camera and then con-
cenTate on the subject for pose
and expression. Not bad st all
But in taking O group OF two. par
ticularly when one is q wiggling
squiyming baby you have another
problem entirely. Still 1t can BE-
done and done well.
Caution as to Hands. Legs. Arms.
| We stress the importance OF q
good pose when the group shot
/ includes q baby because many
/ things that 80 unnoticed while
your attention Is focused on the
| tot will contribute 10 the ultimate
failure of your effort TO take .
really good picture. A. an in
stance let Us examine one Of the
more popular types OF mother and
baby shots. Often you will see a
picture OF the subjects in q close
up pose with heads close together
Now. as a matter of fact. this type
OF pose has much 10 recommend IL.
This Is primarily so because /,
automatically eliminates the dan
ger OF having a good picture ruined
by a wildly waving little hand or
leg. 1t also takes care OF the
problem Of the mothers hands
. And believe me. this is bis
problem because mother. all toe
/ unconciously. has the habit oi
reaching out TO seize a moving
hand or foot--just as you make
the exposure. You have also pos.
sibly seen many pictures where
| the mothers hand. wide spread
| to give support TO the baby. ap-
pears awkardly prominent in Tn.
composition. So. until baby Il
old enough to remain fairly still
for short periods while you hole
his attention. 1t will be easier u
stick TO the close-ups for forma
portrait shots.
| To effect good tight compost.
tion for such shot then we must
pose the subjects so that the
heads are close together. In &C.
complishing this. the most com.
mon error observed Is that where
the mother stands and attempt.
to hold the baby with his face
close against hers. This is nc
good. In the first place. holdins
a baby in this position places ar
unnatural strain on the neck
muscles Of the mother which both
throws her head back In o bad
| posture and emphasizes the
muscles of the neck to such q
degree that even the best re-
touchers can't cover up the hard
lines. This sort Of a pose also
brings the mothers clutchins
hands back into the picture as
she trys to hold the baby In po-
sition. Finally. the baby finds
this situation little to his liking
and struggles to get free. And you
in the meantime. are ready To
give up in disgust.
Try TO Embody Relaxation.
| Note the illustration. Both
mother and child are fully relaxed
and no supporting hands are In
evidence. The composition was
very simply arranged. Baby was
seated on the edge OF a table
(which was placed about three
feet from the wall-backgroundD
and mother sat beside the table
on a vanity bench. Her arm
passed naturally and comfortably
behind the baby's back and re-
mained out Of the picture area
Her other hand was used to give
the baby additional support and
confidence in his position on the
table. Mothers head was tilted
at pleasing angle to effect a
more unified composition. TO give
the baby added confidence in the
face OF the all the strange equip
ment. and to emphasize the feel
ing of closeness between mother
and child as portrayed by the pic
ture.
Only two lights we're used. One.
a number 4 photofiood tdiffused
with a sheet OF tracing cloth was
placed at a 45-degree angle be-
tween the subjects and the cam
era. The other. q number / pho
toflood, was used as a fll-in light
in a position close at the other
side OF the camera. While the
picture might have been improved
by using a third light between the
subjects and the background TO
give further separation and o
fourth light could have been used
/ to advantage on the hair as q top
light. we purposely refrained from
using them 50 ~ 10 provide and
example Of the type Of portrai-
i ture that can be accomplished
i with very simple equipment. A
number 2 photofiood on the right
would have performed as well rs
| the number 4. However. the
stronger light made q faster ex-