Capturing the Magic of your birth- DIY Birth Photography during COVID-19
Being a support person and remembering to document the process can feel like a lot to juggle, even to us professionals! Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 hospitals were faced with putting a limit on external support in order to minimize exposure and spread throughout the community. It’s been extremely disappointing and challenging for all of us, but I love you and I want to support you during this time! So here are a few tips and tricks to ensure that you get some of the most important details.
I’m going to start with a few basic tips for both smartphones and DSLR cameras, I want you to utilize whatever camera you’re using to the best of its ability. Little tweaks and changes can make a huge difference!
Phone Tips
Blow dust off the camera and clean your lens!: Your phone is constantly in and out of your pocket, purse, and hands- yuck! Germs aside, it’ll help you get smudge free images.
Focus: The autofocus on phones can be hit or miss.When you’re taking a photo make sure you focus on your subject. You can do this by tapping that area on your screen.
Don’t use Zoom: Using the Zoom feature can lead to grainy images, it will be easier to crop them down in post-production.
Steady your hand/phone: This will help minimize motion blur from your movements.
DSLR Tips
Manual Mode: By using manual mode we’ll have more consistency and control over the image results. I’d recommend the following settings: Aperture around 2.8-4ish, Shutter Speed around 1/200 (going lower will likely produce motion blur), ISO- as high as you need to go to expose your image.
Prime Lens: If possible, I would recommend using a prime lens, 24mm or 35mm will typically work in most birth spaces.
RAW: shoot in RAW instead of JPEG, It will ensure that the image has all of the data needed to edit. JPEG makes adjustments in camera and we don’t want that.
Regardless of the camera you’re using LIGHT is absolutely necessary in photography. Sometimes we need to get creative because it's either night time or the laboring person prefers dim lighting. Look around, open the blinds to let in more natural light or turn on a side light.
Now that we’ve talked about the technical side of things lets go over some of the moments that matter the most when telling a birth story. This list will help you balance being the primary source of support and capturing the essentials.
I would recommend taking about 10-15 images during each of these time frames to offer variety and a fuller story. I would also recommend talking to your nursing staff and doctors early on, many of them would be thrilled to step in and take some photos of both of you working together throughout labor and even postpartum during the golden hour.
Home/Early Labor
Many choose to labor at home for many reasons, now so especially. Here are a few moments that can help tell a story from the beginning!
Packing the last few essentials into the hospital bag
Getting the kids ready for their care provider
Coping through contractions
Arriving at the hospital
Hospital/Active Labor
Now that you’ve settled into your hospital room and labor is picking up let’s keep focused so we don’t lose track of the story! oh and GET CREATIVE!
Position changes- are a great time to snap a quick photo.
Details matter!- It helps set the story- things like your room number, if it was day time or night time, monitors, IV/Meds if it’s an induction, etc.
Interaction- between you and the medical staff or other moments of interaction (are you video chatting with your doula or family members?)
Pushing/Birth/Golden Hour
This is the stage that can move rather quickly. Depending on how many nurses or support staff are in the room for the actual birth you can ask one of them if they’re willing and able to help take a few photos of the three of you right after the baby is born.
Pushing- it takes so much power to birth a baby, don’t forget to highlight their face. Capture details like holding their hand, or them taking a rest in between pushes
Birth- talk it over ahead of time to know if crowning shots are desired, if not then standing at the head of the bed is a great spot! Make sure you get the moment of your baby being brought to the chest for the first time.
Golden Hour- These are the moments we’ve been waiting for all pregnancy, we’ve envisioned holding our baby through every contraction. I would stress the importance of the first few moments of skin to skin, the first latch, details of your baby (their face, hands, feet, etc), you holding your baby for the first time, and the newborn exam/measurements!
I fully recognize that this is A LOT! Do the best you can but don’t stress yourself out. Having some of these moments to look back on will be better than not having any.
While hospitals are limiting extended birth teams like birth photographers and doulas along with other visitors I will be offering my editing services to you! I’ll edit 100-150 images for $100, please reach out to coordinate hnischkebirthservices@gmail.com
