Photographing a baby and a toddler in natural light

It was the day after Christmas and I was up in Sacramento celebrating with family for a couple of days. My niece and her husband were at home with their 2 year old and their 2 month old, and I offered to come over and take baby photos for them. You may remember that I took photos when Patrick, their oldest, was a newborn (that blog can be found here) and he has grown up a lot since then! Now he has been joined by brother Owen, and we needed to document these cuties while they are young and adorable. 

(Canon R6 camera, RF 24-105mm lens at 70mm, ISO 1000, f/4, 1/400 sec)

I started by photographing Owen on his own, since Patrick was still taking his nap. I was using the Canon R6 with the Canon RF 24-105mm lens. 

(Canon R6 camera, RF 24-105mm lens at 105mm, ISO 800, f/4, 1/400 sec)

I got down low on the ground and photographed Owen from his level. I brought some different lighting options, but decided to keep it simple and use window light only. We positioned Owen facing the sliding glass door, which was behind me. 

(Canon R6 camera, RF 24-105mm lens at 85mm, ISO 640, f/4, 1/250 sec)

The window light was perfect for lighting his face and also adding nice catch light into his eyes.

(Canon R6 camera, RF 24-105mm lens at 45mm, ISO 640, f/4, 1/400 sec)

We put Owen into the same bucket as we did with his brother 2 years earlier.

(Canon R6 camera, RF 24-105mm lens at 45mm, ISO 640, f/4, 1/320 sec)

I stood straight over him and shot down, careful not to get my shoes in the shot. (Photographer's note: the photo was taken in color and then converted to B&W using NIK Silver Efex Pro in Adobe Photoshop)

(Canon R6 camera, RF 24-105mm lens at 43mm, ISO 1000, f/4, 1/125 sec)

Again, like 2 years prior, we put the youngsters in front of their custom skateboard.

(Canon R6 camera, RF 24-105mm lens at 45mm, ISO 1000, f/4, 1/100 sec)

When photographing kids, you need to be ready to capture the really cute unplanned moments like this.

(Canon R6 camera, RF 24-105mm lens at 43mm, ISO 1000, f/5.6, 1/80 sec)

I love this photo of them both looking at me as if saying "are we done yet?" (Photographer's note: You will notice that I changed from f/4 to f/5.6 for this photo. I did this because I wanted both of the boys in focus. Having a slightly narrower aperture, gives me both of their eyes sharp.At f/4, only one of their faces would have been sharp.)

Patrick was very interested in what I was capturing in the camera. And like with any client, I had to get approval from him. (Photo credit: Annette Cable)

(Canon R6 camera, RF 24-105mm lens at 65mm, ISO 1000, f/5, 1/100 sec)

Patrick got this really nice wood puzzle for Christmas, so I asked him if he wanted to hold it for some photos.

(Canon R6 camera, RF 24-105mm lens at 65mm, ISO 1000, f/4, 1/160 sec)

He gave me this look right before tossing the puzzle in the air. You can see that "I am almost 2 and can do whatever I want" look in his face.

(Canon R6 camera, RF 24-105mm lens at 65mm, ISO 1000, f/4, 1/125 sec)

My daughter, Ali, moved the blanket away and decided to do some yoga poses with Patrick. This is him looking up at her to see what she was doing.

(Canon R6 camera, RF 24-105mm lens at 37mm, ISO 1000, f/4, 1/125 sec)

Ali was showing Patrick the tree pose and he was doing his best to imitate her. 

(Canon R6 camera, RF 24-105mm lens at 63mm, ISO 1000, f/4, 1/125 sec)

Then it was time for Patrick to get his own camera out for some photos.

(Canon R6 camera, RF 24-105mm lens at 63mm, ISO 1000, f/4, 1/125 sec)

I love this shot of "Little P" looking at the back of the camera. Even though he has no LCD on the back, and it is only wood, it still looks like all of us professional photographers who are checking our images while shooting. 

(Canon R6 camera, RF 24-105mm lens at 53mm, ISO 1250, f/5, 1/250 sec)

Then it was time to get some more photos of Owen in the bucket again, this time with Patrick.

(Canon R6 camera, RF 24-105mm lens at 50mm, ISO 1250, f/5, 1/250 sec)

Ahhhhhh. So cute!

(Canon R6 camera, RF 24-105mm lens at 53mm, ISO 1250, f/5, 1/250 sec)

After a couple of kisses, Patrick got tired of kissing Owen on the head. But Ali had a plan. She placed an M&M on Owen's head and told Patrick he had to eat it off of his head. And voila, I got the last shot we wanted. Good thinking Ali!

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