Photos at hospital tomorrow

Well, the whiff and I are having our second child tomorrow. I was
looking for some down and dirty heuristics for taking photos in the
sterile conditions of the maternity ward. I am using a D70s with a
24-120 VR lens. I only have the built in flash and 1gb CFC. Thanks!
I was thinking of doing the NEF and JPEG option, for quick dispersal of
the shots to the relatives and friends...

B

 

Nice to see you are concentrating on the things that really matter
whilst your wife gives birth. I'm sure she appreciates your tremendous
support.........

Personally I'd ditch the Nikon and buy a cheap disposable, if some
images come out great, if some don't tough,

F.G.S. just enjoy the moment and worry less about which camera you are
using...........

--


MJG

(Take THEDOG out to email me)

 

Some would say that his care to try and capture a special moment with his
wife in a photo IS part of focusing on what matters.

Needless criticism.
If he thinks about it NOW...he'll be prepared to capture that special moment
with minimal fuss/distraction.

But then...if you are just looking for things to needlessly criticise...have
a ball!
--IOW... F.G.S. -Let him enjoy his family's moment as they see fit.

As for me...
-I just spent the weekend going through old black & white photos from my
childhood. The most precious (to me) of these were shots my dad managed to
take only moments after my birth. The shot was of me...wrapped in my first
blanket...in the arms of the Colombian nurse who helped deliver me. As I
looked at those images, I felt grateful to my dad for having the presence of
mind to capture those moments. In those days, few people took shots that
soon, and I'm very glad to have them.

To Ben-
I think its great that you're trying to thoughtfully and intentionally
capture those moments for posterity.
By preparing as you are, you make it much more likely that your son/daughter
will someday have the same enjoyment I just did going through his/her first
images, as I just did.
-Mark

 

Since you're much better equipped than I (photo wise), it's hardly my place
to comment.
However, I lost a once in a lifetime shot of a deer and her fawn in my
backyard because I had to shoot thru' glass of door and forgot to turn off
flash, so try to avoid taking thru' glass if they'll let you.
Dave Cohen

 

Hi.

Your D70, and its built in Flash will do Ok, provided you have tested it out
already, and know whether you are likely to need to apply some Flash
Compensation.

Maternity wards tend to be decorated in light colours, and if your New Born
is wrapped in White, the Camera may Underexpose a little bit more than
usual.

So Auto Bracket.

If SHE finds out that you have not got your technique right, you may well be
spending some time sleeping with the Dog, when THEY get home.

Roy G

 

Congrats on the child! I took my D70 and 18-70 lens and didn't use flash and
there was just enough light for 1/60s f3.5 exposures when my second daughter was
born 8.5 months ago. A few of the shots were at 1/45 (I think) so were a bit
blurry but I got at least half a dozen good shots. Don't spend too much time
behind the camera though, those moments are priceless.

 

wrote:
: Well, the whiff and I are having our second child tomorrow. I was
: looking for some down and dirty heuristics for taking photos in the
: sterile conditions of the maternity ward. I am using a D70s with a
: 24-120 VR lens. I only have the built in flash and 1gb CFC. Thanks!
: I was thinking of doing the NEF and JPEG option, for quick dispersal of
: the shots to the relatives and friends...

: B

One thought. Many physisians say that newborn eyes are very sensitive to
bright lights and may even be harmed by camera flashes. So some hospitals
do not allow flash photos at all. But most delivery rooms tend to be lit
well enough that you should be able to take fairly good photos without a
flash. You may have to bump up the ISO to reduce the camera shake induced
by "new father jitters". So take lots of test shots prior to the main
event and adjust the film speed, white balance and other settings so that
when your newborn arrives you can catch a few shots before you are told to
"put down that camera and pick up your son (or daughter as the case may
be)".

Congrats

Randy

==========
Randy Berbaum
Champaign, IL

 

When I witnessed my sister giving birth to her son, there was no restriction
and no cautions mentioned...and this was a hospital entirely devoted to
giving birth...about 9 years ago.

My dad was there...snapping away with shoe-mounted flash, and I was (gasp)
video taping the whole thing.
(Obviously we're a very close-knit family!!)

 

Well, ask the doctor. He may want the camera wiped down with a
sterilizing solution (but I doubt it). No flash, but that shouldn't be
a problem as the delivery room should be well lit. And try not to break
the camera when you faint. Grin.

 

Ditto! I filmed my office factotum's daughter's birth, and she's shown
it to the (now) six-year-old, who was fascinated!

Bill

 

To Mark - you have of course completely missed my point. Whilst I am
sure it will be really great in years to come if Ben has really
perfectly composed and exposed pictures of his new born and wife what I
feel his wife is probably more in need of at this time is some care and
attention.

I'm sure at the point of delivery and immediately afterwards she
wouldn't give a flying fig if 'David Bailey' had managed to capture some
great images, what she probably really would want is a a long and bid
affectionate hug.

If in the the midst of all this Ben manages to get some good shots with
a quickly and 'spontaneously' produced disposable just great. The first
images you so hanker after Mark are just as likely to be captured this
way as they are with the Nikon.

Just my two cents worth and to be honest I am not really bothered as to
whether you concur or or not, as equally I am sure you are not bothered
as to whether I concur with you.

Now we can continue playing a game of Newsgroup 'pin pong' over the
coming days until one of us gets sick and gives up or we can call it
quits here and save ourselves a shed load of time between us.

--


MJG

(Take THEDOG out to email me)

 

I just think it's funny when complete strangers are so quick to assume they
know what someone else's wife wants/needs.
They aren't new at this...
They've had kids before.
They know how it works.
He knows his wife.
He wants some quality pictures.
He didn't call the NG Doctor Laura to get her blessing...

??
What a silly statement.
-That only applies to those who have no idea how cameras work, and for whom
every snap is a crap-shoot.

 

I think, if she's going to be filmed for posterity, that what she
really wants is to have a chance to put on a little makeup, comb her
hair, and not look like a sweaty, grunting woman that is in a great
deal of discomfort and awkwardly positioned with parts visible that
she doesn't think should be visible in the family album.

Even if she doesn't feel that way, I hope that I'm not asked to view
the album and note that she was nicked when prepped.

The birth process is a wondrous thing, but I feel that the first
picture should be of the smiling mother after some cosmetic
restoration holding the newborn after some cleaning up.

If the wife disagrees with this, fine. But, please, don't show the
pictures unless asked. There are few things worse than having someone
poke some photos at you and being asked "Wanna see some pics of the
crowning?"

I didn't ask for a video of my colonoscopy, either.

 

But I did find it fascinating watching mine on the monitor. Sort of like
watching a science fiction movie of some sub-terranean craft.

 

Ya...its about as close as one can come to "sticking one's head up one's
arse..."

(to put it nicely...)