From the Back Cover
Taking professional-quality photographs of your favorite baby is within your grasp. It's amazingly easy and fun-and you don't need a fancy camera. The basic baby photography techniques and tips provided by Nick Kelsh, renowned photographer and best-selling author of "Naked Babies" and "Siblings," can improve the photography of people at all skill levels. Kelsh's appealing conversational style and "no tech talk" rule make this a book anyone (even sleep-deprived new parents) can learn from and enjoy. Inside find: - 9 self-contained "lessons" with over 100 tips and ideas in a unique foldout format. Each lesson includes easy-to-follow instructions as well as helpful advice, accompanied by a wealth of visual examples of good and bad picture-taking techniques. - Foolproof methods guaranteed to make your baby smile for photographs every time, along with Kelsh's "tricks of the trade" that will keep your baby-and you-smiling throughout every photo session. - Engaging information on topics such as mastering the close-up, utilizing natural light, and transforming locations throughout the home-or even a car-into improvised photo studios. - Plus: fun ways to display your masterpieces, as well as advanced ideas for people who want to take their picture-taking to a higher level. Baby photography is easy and enjoyable. It's a promise!


About the Author
NICK KELSH is a renowned photographer whose work has been featured in numerous publications, including on the covers of several books in the prestigious Day in the Life series. He collaborated with author Anna Quindlen to create the best-selling books Naked Babies and Siblings.


Excerpted from How to Photograph Your Baby : Getting Closer With Your Camera and Your Heart by Nick Kelsh. Copyright © 1999. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
Technical Review The pages that follow are the most important ones in the book. Amateur photographers make three basic mistakes. I will describe them here. If you were to take to heart any one of the following errors and correct it in your photography, your pictures would show an immediate improvement. If you get a handle on all three of these - especially the third one about quality of light - your family holiday cards will become legendary. You will still be receiving compliments about them at Fourth of July picnics. The yearbook editor at your kid's school is going to be calling you for your sports pictures. And yes, some photographically destitute parent is going to call you and ask you to photograph their kids. This is not hyperbole. I have seen it happen. The first two problems may seem so simple and obvious that it almost seems silly to build a book around them. But, if you deal with these two issues you will have laid a solid foundation for a lifetime of memorable family photographs. They are: Number One Amateur photographers don't get close enough to their subjects. I don't mean emotionally close enough - I mean physically close enough. They stand too far away from what they're photographing. (They think they're photographing their grandson, but they're really taking an overall shot of their daughter's living room with their grandson sitting on the sofa. Nice picture of a living room. Lousy picture of a grandson. Number Two Amateurs don't shoot enough film. They need to take more pictures. Number Three Amateurs don't consider the emotional effect the quality of light has on their pictures. It's understandable - they don't even know what quality of light is. So they do the easiest thing: They use flash as their light source - after all, it's built into the camera. This is totally reasonable thinking that can lead to total disaster. Numbers One and Two are easily correctable. We'll do that in a minute. Number Three is a little complicated. Pretend it isn't. I've spent most of my adult life tyring to get this one right and I've found it worth the effort. Rembrandt built a career around Number Three. If it was good enough for Rembrandt, it's good enough for you and me. But just because it took the talent of a Dutch painter to master Number Three and I'm still working on it doesn't mean that you can't give it a shot. To keep things as uncomplicated as possible, we'll simply mimic Rembrandt. We could do much worse. So here, in plain language, is my recipe for improving the average amateur photographer's pictures: Get closer. Shoot more film. Turn off your flash.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Nick Kelsh, king of the kid photographers, tops the success of How to Photograph Your Baby with a brand new book full of tips and techniques that will help anyone take better pictures of bigger people- children, siblings, parents, and grandparents. Produced in the same accessible, easy-to-follow style as its predecessor, How to Photograph Your Family contains nine fold-out lessons. Each one offers sensible instructions on how to take pictures like a pro. Quick tips, do's and don'ts, and photo examples illustrate the application of the techniques. Lessons even feature intentionally incorrect images-typical mistakes-to teach readers what not to do. An introduction and brief technical section explain the basics of photography, and Kelsh conveys it all in his trademark entertaining prose. Follow his friendly advice, and you'll create the family album of your dreams. Topics include shooting formals and candids; posing the family for a group portrait; capturing action, special events, and individual achievements; and photographing a range of ages. Best of all, Kelsh gives great suggestions for when to take pictures, stressing the importance of those everyday moments that may magically transform into special memories. Think of your daughter dressing her favorite doll or your son's first day on the job; Mom tending her beloved flower beds or Dad tooling away with his fishing tackle. Years from now, these are the images that will prompt sentimental smiles and thoughtful pauses.

Nick Kelsh is a renowned photographer whose work has been featured in numerous publications, including on the covers of several books in the prestigious Day in the Life series. He collaborated with author Anna Quindlen to create the best-selling books Naked Babies and Siblings.

SYNOPSIS

Taking professional-quality photographs of your favorite baby is within your grasp. The basic baby photography techniques and tips provided by Nick Kelsh, renowned photographer and best-selling author of "Naked Babies" and "Siblings," can improve the photography of people at all skill levels. Kelsh's appealing conversational style and "no tech talk" rule make this a book anyone (even sleep-deprived new parents) can learn from and enjoy. Inside find:

9 self-contained "lessons" with over 100 tips and ideas in a unique foldout format. Each lesson includes easy-to-follow instructions as well as helpful advice, accompanied by a wealth of visual examples of good and bad picture-taking techniques. Foolproof methods guaranteed to make your baby smile for photographs every time, along with Kelsh's "tricks of the trade" that will keep your baby-and you-smiling throughout every photo session. Engaging information on topics such as mastering the close-up, utilizing natural light, and transforming locations throughout the home-or even a car-into improvised photo studios. Plus: fun ways to display your masterpieces, as well as advanced ideas for people who want to take their picture-taking to a higher level.