There are many moments in life when you would like to escape, run away without looking back, moments of weakness, of doubt, of stupor. That moment when someone you love comes up to you and says something like…” I thought that you could take the photos of the baptism of my dear and only son (or daughter) in a unique and unrepeatable moment”. What a great honor! At that moment you would probably run and run without looking back, as if a pack of wild and hungry wolves were chasing you 😉 but you don’t, you stay, speechless babbling the first excuses that come to your head.
– You: “But I have no idea”
– The other person: “Man, more than me and my mother for sure”
– You: “But if my camera is not at all professional”
– The other person: “Better than mine for sure, I don’t even have one”
– You: “But I’ve never done anything like it”
– The other person: “I hadn’t had a child until now and look”
– You: “Irrefutable, okay, I’ll do what I can”
– The other person: “Thank you very much”
– You: “But what can, huh? Don’t expect wonders”
– The other person: “Yes, yes, thank you very much, on Saturday at 12 we will see you there”
And there you have it. In less than a minute, the pact is sealed. You soon recover from your stupor and run home like a mad man to track down images of baptisms and everything else you find in forums, blogs, and in the 20 tabs open in your browser. But don’t worry, don’t look any further, we’ll show you some tips to get you through your first baptism, so take a deep breath, recover from the shock, and let’s get to it, there’s a first time for everything 🙂
What material will I need?
First of all check and prepare well the material you will need before leaving home. Make a list of essential things and do not forget anything.
- charged batteries already point (more than one).
- Charger: You can always leave one battery charging while you use the other.
- Various memory cards.
- external flash if you have one, it can save you in many low light situations.
- a diffuser for flash.
- Goals: They are all useful for different situations. If you have more than one, here are its main applications based on different situations that you can find at a baptism:
- Telephoto: It will be useful to get closer to situations that you cannot access, but on the other hand they are not very bright, so if you go without a flash, it can give you problems in the church.
- 50mm: In general they are very bright, if you can get close enough, it can be very useful for indoor portrait shots such as the one in the church. In addition, with them you can play with the depth of field to blur backgrounds and focus more attention on your protagonists.
- wide angle: It will be useful for general plans of the church inside, outside, etc. It will also allow you to take less orthodox portraits (remember that the wide angle distorts the features in the foreground)
- Macro: You can use it to photograph small details of the baptism (a shoe buckle, the icing on a cake, the petal of a bouquet of flowers… you name it)
- some good shoes (very comfortable) 😉 you are going to spend a few hours on your feet and running from one side to the other, nothing to suffer!
Before the baptism session
What usually scares or intimidates us about these types of events is usually the number of people who attend them, not knowing where to stand to take the images, the fear of missing decisive moments, of being disturbed, etc. Certainly there are many aspects that you cannot control, but you do have some that you can and should control as much as possible. Controlling what is “controllable” will give you much more peace of mind and security, and this will be transmitted directly in your images.
- study the place (quietly and unhurriedly) a few days before.
- Come closer to the same hour where the event will take place on the day of the baptism.
- study the light: This way you will know how much light you will have inside the church and it will help you think about the images and the maximum and minimum light that you will have.
- Find the best place where to place yourself inside the church. Choose a place close to the baptismal font, where you won’t “disturb” too much and allow guests to see. That will be your “comfort zone”, from there you can move to take other perspectives. But if you have a predefined and well-located place where you can stand, you will be calmer and more aware of what is happening before your eyes.
- study the environment and look for pictorial places where you can make your images at the exit of the church (stone walls, on the stairs with the church in the background, a nearby park…)
- Learn the approximate sequence of the liturgy: This way you will be able to predict the key moments in which you must be next to or very close to the baptismal font or those in which you can move away to photograph other angles.
During the baptism session
The preparations
To achieve a more complete report of the day of the baptism, ask the family if you can come beforehand to photograph the preparations; how they dress the baby, how they feed him before leaving, the close family that may be present… These are more relaxed moments than in church, and they will allow you to obtain images in a calmer and closer way.
- Shoot in RAW: If you have this option in your camera, do not hesitate to use it, it will allow you to make small adjustments in the post-processing with much better results, although you must bear in mind that the images weigh more, so be careful not to run out of space on the card memory
- Photography details: Think that the clothes have been carefully chosen, as well as all the elements that accompany them: bracelets, shoes, hats, etc. So pay attention to the details and try to get good pictures of them.
- Look for places with good natural lighting: Christenings are usually in the morning, so you are at least lucky to have enough natural light. Bring the baby closer to sources of natural light to photograph him (windows), it is softer and warmer than the flash and will give you better results.
- baby and relationships with their parents and relatives: In this most intimate moment you will be able to obtain closer, more tender and/or anecdotal photographs. Do not miss anything, the looks, when they are dressing it, the smiles and in some cases, the cries of the baby. Everything will be great memories of that day.
In the church
If you have made the preparations a few days before, you will already know the best place to stand to get the best perspective of the baptism. If you have also learned the sequence in which the liturgy will take place, you will have the ability to anticipate events.
- Take advantage of the first moments (which are usually prayers) to get images of general shots of the church with the guests.
- move discreetly.
- Pay attention to the key moments of the baptismMissing the moment of the baptism itself is something that can NOT happen to you, so pay close attention and don’t get distracted.
- come closer as much as you can without disturbing.
- Identify the main “actors” and give them prominence: Baby, priest, parents and godparents.
- Take advantage as much as you can of the punctual natural light that enters through the windows.
- Be careful with the ISO: Try to keep it as low as possible so that your images do not lose quality, but with speeds high enough so that the images do not come out blurred.
- Don’t use direct flash to photograph the baby.
- Don’t miss a detail: For the parents of the child, it is an important and exciting moment, and do not doubt that they will transmit emotion in each of their gestures. Your job is not to lose detail of those moments.
- take lots of photosdo not cut yourself, you will have more time to think about other occasions.
- Forget the automatic: You have different shooting modes for each of the situations that may arise. Practice with them before the day of the baptism for best results.
- Do not panic: I’m sure you’ll do much better than you think. Once you start to press the shutter, the photographer inside you will do the rest 🙂
after the baptism
A baptism is a day that brings together very different people in terms of ages. You will probably have boys or girls and also older people in the family. Take advantage of this moment to photograph people in a group, the baby may even have his great-grandparents at that time, providing you with images of great contrast and value for the memory, so do not forget to photograph all the relatives of the baby and with the baby.
- Find an ally: Surely you will not be the only one who will be interested in these images being wonderful, so ask for collaboration. Look for someone willing to help you find people to pose, gather them, or tell you who’s who. It will be much easier for you that way and you can focus on what you really know how to do 🙂
- Find a suitable background for group portraits: In the church you couldn’t choose the light or the background, but now you can, find a place with good light conditions and a pleasant background, one that doesn’t distract the attention of the people portrayed, where no light poles or nothing weird coming out of their heads 😉
- Find a place with good natural lighting: Avoid harsh lights that create shadows under the eyes or make unwanted backlights or grimaces of people in the group. If you get too much sun, find some shade.
- close the diaphragm: In group photographs it is important that everyone is well focused, so close the diaphragm as much as possible with the light you have available.
- It portrays several generations together, It is a unique and unrepeatable moment.
- Take several shots: There is always someone who blinks or yawns at the most inappropriate moment.
Treat
Cheer up. If you’ve come this far, the “worst” is over 😉 so relax, enjoy and give free rein to your imagination and creativity. These images are no longer “mandatory”, these are for pure pleasure, so if until now you were not having too much fun (I’m sure you were) it’s time to start doing it.
- Look for spontaneous situations and forget about posed: For example, children are an inexhaustible source of great images of this type and we all love them.
- Try different frames, planes and perspectives.
- Practice your composition and put what you learned into practice.
- Photograph the details of the baptism (cakes, balloons, the baby’s name, the flowers… anything you find photogenic).
- Do not stop moving, walk, observe, look through windows, frame between flowers or up a tree, look for different and original images.
At home
The baptism is over and you’ve had a better time than you expected. Maybe you even wanted more 😉 and on top of that you see the photos and, did you doubt it? You have amazing photos!
- Adjust small light or framing defects but without going overboard. If the image is not worth a priori, you can do little for it.
- Make a good selection: It’s the hardest thing but if you do it right you’ll…