Moment of Birth

There are very few moments on earth that match the birth of a baby. Such wonder, awe, and love. It was a privileged to be asked by the parents to be there and photograph the big event.

The full story behind this delivery room photo shoot (lighting, metering, color temperature issues, and RAW file conversion) is here.

I was using a Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L lens at this point in the process. Not long after taking the photo in The Baby is On the Way, I zoomed from 17 to 40 mm to catch the moment of birth.

The lighting was far more contrasty than it appears in this photo. The baby was lit by the fluorescent lights in the ceiling, but hidden in the shadows. The doctor’s left hand was in the bright light of a spotlight.

I used Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) to process the RAW file. I adjusted the overall exposure using the “Exposure” slider. I adjusted the “Temperature” slider a bit, and then moved the “Tint” slider to the plus side to counteract the overall green tone caused by the fluorescent lights. Then I used the “Shadows” slider to pull the baby up out of the shadows.  I pulled the “Highlights” to the negative side to tone down the bright highlight on the doctors left hand. I decreased the Luminance Noise that was caused by the high ISO setting and increased the Luminance Detail.

Photo Data: Canon 5D Mark III. Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L lens at 40 mm. f/7.1, 1/125 sec., ISO 3200.

Links

To learn all about exposure, metering, depth of field, working with different light sources and matching the white balance of your camera to the color temperature of the light, read Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies. It has a five star rating at Amazon.com and it is one of the most comprehensive books on exposure currently available. You can learn all about the book in this article and order it here at Amazon.com.

The best books on Adobe Camera Raw and how to process RAW files for maximum quality are by Bruce Fraser and Jeff Schewe. Learn more in Mastering Photoshop & Lightroom: Adobe Camera Raw (ACR).