ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed: How They Work Together for Newborn Photography

If you have read the individual posts on shutter speed, aperture and ISO you now know what each one does on its own. The next step is understanding how they work together, because none of them operates in isolation. Change one and it affects the others.

The good news is that for newborn photography this is much simpler than it sounds. And I am going to prove it to you.

I have not changed my camera settings in 6 years.

Not because I am not paying attention, but because I have found the settings that work perfectly for my studio, my lighting and my style, and I see no reason to change them. I shoot lifestyle newborn photography in a controlled studio environment, which means my light source and space are consistent session after session.

When you find your settings you will feel the same.

How the Three Settings Work Together

I am going to use a cooking analogy. Bear with me.

Imagine you want to cook a chicken. You could put it in the oven at 200 degrees for 60 minutes. Or you could turn the temperature down and cook it for longer. Or turn it up and cook it for less time. The end result, a perfectly cooked chicken, can be achieved in different ways by adjusting the combination of temperature and time.

In this analogy shutter speed is your cooking time and aperture is your oven temperature. Both are controlling the same thing, how much heat reaches the chicken, just in different ways.

Now imagine that chicken is frozen. It is going to need either a higher temperature, a longer cooking time, or a combination of both, because it is less sensitive to heat and needs more of it to cook through. That frozen chicken is your ISO. A low ISO is a fresh chicken, responsive and easy to work with. A high ISO is a frozen chicken, less sensitive to light, needing more help from your other settings to get the job done.

I am plant based so this analogy requires some imagination on my part. But it works.

My Exact Settings for Every Newborn Session

I shoot with flash lighting in my studio. My settings are:

Shutter speed: 1/125

Aperture: f6.4

ISO: 100

These 3 settings work together to give me a perfectly exposed, sharp, beautifully focused image every single time. My shutter speed of 1/125 is compatible with my flash and steady enough to avoid camera shake. My aperture of f6.4 gives me a sharp baby with a pleasingly soft background. My ISO of 100 gives me the cleanest image quality because my flash provides all the light I need.

I set these at the start of a session and I do not touch them again. Every image I take that day is shot on the same settings.

What If You Are Not Using Flash

If you are shooting with natural daylight or LED lighting your starting point will be different because your light source is less consistent than flash. On a bright day you may not need much from your settings. On a dull day you will need to compensate.

A good starting point for natural light newborn photography is:

Shutter speed: 1/125

Aperture: f5.6

ISO: 400

From there adjust your ISO up if your images are too dark and down if they are too bright. Your shutter speed and aperture can largely stay where they are for a newborn session. ISO is your most flexible tool when shooting in available light so use it freely without fear.

Why You Do Not Need to Constantly Adjust Your Settings

When I was a wedding photographer I was changing my settings on almost every shot. Bright outdoor ceremony, dark church interior, candlelit reception. Every environment demanded something different and I had to respond to it constantly.

Newborn photography in a controlled studio environment is completely different. Your light source is consistent, your space is consistent and your subjects, while unpredictable in temperament, are not running around in different lighting conditions. Once you have found your settings for your space and your light source you can largely leave them alone and concentrate entirely on the baby, the parents and the session itself.

That is one of the great advantages of studio newborn photography that nobody talks about enough. Your camera becomes something you barely have to think about. And when you are not thinking about your camera you are free to focus on everything that actually matters.

Where to Start

If you are just beginning set your camera to these settings and shoot. Do not overthink it. Take some test shots, look at the results and adjust from there. Within a few sessions you will find your numbers and once you have found them you may not need to change them for a very long time.

My Simple Six course covers all of this in easy practical steps with your camera in your hand so you can see exactly what each setting does and find your own perfect combination from the very start.