Is Flash Photography Safe for Newborns?
This is a question I get all the time, and the short answer is yes. It is totally safe! But let's break it down!
I'm not a doctor, obviously, but I have done a lot of research on this topic because it's a question I get so often!
False Reports
In 2015, The Daily Mail (a publication known for its questionable journalism) posted a story about a Chinese newborn who was blinded by a relative who took photos of the baby using a flash. This story has since been debunked but is still sighted by people who are concerned about using strobes and flash when photographing newborns and small children.
The Truth
When this story broke, parents and photographers around the world became concerned about the safety of using artificial light when photographing newborns and small children. But the claims made in that article are simply not true.
Ophthalmologist, Dr. Alex Levin was weighed in on the story in an interview with Yahoo Parenting and called the story of the blinded baby in China “inconceivable.”
He went on to say, “If this story were true, there would be lots of blind babies out there… Retinas are made to last, and it’s highly unlikely that this kind of light would cause damage… To attribute the blindness to the taking of a photograph would be incorrect. There’s no way that a camera can cause such damage.”
( https://petapixel.com/2015/07/29/baby-in-china-blinded-by-camera-flash-probably-not )
And according to Babymed.com, "The flash of a camera actually isn’t that bright at all. It only seems bright because it’s often contrasted by dark or indoor settings. The flash of light is no brighter than the light outside in the middle of the day, which is fine for a baby in small doses. The only really harmful light condition you should help your baby avoid is direct and constant sunlight, so always make sure you point your baby’s face away from the sun."
This is something I've read over and over again.
The light that comes from a flash is no brighter than the light you get through a window or from most light bulbs in your house. Now obviously, those lights would be too bright if one were to look directly at them for a long period of time, but we don't. And we don't look directly at the studio strobes for a long period of time either. A studio strobe fires for a fraction of a second. If you are using lights in the style I teach, it's being used at relatively low power and turned away from the baby.
My Approach to Lighting Newborns, Babies and Small Children
I use a 200-watt strobe in my studio (the @westcottlighting fj200) and after metering and adjusting the power, I'm usually shooting it at 50% power (sometimes lower).
My light is never pointed directly at my subject. I bounce the light off the back of my umbrella and then through the diffusion panel that I place on the front of my umbrella. So the light that is already at 50% power is then diffused by two stops!
I then place my light 45 to 90 degrees to my subject, so it's never pointed directly at the person I'm photographing.
Using lights in this way makes them very comfortable to sit in front of. In fact, most of the people I photograph (babies and adults alike) don't even notice the flash!
Personally, I find this style of lighting much more comfortable than sitting in front of continuous light or a bright window.
Learn My Signature Technique
If you'd like to learn my approach to creating natural-looking lights with strobes and flash, I'd love to invite you to join my course, The Missing Link. It has helped thousands of photographers from around the world take control of their brand and business by learning to create their own “natural light”. And best of all, it can help you learn this skill in just one week or less!
