Is Flash Photography Safe for Newborns?
A common question I get asked all the time is, "Is flash photography safe for newborns?". Although I am not a doctor, this is something I have done a lot of research on. The short answer is yes, it is! In this episode, I break down my answer.
HIGHLIGHTS
Standing out is easier than you may think.
Let me start by saying, I'm not a doctor. However, I have done a lot of research around this because it's a question I get so often!
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. We also don't look directly at the studio strobes for a long period of time. A studio strobe fires for a fraction of a second. If you are using lights in the style I teach, they're being used at relatively low power and turned away from the baby.
I use a 200W strobe in my studio (the Westcott fj200) and after metering and adjusting the power, I'm usually shooting at 50% power or 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 also 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.
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 learn to create soft, beautiful light, and it can help you too!
