One of my favorite ways to photograph my children is while they are splashing and having fun in the bath tub! Today I’m going to share with you some of my secrets so you can take frame worthy photos of your kids in the tub too!
Secrets To Perfect Bubble Bath Photos: Tip 1 - Speed Lights
Let’s face it guys, the bathroom is very poorly lit! Most bathrooms only have one window and that one window rarely gives us the light we need for portraits in the tub. So I almost always use a flash when taking photos of my boys in the tub.
The great thing about bathrooms though, is that the area around the bathtub is like the perfect soft box for photos! Most bathtubs and their surrounds are white! And most ceilings in that room are white! Which means you can bounce your flash all around the tub, ceiling, and walls of the bath for a perfectly lit portrait!
So with your speed light mounted on top of your camera, frame up your shot and then point your flash towards the ceiling and take your shot! There you go, perfect light!
(*pro tip) Try bouncing from other directions for a different lighting effect. Sometimes I like to bounce from the wall inside the tub to mimic light coming through a window. 😉
Secrets To Perfect Bubble Bath Photos: Tip 2 - Desaturation
Often times when we take bath photos they come out a bit on the orange/tan side. So what I like to do is take my photo into Lightroom (though you could use almost any photo editor for this), and desaturate all areas of the photo other than the child, so the bubbles and tub look perfectly white! This also makes the nickle or silver finish on faucets really shine!
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Secrets To Perfect Bubble Bath Photos: Tip 3 - Bubbles!
This may seem obvious but you’d be surprised how many people forget to add bubbles! And you can’t have a bubble bath without them so I thought I’d mention it.
So let’s add bubbles and lots of them! That way it will cover up their little naughty bits but also act as a reflector to pop some fill light up under their chin and nose for a nice even lighting.
Bubbles are easy to make. Just squeeze a fair amount of body wash near the water stream when you begin filling the tub and you’ll have bubbles a plenty! And if you use the shower head to fill the tub you’ll get even more!
So there you have it! 3 secrets to perfect bath photos! Leave me a comment below and let me know if these tips helped you. Happy snapping! 🙂
