Maternity ward / Hospital Film & Developer Advice Needed?

Sirius Glass said:

Do not use flash or a strobe! Available light photography only. Neonates' eyes cannot handle the bright flashes which cause pain and risks damage!

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Source material?

markbarendt said:

Source material?

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Aside from post #22?

At Kodak, this subject came up often and there were numerous articles cited. I suggest that you go to a university med school library like Johns Hopkins, UCLA or USC and ask at the desk.

Sirius Glass said:

Aside from post #22?

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Yes.

I haven't had an issue, hadn't even heard of the problem until this thread, and I've used flash with some very, very, young babies, including my own.

So, yes, I need more than your word. I will ask at the next opportunity as you suggest.

sly said:

Congratulations. life is going to be quite exciting for you and yours next spring and summer.

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Thank you very much Sly!


Thank you to everyone for the advice! I ordered some Acufine, DD-X, Tri-x ans Delta 3200..

I took some great photos of my daughter with (bounced) flash. She didn't do more than blink at f/5.6-light (which gets you f/11 to f/16 on TMY2), let alone thrash around screaming. Would you be terrified to carry a baby past a window with sun coming through it? Because just one second in full sun is 800x more exposure than received from a bounced flash set to f/5.6.

I have some wonderful photos taken with my RZ and bounced or softbox flash from her first week, though mostly I used digital (for the high ISO, sensor stabilisation and 85mm f/1.4) and didn't bring the RZ into theatre.

Minimising light in order to minimise startling is a worthy goal so in answer to the OP, I will suggest TMY2 in Xtol 1+1 to get EI800 maybe EI1600; it will give you a clean 16x20" print from 6x7. The kid will probably sleep 80% of the time for the first couple days, so go ahead and make longer exposures on a tripod in that period. You can do good lighting of sleeping babies with a 40W bedside lamp...

I have seen someone use a pop-up flash straight into the face of a newborn only minutes old from less than a foot away. Anyone would find that distressing, even more so a baby just arrived from the dim of the womb. Of course, those of us serious about photography wouldn't do such a thing - the resulting photo would be dreadful. If family members have point and shoot cameras with flashes that can't be turned off (or they don't know how to turn off) I ask them to avoid flashing straight into the baby's face, and concentrate on profiles.
My previous advice is for anyone photographing during labour, the actual birth, and the immediate postpartum. Once things have settled, the medical personnel have cleared out, and the initial excitement eased off a bit, then get out the MF, the tripod, the bounce flash..... whatever. It might be a couple of hours after the birth, or it might be the next day.
Once home life will be busy - grab any opportunity to take photos of the babies. I once spent 3 hours with a family with twins a few days old trying to get a photo of the 2 babies cuddled together. Didn't happen. What did happen? Diaper changes, crying, breastfeeding, repeat, repeat. It was the wrong 3 hours. I took photos, of course, but not the cuddly one the parents hoped for. That had to wait for another session. As a family member you will have more chances - if it doesn't work out one day, try another.

Quickie scan of one of my photos:

BABY BURRITO.

I remember that time. I miss it.

Hi. I'm a doctor from Brazil. Sorry if my English is poor.
I have some advices about this question. I did photos of my sister-in-law at maternyard. I used a digital with speeds ranging 1/200-1/60 and apertures 5.6 to 11. The iso was 800 to 3200. I was expecting much less light, but the lights from the top (we call this "focus lighting") over the surgical field and the lights of the baby's warmer are very strong, so using delta 3200 rated 1600-3200 are very good choices.
Another advice is about medical personnel: while in OR you are a stranger doing strange things. Probably you will have very limited time and space for doing your pictures. Dont touch anything, dont speak loud and dont use flashes. Flashlights are not allowed here in brazil in OR because surgeons dont like all that lights popping at room.



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luizjorgemn said:

Hi. I'm a doctor from Brazil. Sorry if my English is poor.
I have some advices about this question. I did photos of my sister-in-law at maternyard. I used a digital with speeds ranging 1/200-1/60 and apertures 5.6 to 11. The iso was 800 to 3200. I was expecting much less light, but the lights from the top (we call this "focus lighting") over the surgical field and the lights of the baby's warmer are very strong, so using delta 3200 rated 1600-3200 are very good choices.
Another advice is about medical personnel: while in OR you are a stranger doing strange things. Probably you will have very limited time and space for doing your pictures. Dont touch anything, dont speak loud and dont use flashes. Flashlights are not allowed here in brazil in OR because surgeons dont like all that lights popping at room.



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Thank you, that advice and those reasons make sense.

A couple of comments to add, especially to the input from the midwife and doctor. My experience in American hospitals is that midwives are much more amenable to photography than tend to be doctors and nurses. Also, things can go "wrong" real fast with some pregnancies and deliveries... so be prepared to be flexible, including not being allowed to photograph during delivery. Hopefully all goes well for mom, baby, and photographer, though

If I may add to this thread for future dads, be prepared to have very shaky hands..... I think I must have only gotten one shot on the roll which didn't have massive amounts of camera shake when my son was born yesterday....a monopod might have helped.