Flying Baby
Here’s a great way to capture pure joy in a baby – just throw her up in the air and click! Shayne was having a great time throwing Chloe up in the air, so I grabbed my camera. The trick was to pre-focus the camera. Without this step, it would have taken too long for the camera to find focus on a moving target and capture the picture. I changed the auto focus setting on my digital SLR (Nikon D70s) to manual and asked Shayne to hold Chloe about where he would be tossing her. I set my focus there and left it alone. Then I clicked an instant before I thought I should. That way, by the time the camera took the picture, she was in the perfect position. 
As for composition, it was really important that her feet were shown flying in the shot. Without seeing her feet, it just looked like a low-angle shot with her standing on something.
After taking a bunch of great shots with the tree behind her, I thought it would be cool to get some with a plain blue sky behind her. But by that time she was kind of over it and was ready for dinner. Come to think of it, so am I!
(obvious disclaimer:) Please be safe when throwing baby in the air. Never jeopardize baby’s safety for a shot, and remember that you’ll never get a good picture if it’s not fun for him/her anymore! (sorry, I had to say it, there are some dopey people out there!)
Responses and Conversations
Now that I have two babies, do you think I should try this while juggling them?
JUST KIDDING!
Comment by John Koontz on July 20th, 2006 at 11:03 am
Niiiiiiiice. Juggling babies! There’s got to be a FOX show for that.
Comment by Stephanie Simpson on July 20th, 2006 at 11:12 am
Hey there — I don’t think you mention, but is the photographer also the baby-thrower? Or do you need a partner for this trick?
Love it!
Comment by Heather from Rookie Moms on July 22nd, 2006 at 1:29 pm
This is definitely a 2-person job. In our case, my husband, Shayne, did the baby throwing and I madly snapped away.
For point-and-shoot users, it might take a little work to get the focus right, but here’s a suggestion. Hold the baby up to about where her high point in the toss would be, then push the camera button half-way down to focus. Keep holding the button down and the camera steady, have your partner toss the baby, and take the shot a full second before you think the baby will be in position. Just make sure that there is enough light available so the flash doesn’t have to be used as that will slow down the camera.
Happy flying!
Comment by Stephanie Simpson on July 22nd, 2006 at 1:38 pm
I only have a digital but I can set it to take multiple shots in sequence, up to 10. That worked great if you happen to have that option. You would definatly get a snap worth keeping each time.
Comment by meg on July 23rd, 2006 at 4:28 am
There’s a great group on flickr of just this kind of thing. Lots of cool shots: http://www.flickr.com/groups/throw_your_kids_in_the_air/
Comment by christy on July 23rd, 2006 at 1:58 pm
Thanks, Christy! That’s a great Flickr group!
Comment by Stephanie Simpson on July 24th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
Anyone who throws their baby in the air needs to look up “shaken baby syndrome”. Throwing a young child up in the air can cause brain damage, spinal cord injuries, and other horrible disorders including learning disabilities. As someone who was educated in medicine, it always amazes me that people do this to their kids. I don’t care if the kids like it or not – if you love your child, don’t do it.
Comment by Patty R on September 8th, 2006 at 9:07 am
I got so worried when I read this last comment. Oh no, could I be doing this to Chloe? Shaken Baby Syndrome is a very serious form of child abuse and should not be taken lightly. So I did some research. According to the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, “Activities involving an infant or a child such as tossing in the air, bouncing on the knee, placing a child in an infant swing or jogging with them in a back pack, do not cause the brain, bone, and eye injuries characteristic of shaken baby syndrome.” As I said above, please never do anything you feel will jeopardize your baby’s safety. Use caution, be prudent and above all, be gentle! Your baby’s safety is the most important thing in the world. For more information on Shaken Baby Syndrome, visit http://www.dontshake.com/Audience.aspx?categoryID=8&PageName=MedicalFactsAnswers.htm#CanTossingCause
Comment by Stephanie Simpson on September 8th, 2006 at 11:53 am
You should not be throwing the baby less than a year old in the air. Don’t you think the health of the child is more important than a photograph.
Comment by Sharon on October 4th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
I addressed this issue a year ago in the comments above.
Comment by Stephanie Simpson on October 4th, 2007 at 9:02 pm