My First Baby Photoshoot - Opinions Please!

My oldest daughter and I have had our disagreements lately but we decided to put all that behind us. Today she visited and allowed me to take photos for the first time of my newest granddaughter, Krista Joy!

I have never done an actual photoshoot with babies or children before where Iused external flash set-ups, a backdrop or using photoshop afterwards to get everything just right.

So before I get too carried away with the other photos, please give me your opinion on the only photo I have ready to view . I think it looks best if you click on the photo and view it in flickr with the black background.

The biggest challenge was trying to remove lots of drool!

I bring to you, Krista Joy ...


http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6092/...f4385eed_z.jpg

Thanks for viewing!

Denise

EDIT: Now that I have uploaded it, I think it looks a tad dark. I did add some vignetting which I like but do you think I should up the exposure a bit?

Exposure is fine on my monitor.


It is wonderful you finally got to do this.......she is a very cute little girl..

Denise, Very Nice Job---and good work on removing the DROOL. But yes, I do think it is just a tad too dark. Also, on my monitor I can see a couple of white lines at the top of the baby

Thank you for taking a look!


I didn

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ddt0725

Any idea on how I can fix that, Bob?

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Well, no---I know it can be done (ihave been watching my PS videos) but I am not good enough to provide detailed instructions. If I was to even attempt that, I would try an adjustment mask on just the arms and tweak the white balance, but I have never done that before. Perhaps on of our PS gurus can provide some detailed instructions.---What editing software do you use?

To me the lines look like it is a bit over sharpened, I think you can fix that very easily. I went to 100x before I could really start to see it on my 24" monitor.


I am going to disagree with Bob on the arms. Having raised two little auburn hair boys, I think the skin tones and the arms are probably just right. They don't match the face but then they wouldn't, babies arms are not going to match her face always. But I checked with the baby expert, the wife says she thinks it is just right as well, especially how she is posed and laying on her arms. ...The wife also says the she is adorable .....

Thank you & thank your wife for me! I have been trying for the last hour to fix the coloring on her arm and everything I have tried looks very unnatural. Mostly because I am not very good at the editing part yet other than very simple tasks. I know a baby

Beautiful photo. Well done Denise.


Wally

Hi Denise, it is indeed a very beautiful shot. If I was looking to make a constructive comment it might only be the colours are please excuse my lack of subtlety, but they are a little drab.


You have an off white lambswool, a greyish blanket and a white t-shirt on Krista Joy and a white background.


I think with your skills that you have now with B&W conversions this shot might make a great B&W, but I think you need to explore the colour palate a little with this sort of shot.


Please take these comments with a grain of salt, if you were looking for a subdued, common toned theme, but from looking at your pumpkin shots you can explore colour matches and contrasts to your advantage and this might be an avenue to explore woth your daughter and Krista Joy.


Steve

Thank you, Wally & Steve! Steve, you and I are on the same ;page as far as the color goes. That is one of the main things I noticed right from the beginning. I was very surprised in how she was dressed when my daughter knew I wanted to take some portraits of her. It also would have been nice if she would have brought her favorite toys or stuffed animal. Color and props were definitely lacking.


I am going to play with the photos more today and see what changes I can make.


Thanks again!


Denise

I only have access to Gimp at the moment, but I took a stab at it.


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-s...pic_edited.jpg


My suggestion is to apply a (Warming) Photo Filter mask to the arms of the child. Then use another mask (possibly a heavy warming filter or a hue adjustment) to adjust the color of the carpet (the vast color difference between the blanket and the carpet/rug fabric was bothering me). I did a rough job of it in Gimp (as it was all I had access to at the moment). However, I'd go a step further if I were using Photoshop and add a slight Cooling Photo Filter to the completed image (over the whole thing) to bring the warmness back in check.


UPDATE: I took another look at the photo in Photoshop and added a warming filter to the light-colored background and then applied a cooling photo filter to the entire image. I then decided the pic looked pretty good when it was highly desaturated. I used a mask to lessen the desaturation on the face, then adjusted the opacity of the layer in general to taste.


UPDATE#2: I did a curves adjustment layer to brighten things up a bit.

Denise,


I too think you have a talent for this. I do not think it is too dark but the lighting may be a bit flat. The catchlights in the eyes are very small. Did you use an umbrella? If so, you should place it as close to her face as possible. Two umbrellas work well. One close for the key light and one farther back for fill. The key light to one side to give more light to that side which will give more depth and not flat.


I agree with others though. Nice shot. You can be proud of your work. And drool is one of the hardest things to take care of. You did good.


Mark

Thank you Sean & Mark ...and thank you Sean for taking the time out to do a revision for me! I only wish I would have seen these suggestions way before now ...I spent the entire afternoon trying to improve my first one. I guess it's back to the drawing board with these! If I don't get this just right, I doubt very much my daughter will let me take any more. I am hoping she'll let me take photos of her two daughters together next time!


The first one I just increased the exposure a tad.


http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6229/...e39156d9_z.jpg


http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6060/...a36260d5_z.jpg





http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6238/...83d33fe5_z.jpg


http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6112/...0336b483_z.jpg

On the last two, I had to replace the background because it was a little shadowy on the bottom right. Using the quick selection tool was pretty difficult because she has lots of flyaway hair! I caught as much as I could of it!

I don't think my daughter would ever let me get any closer to her with a flash ...I was nervous about her letting me have it 5 ft. away! I used a small soft box on one flash and just my stofen diffuser on the other.

Actually 5

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Originally Posted by ddt0725

I don't think my daughter would ever let me get any closer to her with a flash ...I was nervous about her letting me have it 5 ft. away!

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Actually flash is no more harmful to a baby than it is to us... which is to say it isn't. Camera flashes are not bright enough for a long enough duration to cause any damage. Some babies might not like the flashes, but it would have nothing to do with physical harm to their eyes.


As for the photos, I really like the first one from the post above. I might even say to increase the exposure another 1/3 or 1/2 stop, maybe it's just the monitor I'm on at the moment.


The babies arms being red bother me a little in the 3rd photo, and then make them look dark in the B&W version. Maybe you could lighten them up in the B&W.


I really like what you've done here though, you definitely are on your way to being an excellent portrait photographer! Keep it up, don't be discouraged, I'm sure your daughter will love the photos just as they are right now.

Hi Denise....I like the colored a little more then the B+W.....and I do like the lighting, so whatever you did worked......