1 Month Portraits Need Improvement

[OGsPhotography]

Any CC is appreciated.
1.

2.

3.

4.

I took course Bellies and Babies from Sandy Puc and Complete PS by Ben Willmore this year on Creative Live. It helped a bit. Not getting to the level I like yet but one step at a time, right?

Suggestions on how to improve will be entertained.

I'm the type that always looks to gear as solution, but thats slowly fading away as my collection grows and I feel more comfortable shooting. I have a green light ( Mom liked these photos) to grab a full frame and lens and really want to push the boundaries of my photography in the near future.

A new career path may lead me to more opportunities with photography ( may have time) and I am excited to see what the next year will bring.

Thanks for looking.
OG

 

[pendennis]

The portraits are very high key. With infants, sometimes the contrast needs to be a bit lower. For me, I preferred backgrounds a bit darker. It also seems that the one-month old seems to be competing with the props. I always wanted the child to be the absolute focal point of the portrait; the fewer props of any type, the better. I know its de rigeur to put bows on infants' heads, but to me it's a real distraction from the infants face and head. High key works better with distance from the background.

With image editing software, there's also the opportunity to add text with subtle type fonts and sizes.

The exposure is very good, but borders on a stop, or so, overexposure.

The fourth photo seems to have a strong shadow or dark patch of skin on the infant's face. If this is a dark patch of skin, it also comes through a bit in the other photos. If a natural phenomenon, fine, but if a shadow, you need to move the lighting a bit.

Over all, you have some nice photos. It will just take lots of work to gain "perfection".

PS - If you can find a copy of Kodak's professional portrait book, it gives some great examples of lighting and tips for poses. It's not the latest, but it does provide great basic knowledge.

 

[OGsPhotography]

Thanks so much @pendennis Some great pointers there. I'll be using some of them soon!