1st Birthday Party photos, C&C Welcome Please.

grapnell · Oct 18, 2012

Below are some photos I took for a friend's daughter's first birthday. Let me know what you think. I did minimal editing other than cropping, except on the one in the high chair, I added the "zoom" blur just for fun.

theraven · Oct 18, 2012

They are crisp clear photos, the lighting is very good. I like them! I think the best thing about photographing children is to get down on their level, as shown in the middle right shot.

jowensphoto · Oct 18, 2012

The first is a bit underexposed, but otherwise the exposure looks fine to me. I am not sure about the effect on the highchair; it seems like it was added to "pretty up" just an OK shot. It's hard when you have a subject that moves as much as a baby, but the same (well, better) effect can be achieved in camera.

You've got a good mix of portrait/landscape. One thing you should pay more attention to is framing, it's really tight right now and there are many missing fingers & toes. In the forth, it would have been good to include the entire hat.

janineh · Oct 18, 2012

What happened in #2?
some tips.. Go down to babies level, caputre emotions, never take photos when someone else is taking them and your subject is looking towards them (last pic)

grapnell · Oct 19, 2012

Janineh, thanks for the advice. In the last pic, someone else was not taking a photo, they were looking at a big toy that someone was bringing her. I'm not much for asking people to pose and look at the camera when I shoot, so my biggest thing is to be able to move quicker, and catch better shots when they are available. I certainly appreciate the advice about getting on the baby's level, that has been the toughest thing to do. As explained in my first post, #2 the zoom blur was added just for effect, however, it doesn't appear that it worked that well, and I appreciate the constructive criticism from all of you.