1st Newborn Shoot

[ababysean]

I was a bit nervous so I didn't get all the shots I really wanted but I think I got a few decent ones.

1.

2.

3.

 

[Aayria]

Newborn shoots are the best!

Couple of things I first noticed:

(these numbers aren't in relation to the picture order, just in order of my overall impression when viewing the set as a whole)

1- I love the clarity and focus, good job there

2- the baby looks cold to me.. Even in the dead of summer I always try to keep a space heater on hand for newborn sessions. If they are even a little cold, it really affects their skin. Maybe just warming him up a bit in editing could help this, if you weren't able to use a heater.

3-Cute expression in the last one.. But with these as a set I'm seeing "uncomfortable baby, sad cold baby, and angry baby" LOL... Maybe there are more where he looks more obliging, but if these are the only three we can judge from, I'd say he looks like he did NOT enjoy this session =P Don't worry about taking your time with newborn sessions.. Sometimes you can take an hour just to get the baby comfortable, happy, and ready for pictures...after which you only do one pose and spend another half hour getting him comfortable for the next set up.

3- skin tones here are different in each shot- The first one looks like your best in that regard. The second is cold with a bit of yellow, the last is cold with a lot of magenta.

I hope you don't take any of this in a bad way, I'm just pointing out what I noticed in hopes it might help a little for future shoots.. Excited to see more =)

 

[DanFinePhotography]

#1 and 2 really like these alot. Nice and focused in the right spots. Tight composition.

 

[ababysean]

No way! I want to know what I can improve on.
I will say in no way was it cold. It was about 85 in the room we were in, Florida Summer does not get cold! lol
He is only 5 days old, so I'm thinking the smushed look is from that, I'd like to get him again when he is a bit older!

The last one he is red because he was crying! haha

 

[Aayria]

Here is a really quick fix on the second shot, I hope you don't mind! If you want me to take it down just let me know. =)

Do you see what I mean about the skin tones? I took down the saturation a bit, especially in the whites of his eyes. Evened out the slightly blown highlights on the skin by painting a layer opacity over top... Adjusted curves slightly to make it a bit less contrasty, selected the baby, went into color balance to add blue (taking out yellow), boost the red and take away a bit of green. Then I did some very slight curves adjustments to make him "pop" a bit more, and this was the result. Hope that helps! You can do the same thing in the picture where he is red and crying.. Sure a bit of red is natural, but too much and you get lobster babies =P

 

[ababysean]

I LOVE YOUR EDIT! I am going to try to duplicate it! I hope YOU dont mind! haha

 

[ababysean]

and is there a color balance option in PSE 8?

 

[Aayria]

and is there a color balance option in PSE 8?

I'm not familiar with PSE..I use Gimp and LR3. But I think it's pretty standard to have a color balance and curve menu in the photoshop programs.

 

[ababysean]

Is this better or does he now look too fakey?

 

[Aayria]

The skin tones are much better in that one, and he doesn't look cold at all.

But the picture looks a bit OOF and flatter than the others.

 

[ababysean]

lol I put a blur!

 

[ababysean]

 

[Aayria]

lol you're going to hate me..

That last edit is more clear...but now the WB is a bit cool, and he looks underexposed.

I'd warm the WB, and then do a screen layer at about 35% opacity with a layer mark, and paint his skin back in.

You might also want to do a selection on the blanket, and take out the blues/get it to be more white so you don't have a greyish purple blanket.

All of this is super nit picky..I'm just in a C&C mood =P

 

[ababysean]

and how the heck do I create a layers mask in PSE 8

 

[kundalini]

The eyes look overdone in #1 & #2. Not in #3, but he is screaming "I'm gonna $h1+ myself and there's not a thing you can do about it." A wider crop that includes both hands in their entirety would be better IMO.