Attempt at DIY backdrop....

[allison_dcp]

Am wanting C&C on this photo of my son. He's almost one! This is the first one I've edited and am curious what more experienced photographers think!
Thanks in advance!
oh yea. Canon EOS 20D 50mm. 1/250 400 ISO @ 2.8

 

[janineh]

I would fix up the backdrop. Use a brush and copy from a smooth spot and go over the creases.

 

[MLeeK]

Move him away from the backdrop a couple off feet. Your shadows won't fall on the baseboard and DOF will be a great help.
Use clamps to pull your backdrop tight both at the top and the bottom so it has no draping effect. Either put it against something solid or put another sheet behind it so that whatever is light back there isn't showing through.
Tone down/soften your flash and place it a bit more to one side. Your lighting is VERY flat.

 

[janineh]

Also wouldnt have used a flash. You can see it in the ballons. Do it when you got enough natural light, looks more natural. That refelction in the ballons and the shadows behind would annoy me.

 

[tirediron]

Also wouldnt have used a flash. You can see it in the ballons. Do it when you got enough natural light, looks more natural. That refelction in the ballons and the shadows behind would annoy me.

There's no such thing as a synthetic photon! Seriously, I disagree. The use of flash is like the application of make-up; lots of prep and skill go into producing a product where it appears nothing was done at all. Without flash, it's often very difficult to get nice, bright eyes and catchlights. I do agree that the reflection in the balloon is annoying and think that it should have been moved. In this case, I'm thinking high, 30 deg camera right.

 

[janineh]

There's no such thing as a synthetic photon! Seriously, I disagree. The use of flash is like the application of make-up; lots of prep and skill go into producing a product where it appears nothing was done at all. Without flash, it's often very difficult to get nice, bright eyes and catchlights. I do agree that the reflection in the balloon is annoying and think that it should have been moved. In this case, I'm thinking high, 30 deg camera right.

I only use natural light myself. Flash often leaves a fake look if not done 100% perfect. I just dislike it in that case.

 

[Derrel]

You're getting there! Not too bad for a first effort. You got good advice from the people above. Cute kid! The farther away you can get the subject from the background, the easier it is to make the background well out-of-focus. But to do that on fake flooring and a fake baseboard, you need to build a set that's probably a bit bigger than what you have (I am guessing). The wider the set is, and the farther the flooring comes out away from the wall and toward the camera, the more posing flexibility you have, and the child has as well...if you're working on a narrow, small set, then everything has to be "just so" before "issues" pop up, like running out of flooring, or running out of background, or the child crawling and botching the shot because the background is soooo narrow that he MUST remain in location "X".

Still, I think yer doin' okay. Esp. for your first-ever shoot doing it this way!

 

[jwbryson1]

Try to get down to his level so he's not looking UP at you. If that means lying on the ground in front of him then lie on the ground in front of him. Warm the photo some so it's not so cold. Do you know your K temp on this? Maybe around 4,900? As they have said above, try to pull the subject away from the background and use some good directional lighting via speedlights, etc, to really improve this shot.

Fill your frame so you eliminate the extraneous space. Maybe start without the balloons and add them later. Learn to shoot in manual mode and see if you can get a blacked out background for dramatic effect. Read Strobist and buy "Off Camera Flash" by Neil van Niekerk.

 

[allison_dcp]

You're getting there! Not too bad for a first effort. You got good advice from the people above. Cute kid! The farther away you can get the subject from the background, the easier it is to make the background well out-of-focus. But to do that on fake flooring and a fake baseboard, you need to build a set that's probably a bit bigger than what you have (I am guessing). The wider the set is, and the farther the flooring comes out away from the wall and toward the camera, the more posing flexibility you have, and the child has as well...if you're working on a narrow, small set, then everything has to be "just so" before "issues" pop up, like running out of flooring, or running out of background, or the child crawling and botching the shot because the background is soooo narrow that he MUST remain in location "X".

Still, I think yer doin' okay. Esp. for your first-ever shoot doing it this way!

thanks I appreciate it