Baby Cady

[niforpix]

Took some shots for my friend. I don't usually do people photography (or baby in this case ) so any C&C would be great! Any tips/things I should improve on? I don't have any lighting kit so I had to use my external flash.

Thanks

 

[niforpix]

Any comments? Are these ****ty? Anything to improve on?

 

[Aggressor]

Both are a little soft. Cute baby, though.

#1 is the better of the two. White balance seems to be off (too much blue). Having said that, I think it would look better in B&W.
#2 the background is quite distracting and draws my eye away from the baby. The composition doesn't do anything for me either; the crop looks a little awkward.

 

[weddingguy]

Are you bouncing with a flash card?

 

[niforpix]

Thanks Aggressor. WB seems ok on my end. I don't see any blue to be honest... This was just a fun shoot, nothing serious. I usually don't shoot people so I'm not so good at it.

Weddingguy - yes I was, off of the ceiling. That's all I've got to work with...

 

[weddingguy]

Thanks Aggressor. WB seems ok on my end. I don't see any blue to be honest... This was just a fun shoot, nothing serious. I usually don't shoot people so I'm not so good at it.

Weddingguy - yes I was, off of the ceiling. That's all I've got to work with...

Two things gives it away. 1) catch lights in the centre of the eye (not good) and top of the head brightest are on 1st shot. Here's a solution:

Make yourself a snoot out of cardboard, or even better some black paper/cardboard.

Aim the flash at a corner in the room where the ceiling meets the wall. If you play pool you'll do good bouncing cause like pool it's angle in = angle out. Play around with it and see what you get. The snoot is to keep any light from spilling over the edge of the flash straight on to the subject giving those "eye centre catchlights" Here's an example.

3Hope that works for you. It's fun bouncing light around. Shoot in raw so it's easier to do a white balance later.

 

[niforpix]

Sweet! That's a great idea actually. I'll give it a try. I'm adopting 2 kittens on Monday, so I'll get to practice a lot at home

 

[LarissaPhotography]

I agree about the background in number 2. If you can keep the background simple, the focus will stay on the baby.

 

[niforpix]

Next time I'll try to find a better spot. It was dark outside at the time, so we didn't have many options. Thanks for the tip