Baby Pictures Critique

[manaheim]

Hi Kelli. Well, give your husband a hug for being supportive at least.

My first suggestion to you would be to spend a lot lot LOT of time looking at other baby photographers to get a sense of compositional elements. Pay a lot of attention to details, posing, props, etc. (mind you, I really dislike a lot of these- Anne Geddes being the very obvious one to model, and the one that makes me the most ill, but this is really what a lot of people like these days, so it won't do you any good to ignore them)

Your shots have a lot of very amateurish elements to them.. the green throw, the (frankly) tacky easter decorations on the wall, etc. They very much look like you're trying to pull off a more anne-geddes-style look, but really missing the mark by a lot. I don't mean this to be harsh- I'm being honest.

The next thing will be working on all your technical elements- particularly lighting and such.

If this is something you actually want to do, I'm sure you can get there with time, research and practice... but you are NO WHERE NEAR where you want to be in order to be able to pull off consistent, classy (if sicky sweet) photos.

As tired said, you can probably get some paying gigs even now, and if people want to give you their money, it's hard for me to argue you shouldn't take it... but personally were I you I would want to work very hard on my methods and composition and such first.

Good luck with it, and remember... your husband loves you.

 

[steven4est]

I have changed the status to OK to edit, thanks!

 

[MyHobby]

Hi, I'm learning myself and have a lot to catch up with. I think the picture is adorable and wish I would have done cute stuff like that for my boys when they were younger. Once you get your hands on a semi-pro camera and start playing around with it you will see the difference. Lens, lightening and all that other good stuff makes a difference. Look in the beginners section and start learning a few tricks.

 

[Qveon]

AND i think you should stop taking pictures of children naked.

If this is a serious comment and you think pictures of naked babies are somehow wrong, I think that you need to take a hard look at your standards.

Easy Killer. Never mind no. I have problems with sarcasm and the internet

 

[cgipson1]

Rule #1 (I have a lot of Rules #1): Your friends are NOT qualified to judge your photography. Rule #2, the opinion of family and friends is worth precisely what you paid for it. My answer. NO! Not yet - not to say you can't get there, but IMO, you're definitely not ready yet.

No, No, No
They are badly lit, badly composed and not edited at all.
These are barely acceptable for family photos but the first and most compelling evidence that you aren't ready is that you think these are even close to 'pro' quality.

I'm with these two men. AND i think you should stop taking pictures of children naked.

YOU have GOT to be KIDDING! lol!

EDIT: Ok... posted this prior to seeing above post. Sarcasm, huh? Ok.. if you say so! lol!

 

[Qveon]

No, No, No
They are badly lit, badly composed and not edited at all.
These are barely acceptable for family photos but the first and most compelling evidence that you aren't ready is that you think these are even close to 'pro' quality.

I'm with these two men. AND i think you should stop taking pictures of children naked.

YOU have GOT to be KIDDING! lol!

EDIT: Ok... posted this prior to seeing above post. Sarcasm, huh? Ok.. if you say so! lol!

:heart: u charlie

 

[The_Traveler]

I understand that my lighting was not good at all now that I look at them and get what you mean about them being too soft. I think my problem was since I was trying to do some cute Easter pics I wanted them to be softer colors but instead I just made the images very washed out . The camera I shoot with is a Canon Rebel ESO t3i and I just have the basic lens that comes with it, I haven't had it for very long so I'm still trying to figure it out.

Kelli, softness isn't referring to color but to focus.
If you look at the 100% crop of one of your photos, you can see that it isn't in good focus at all.
You need to get past the technical hurdles and get good sharp focus and decent color before you can start to think of doing justice for any clients.

 

[CherylL]

Hi Kellie, I am new...8 months in progress. What helped me was getting a speedlite to bounce flash. I use a tri-fold white board from the craft supply dept. and a DIY bounced flash/diffuser sometimes. If you shoot Raw, a $10 white balance grey card really helps when editing. Learning how light effects a photo is a real plus. There are a lot of good tips on the forum.

You have a cute little guy and he looks like he enjoys posing.

 

[katastrophe_katy]

AND i think you should stop taking pictures of children naked.

...Most pictures of babies ARE naked pictures. There's nothing wrong with them as long as genitalia isn't showing. The naked picture she took is actually a position a lot of photographers use if the subject is an older baby, or old enough to sit up.

 

[cgipson1]

I'm with these two men. AND i think you should stop taking pictures of children naked.

YOU have GOT to be KIDDING! lol!

EDIT: Ok... posted this prior to seeing above post. Sarcasm, huh? Ok.. if you say so! lol!

:heart: u charlie

Really? Hmm... I REALLY hope you are female then!

 

[Granddad]

Sorry your husband "dropped you in it" as we say here in the UK, but welcome, anyway.

Don't take offense at what people say; we all tend to be a bit anal retentive, especially when it comes to charging for photography (and photography in general) - partially because we all went through a great deal of angst before we started charging (those who do) and we are forever battling the feeling "I am not worthy!" LOL!

There is SO much to learn and this is a great place to do it. Spare your blushes and look at the portraits other people post and look at the Comments and criticism they get. Then look back at the image and see if you can figure out what they mean. Some of the criticism will be personal opinion which you can take or leave but some will be nuggets of wisdom learned from successful photographers ... and also from portrait painters going back hundreds of years. Yes, it's art, but there's good art and there's bad art. The good artists at least KNOW when they are breaking the rules and do so for a purpose.

Your Canon Rebel is a decent camera and can take good pictures if you get to know it, even with the standard lens. Remember that it's digital - you don't have to pay for developing and printing! When I do a one hour shoot in my home studio I usually take about 300 or 400 shots and throw away all but 50 in my first cull. Then I cull them again and get them down to 10 or 12 - if I'm lucky!

It's not Polaroid, it doesn't cost you a dollar every time you push the button! Get used to playing around and shooting anything that moves - or stays still... then don't be afraid to dump the lot if they don't make the grade. Look at photos from good baby photographers (or whatever genre of photography strikes your fancy) and see if you can re-create what they've done. If you think you're getting close you can post here and ask for opinions, giving info about what you set out to do. When you start getting compliments on this forum you will know you've got somewhere and the glow you get will last a week! Believe me, I know!