First Newborn Attempt

[frommrstomommy]

My friend's 8 day old boy. He was less than cooperative.. lol we will try again in a day or two. Sharing for fun.. took less than 25 shots I think.. and 10 were of his big sister and my son Jordan playing probably. On the foot I wish I had the big toe in better focus.. he was giving me thumbs up, so I thought it was cute! The face shot too, I think the nose caught focus maybe... The last was when we gave up and let him snuggle mama. She was not prepared to be in photos today, that's why you don't see more of her.

1.

Heather-1-2 by lovemyhero, on Flickr

2.

Heather-1 by lovemyhero, on Flickr

3.

Heather-1-3 by lovemyhero, on Flickr

 

[Photographiend]

I like the first shot. Pretty sure someone will say something about the head chop... I don't mind it as much as others.

 

[Fairdale]

To me the 1st one is the pick of them I don't mind the top head been cut off a bit, to me it gives a different view and agree with you about it would of been better to have the big toe in more focus. I really like the sharpness and skin color in the photo's well done

 

[aonavy]

I dont want to be one of those people who "nit pics" something out of every photo, but it would have been nice if the big toe was in focus. Regardless, they look good. Im sure she will be happy to get these.

 

[PropilotBW]

What's the appeal with #3? In 20 years youll be asking "Who's kid is that?"..it'll just look like the back of somebody's kids head. Heck, You could reuse that photo for your next shoot.

 

[TimothyJinx]

#1-really nice shot. Good catch light. May have just missed focus on the eyes - maybe on the nose? My eyes are not so good any more so it's hard to tell sometimes.
#2-pretty good. Maybe close the iris down a bit to get the whole foot in focus.
#3-not crazy about this one but I can see where the parents would be - what's not to love about every angle and view of the baby!

 

[frommrstomommy]

What's the appeal with #3? In 20 years youll be asking "Who's kid is that?"..it'll just look like the back of somebody's kids head. Heck, You could reuse that photo for your next shoot.

lol not to be a snoot here.. but these photos are for MY FRIEND.. and in 20 years she'll look at that pic and say "wow! look how much hair he had at just 8 days old"

 

[frommrstomommy]

#1-really nice shot. Good catch light. May have just missed focus on the eyes - maybe on the nose? My eyes are not so good any more so it's hard to tell sometimes.
#2-pretty good. Maybe close the iris down a bit to get the whole foot in focus.
#3-not crazy about this one but I can see where the parents would be - what's not to love about every angle and view of the baby!

I think nose too.. or somewhere between the nose and the left eye lol

 

[pixmedic1 1]

What's the appeal with #3? In 20 years youll be asking "Who's kid is that?"..it'll just look like the back of somebody's kids head. Heck, You could reuse that photo for your next shoot.

lol not to be a snoot here.. but these photos are for MY FRIEND.. and in 20 years she'll look at that pic and say "wow! look how much hair he had at just 8 days old"

that's the wrong attitude to take if you are/plan to make photography a profession, whether it be part time, full time, or whatever. treat EVERY shoot like it was the highest paying most important shoot of your life. once you start using lines like "they were just for friends or family" or "i was only paid gas money" to justify what might not be your best work, its a slippery slope to making excuses for any and every client. TRY your best, DO your best, and GIVE your best EVERY time.

 

[frommrstomommy]

What's the appeal with #3? In 20 years youll be asking "Who's kid is that?"..it'll just look like the back of somebody's kids head. Heck, You could reuse that photo for your next shoot.

lol not to be a snoot here.. but these photos are for MY FRIEND.. and in 20 years she'll look at that pic and say "wow! look how much hair he had at just 8 days old"

that's the wrong attitude to take if you are/plan to make photography a profession, whether it be part time, full time, or whatever. treat EVERY shoot like it was the highest paying most important shoot of your life. once you start using lines like "they were just for friends or family" or "i was only paid gas money" to justify what might not be your best work, its a slippery slope to making excuses for any and every client. TRY your best, DO your best, and GIVE your best EVERY time.

This is not at all what I meant by that comment. I meant I took it because I would want to remember my son's full head of hair. Not every single image is for a portfolio. Newborn pictures are for the parents. I'm sharing here knowing good and well these images don't mean a thing to anyone here in the way they do to my friend and her family/friends. Was not intended as justification of any kind.

 

[bunny99123]

This is not at all what I meant by that comment. I meant I took it because I would want to remember my son's full head of hair. Not every single image is for a portfolio. Newborn pictures are for the parents. I'm sharing here knowing good and well these images don't mean a thing to anyone here in the way they do to my friend and her family/friends. Was not intended as justification of any kind.

I think he meant well. Some times words can sound so different to different people. Learned that one the hard way!

I do agree that every shot you take does not/nor intended for portfolio. I get the photo.

I like the foot. Black and white it and lighten it and find a baby poem to place over it. That would be so cute!

 

[pixmedic1 1]

lol not to be a snoot here.. but these photos are for MY FRIEND.. and in 20 years she'll look at that pic and say "wow! look how much hair he had at just 8 days old"

that's the wrong attitude to take if you are/plan to make photography a profession, whether it be part time, full time, or whatever. treat EVERY shoot like it was the highest paying most important shoot of your life. once you start using lines like "they were just for friends or family" or "i was only paid gas money" to justify what might not be your best work, its a slippery slope to making excuses for any and every client. TRY your best, DO your best, and GIVE your best EVERY time.

This is not at all what I meant by that comment. I meant I took it because I would want to remember my son's full head of hair. Not every single image is for a portfolio. Newborn pictures are for the parents. I'm sharing here knowing good and well these images don't mean a thing to anyone here in the way they do to my friend and her family/friends. Was not intended as justification of any kind.

you might have read my comment a little harsher than it was meant. guess i should have thrown a smiley in there somewhere.
anyway, it was more of a generalized comment and not specifically aimed at your particular case. however, we DO see a lot of people here get defensive about their work and "for friends and family" or, "I did it super cheap" get thrown around a LOT.

when we look at the photos you post, we have no idea why you shot them the way you did, or for whom you shot them for, unless you specifically tell us. we only see what we usually assume to be shots you wish to use to portray your skill level as a photographer. I am definitely NOT trying to be harsh here, but when your response to C&C is "i shot these for A FRIEND", it really does appear to be a defensive measure. My only intention was to impress upon people to take every shoot seriously, whether it be a paid shoot or just for friends and family. If you are happy with a shot, the be proud of it. I think it would seem less defensive if people would just say "it was shot the way i meant to shoot it", and people could then simply judge it based on their own aesthetic preferences.

It may seem overkill, but when I post pictures, I try to include some background with them. where i shot them, what i was doing at the time, why I shot them the way I did. I will usually even include whether it was a paid gig or just me messing around. it affects the way people critique photos, because they know if i did something the way I did on purpose, or it was an accident or mistake.

anywho..i really didn't mean it to sound as bad as it obviously did.

 

[Derrel]

Maybe in 40 years the dude will point to the photo and say, "See kids--I DID TOO have hair once upon a time!! A full head of hair!"

 

[frommrstomommy]

that's the wrong attitude to take if you are/plan to make photography a profession, whether it be part time, full time, or whatever. treat EVERY shoot like it was the highest paying most important shoot of your life. once you start using lines like "they were just for friends or family" or "i was only paid gas money" to justify what might not be your best work, its a slippery slope to making excuses for any and every client. TRY your best, DO your best, and GIVE your best EVERY time.

This is not at all what I meant by that comment. I meant I took it because I would want to remember my son's full head of hair. Not every single image is for a portfolio. Newborn pictures are for the parents. I'm sharing here knowing good and well these images don't mean a thing to anyone here in the way they do to my friend and her family/friends. Was not intended as justification of any kind.

you might have read my comment a little harsher than it was meant. guess i should have thrown a smiley in there somewhere.
anyway, it was more of a generalized comment and not specifically aimed at your particular case. however, we DO see a lot of people here get defensive about their work and "for friends and family" or, "I did it super cheap" get thrown around a LOT.

when we look at the photos you post, we have no idea why you shot them the way you did, or for whom you shot them for, unless you specifically tell us. we only see what we usually assume to be shots you wish to use to portray your skill level as a photographer. I am definitely NOT trying to be harsh here, but when your response to C&C is "i shot these for A FRIEND", it really does appear to be a defensive measure. My only intention was to impress upon people to take every shoot seriously, whether it be a paid shoot or just for friends and family. If you are happy with a shot, the be proud of it. I think it would seem less defensive if people would just say "it was shot the way i meant to shoot it", and people could then simply judge it based on their own aesthetic preferences.

It may seem overkill, but when I post pictures, I try to include some background with them. where i shot them, what i was doing at the time, why I shot them the way I did. I will usually even include whether it was a paid gig or just me messing around. it affects the way people critique photos, because they know if i did something the way I did on purpose, or it was an accident or mistake.

anywho..i really didn't mean it to sound as bad as it obviously did.

No harm at all, really. I did do my best given the situation.. and fwiw, I did try to give a little background in my initial post stating I only took maybe 25 photos, almost half of big sister and not baby. lol I for one, like the pic of the back of his little head.. but he's a good friend's son so that could definitely be playing a part there. Oh, and the fact that I took it haha And yes.. smiley faces in forums go a long way!

 

[PropilotBW]

lol not to be a snoot here.. but these photos are for MY FRIEND.. and in 20 years she'll look at that pic and say "wow! look how much hair he had at just 8 days old"

that's the wrong attitude to take if you are/plan to make photography a profession, whether it be part time, full time, or whatever. treat EVERY shoot like it was the highest paying most important shoot of your life. once you start using lines like "they were just for friends or family" or "i was only paid gas money" to justify what might not be your best work, its a slippery slope to making excuses for any and every client. TRY your best, DO your best, and GIVE your best EVERY time.

This is not at all what I meant by that comment. I meant I took it because I would want to remember my son's full head of hair. Not every single image is for a portfolio. Newborn pictures are for the parents. I'm sharing here knowing good and well these images don't mean a thing to anyone here in the way they do to my friend and her family/friends. Was not intended as justification of any kind.

Sorry if that came off harsh. . There can be ways to accentuate hair and still keep identity with the composition. I guess I have just never seen that angle before and thought it looked a little strange. Maybe a Profile view? An indirect angle shot on the face?