First Newborn Shoot, need some help!! CC

MuddyRiver · Jan 28, 2013

These are the results from my first newborn session. She was actually 22 days old. Unfortunately, I am more of a natural light photographer and do not have any type of professional lighting equipment and due to the situation we were taking these photos inside her very dark living room. I took these for a friend.

I used my T1i, 17-35mm 2.8L lens, two mini studio lights (held by hand where I needed them), and was constantly changing my camera settings as to find the 'right' ones. I am satisfied with my results, especially for my first time and the lighting situation, but I would like some tender CC for next time and some advice on editing. I received Lightroom for Christmas and I am still learning to use it. :blushing:

I have attached some of the photos, the first few include both original and edited. I would love any advice on how to better edit them to get the typical newborn look. Also, please let me know which ones are your favorites. Thank you!

1.
unedited

edited

2.
unedited

edited

3.
unedited

edited

4.
unedited

edited

5.

6.

Again, thank you for any HELPFUL c&c and feel free to do some example editing if you feel the need.

Jess

acellis · Jan 28, 2013

Very cute! You are deservedly proud of this little one! I think #1 is by far your best of this portfolio. IMHO the backgrounds of 2-4 are distracting. 5's expression is adorable but i am immediately and lastingly drawn to the dress and bow not her face. 6 is almost there. The hanging arm looks disturbing cut off and the infants right eye is distored from its weight.... This is pretty nit-piky... stuff... I think you are well on your way.

651stp · Jan 28, 2013

a lot of these look out of focus. And also i feel there is to much smoothing going on which is creating that glow

MuddyRiver · Jan 28, 2013

acellis said:
Very cute! You are deservedly proud of this little one! I think #1 is by far your best of this portfolio. IMHO the backgrounds of 2-4 are distracting. 5's expression is adorable but i am immediately and lastingly drawn to the dress and bow not her face. 6 is almost there. The hanging arm looks disturbing cut off and the infants right eye is distored from its weight.... This is pretty nit-piky... stuff... I think you are well on your way.

Ah, thank you so much! I agree with you about the background.

cgipson1 · Jan 28, 2013

I am sorry.. I don't like any of them... and #4 edit made me cringe! Whatever you used to soften that skin is terrible! They are framed very tightly... and the color from those "studio" lights is terrible. What WB did you use?

#6 is probably your only keeper.... all the others are oversoftened, soft or bad color.

#1 your DOF is way too shallow... flash would have allowed you to stop down and given much better color.
#2 edit is almost keepable but it is soft.. I suspect too slow a shutter speed or missed focus... but without the Exif data, can't say for sure.
#3 not sharp.. and that softening is WAY too much
#4 missed focus.. and that edit... is not flattering
#5 almost reasonable... but looks soft, and the framing is not good.
#6 sharpest, reasonable conversion, and exposure is ok....

Please always include Exif data.. it can be very helpful in making suggestions....

MuddyRiver · Jan 28, 2013

651stp said:
a lot of these look out of focus. And also i feel there is to much smoothing going on which is creating that glow

Ok, thank you. I felt like it was very difficult to focus. I'm not sure if it was me, my camera, my lens, the low light but many if them were very out of focus. I did a lot of smoothing because I thought it was typical of baby shots. Too much you think?

Tee · Jan 28, 2013

My tender C&C:

Never do a "shoot" without knowing your equipment inside and out (btw, did you have strobes or constant lighting?)
There are thousands of baby pictures on the internet. Make a posing guide of your favorite poses on index cards and reference them on location
Stick to the basics of post processing. The skin is so overdone, it's too fake.
Avoid photographing the subject directly below you
Step back and give some room in the image around the baby
Color calibrate your desktop monitor

MuddyRiver · Jan 28, 2013

cgipson1 said:
I am sorry.. I don't like any of them... and #4 edit made me cringe! Whatever you used to soften that skin is terrible! They are framed very tightly... and the color from those "studio" lights is terrible. What WB did you use?

#6 is probably your only keeper.... all the others are oversoftened, soft or bad color.

#1 your DOF is way too shallow... flash would have allowed you to stop down and given much better color.
#2 edit is almost keepable but it is soft.. I suspect to slow a shutter speed or missed focus... but without the Exif data, can't say for sure.
#3 not sharp.. and that softening is WAY too much
#4 missed focus.. and that edit... my girlfriend asked me if it was a dead baby...
#5 almost reasonable... looks soft, and the framing is not good.
#6 sharpest, reasonable conversion, and exposure is ok....

Not exactly tender CC, but I will take it.

I used Lightrooms Skin Smoother to smooth the skin. I used different WBs, trying to get it right. I didn't think 4s edit was bad.. I thought she was cute in that one, but I am glad you said something if you really thought of a dead baby when you saw it! Not what I want to give to the parents. lol.

MuddyRiver · Jan 28, 2013

Tee said:
My tender C&C:

Never do a "shoot" without knowing your equipment inside and out (btw, did you have strobes or constant lighting?)

There are thousands of baby pictures on the internet. Make a posing guide of your favorite poses on index cards and reference them on location

Stick to the basics of post processing. The skin is so overdone, it's too fake.

Avoid photographing the subject directly below you

Step back and give some room in the image around the baby

Color calibrate your desktop monitor

I have to learn sometime, so experimenting with my friend's baby is a good way to go. Thanks for the advice on editing and shooting. Can you tell me how to color calibrate my monitor?

Thanks again.

cgipson1 · Jan 28, 2013

MuddyRiver said:
cgipson1 said:

I am sorry.. I don't like any of them... and #4 edit made me cringe! Whatever you used to soften that skin is terrible! They are framed very tightly... and the color from those "studio" lights is terrible. What WB did you use?

#6 is probably your only keeper.... all the others are oversoftened, soft or bad color.

#1 your DOF is way too shallow... flash would have allowed you to stop down and given much better color.
#2 edit is almost keepable but it is soft.. I suspect to slow a shutter speed or missed focus... but without the Exif data, can't say for sure.
#3 not sharp.. and that softening is WAY too much
#4 missed focus.. and that edit... my girlfriend asked me if it was a dead baby...
#5 almost reasonable... looks soft, and the framing is not good.
#6 sharpest, reasonable conversion, and exposure is ok....

Click to expand...

Not exactly tender CC, but I will take it.

I used Lightrooms Skin Smoother to smooth the skin. I used different WBs, trying to get it right. I didn't think 4s edit was bad.. I thought she was cute in that one, but I am glad you said something if you really thought of a dead baby when you saw it! Not what I want to give to the parents. lol.

The baby comment was from my girlfriend.. and she is nicer than I am. She was angry at me for posting her comment.

If you were using ANY kind of light.. it would have ONE WB... just have to set that correctly. What kind of lights were they? What were your shutter speeds, ISO and Apertures?

PLEASE buy a flash and learn to use it...

Tee · Jan 28, 2013

It may have been hard to focus due to various reasons such as: minimum focusing distance of your lens (yours is 1.3 feet), aperture, shutter speed, etc. You have no EXIF embedded in your images but I'd say the 2 biggest things that went against you was shutter speed and forcing the shutter to actuate without the focus locking due to being too close to the baby.

Tee · Jan 28, 2013

MuddyRiver said:
I have to learn sometime, so experimenting with my friend's baby is a good way to go. Thanks for the advice on editing and shooting. Can you tell me how to color calibrate my monitor?

Thanks again.

Here's a link for information about calibrating your monitor: Monitor Calibration for Photography

And I'm going to bow gracefully out of this thread because Mondays are my day to play nice.

MuddyRiver · Jan 28, 2013

Thank you Tee.

The lights I used were the lights that came with a mini studio (the kind you use to take ebay type pictures). Last minute decision. I do not know much about them passed that. I just grabbed them after she told me her house was dark like a dungeon. I DO need to buy a flash! I just need the money first. Like I said, I kept changing my settings because I have not shot in such settings before and was trying to figure it out. I can go back and check them for each photo I posted here, if the would help you with the CC but I do not remember what each one was. This again is something that I am still learning and must get better at.

I really enjoy photography as something fun to do and even sometimes earn a few dollars here and there, but I in no way consider myself a pro. I appreciate all they advice you guys are giving me so I can keep improving. I will take what I can and learn.

tedfoto · Jan 28, 2013

First of all, I hope you are not regretting asking for c&c...I think it's great that you took this opportunity to shoot, and I would have done the same thing: post them and see what I can improve, even when it smarts a little to hear criticism.
#1.: The b&w conversion and your exposure adjustments have all but blown out the highlights (and more), and the skin has been softened to the point where it has no texture at all. The original looks like it could have been improved quite a bit by a simple color temperature adjustment IMHO.
#5 and #6 are my favorites.