Granddaughter

[rmr1923]

In the spirit of trying to improve my photography, I want you guys to have at it with the critiques on this photo. This is my parents with my daughter, shot with a Canon 600D and 50mm/1.8 lens. I don't recall what the aperture or shutter speed was set at, I'm on my work PC at the moment and the image properties isn't providing that for me so perhaps someone else can see this data?

Post-processing note: my mother is absolutely opposed to skin retouching on photos so no work was done to remove blemishes or anything of that nature.

 

[tirediron]

The exposure data appears to have been stripped off in processing. The main concern I see with the image is the position of hte child. It looks like she has literally no neck. Ideally have the child held in a more traditional horizontal "cradled" postition which will allow her neck to extend naturally until she can support it herself. As well, watch your framing. You've cropped off her toes! I think some work with a selective adjustment tool to reduce exposure in some areas, such as the grand-parent's forearms wouldn't hurt, but that's minor.

 

[cornetlord]

Maybe bring down the highlights a bit and you could fix some of the exposure issues here and I agree with the positioning of the baby comment from earlier as well... She doesn't look comfortable and that can make or break a baby picture. I like the idea that you were going for though and I think it could be redone sometime and you might end up with an amazing family picture.

 

[rmr1923]

Thanks for the comments and pointers. You can probably tell by what they're wearing that we didn't go outside with the expectation of a photo shoot, but I could have taken a little more time to get them positioned correctly. Good thing is we can always return to the same place and do the shot again, and I'm still on a bit of a learning curve with the post-processing but feel like I'm improving. Here's another in the same location (haven't done any work since the initial post processing)... again, she's being held a bit awkwardly, but I'll definitely take the advice to heart and give these another go the next time we're down for a visit.

 

[Designer]

The bench and trellis provide a good setting, but the dappled sunlight is doing you no favors. Try to find a location in open shade, and use your lighting skills to enhance the lighting.