How do I get photos of children like this?

gingrjenny

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I really like the look of these type of photos. The kids skin looks great, nothing to harsh, the flash of light in their eyes.

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how much of this is done in the camera vs in photoshop?

I feel like the look of the photos the clarity has been taken down but I'm not sure. I like the look of these type of shots on babies and small kids. Just wondering if there was something specific to achieve them.
 
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It looks like it was shot in the late afternoon, with the child standing in an alleyway, facing toward the light on a blue-sky day. See the large, glossy catchlights in the tops of both of her eyes, reflecting the sky? THis is the way shots look when made in an open, shaded area, with the subject facing toward a large area of open sky. It is a nice type of lighting that exists in many towns and cities around the world.
 
Yep to pretty much all of the above, plus getting the exposure pretty much dead on straight out of the barrel.
 
Many prime lenses shot wide open deliver less than sharp focus.

By getting really close you can stop the lens down quite a bit and still have a shallow DoF. Being able to stop down the aperture puts the lens more solidly in the range of apertures (the sweet spot) that deliver the sharpest focus.
 
85mm lens on FF at about f/4.8 would give this type of effect from that close range. The lens is not wide open: there's too much depth of field to encompass the top of the hat AND the chin with a fixed-body camera with that high of a subject magnification; aiming down at that much of an angle, the depth of field plane would be applied in a very "tilted" manner, and so stopping down significantly smaller than wide-open would be required. A prime lens would not be needed either; any of five hundred decent zooms could do that shot justice. It looks like it was shot on Canon, judging by the color palette, and the photographer's other shots.

I do not think the clarity has been reduced; if anything, I think the shot has been juiced just a tiny bit. Open shade like this looks pretty "flat", but it does produce those big,big reflections in the eyes, which is what I think makes this kind of shooting location so popular...easy, forgiving light that's very low-ratio, and awesome big catchlights, and due to the flat lighting, the ability to do almost anything desired in post....make it high-contrast, make it pastel, whatever...whatever the photog wishes.
 
I think that the skin tones have been brightened in post. I would use a curves adjustment -- just grab the middle of the curve and lift straight up to taste. This photo, though, seems to have been dodged somewhat clumsily, putting the girl in a big circular bright area. It's possible that's just real light, though.
 
I think that the skin tones have been brightened in post. I would use a curves adjustment -- just grab the middle of the curve and lift straight up to taste. This photo, though, seems to have been dodged somewhat clumsily, putting the girl in a big circular bright area. It's possible that's just real light, though.

The first thing I thought was the opposite--that the photographer got a little trigger happy with the vignette button. Regardless, the net result is the same; this photo has some conspicuous post processing trickery applied to it.
 
It looks like it was shot in the late afternoon, with the child standing in an alleyway, facing toward the light on a blue-sky day. See the large, glossy catchlights in the tops of both of her eyes, reflecting the sky? THis is the way shots look when made in an open, shaded area, with the subject facing toward a large area of open sky. It is a nice type of lighting that exists in many towns and cities around the world.

Thanks Derrel I've learned a new word...Catchlights. Thats what draws me to these types of photos. So if the area was shaded or if it was slightly cloudy I could probably get this type of light?

I just couldn't figure out what was edited but I felt like something was.
 
That dead pan wide eye look usually requires some Valium about a half hour before the shoot. 5mg is usually enough. :lol:
 
Beyond the camera and lens, what is required is a child who looks at you completely without apprehension.
Her face is calm and steady and relaxed.
She isn't concerned or afraid of what will happen.
 

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