My first newborn shoot C&C please

pony · Mar 9, 2011

My first newborn...and my first actual shoot. My friend's baby She was about 2 weeks and very sweet.
I am just starting to open PS4, have never edited before. I will be calibrating my monitor in the coming weeks. I would love some feedback on these as they are.
Thanks so much

1)

2)

3)
This one is SOOC

4)
Also SOOC

5)Also SOOC

tirediron · Mar 9, 2011

C&C per req:

The common issue I see with all of these is that they are at least 1 stop over-exposed. Especially when you're dealing with so much white in an image, you really need to be metering incident light to determine your exposure. I think also a little more DoF would have helped. In a couple of cases, the faces seem just slightly soft, but that may be my monitor.

Overall, it's a nice set, but I would prefer #1 to have been in portrait orientation, and I think about alternatives to grey for the pillow/blanket in #3.

Just my $00.02 Worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

pony · Mar 9, 2011

portrait orientation? sorry, what is that? :blush:

Thanks for the input. I completely agree about that blanket. Will look for a different one.
As far as exposure, I was really struggling. It was horribly dark outside and I guess I went a little overboard looking for light

gsgary · Mar 9, 2011

I'm not sure why you were struggling with exposure, all you have to do is meter the light

pony · Mar 9, 2011

gsgary said:
I'm not sure why you were struggling with exposure, all you have to do is meter the light

because i'm a newb.
I struggle with everything

tirediron · Mar 9, 2011

The verical orientation is referred to as portrait, the horizontal as landscape. Exposure shouldn't be a struggle - what was your lighting setup and how were you metering?

pony · Mar 9, 2011

tirediron said:
The verical orientation is referred to as portrait, the horizontal as landscape. Exposure shouldn't be a struggle - what was your lighting setup and how were you metering?

Gotcha.

My lighting setup was opening the blinds, that's it.

How do I meter in manual? Do I need to? I guess I am confused.
Thanks

j-digg · Mar 9, 2011

I feel that the "foot shot" should have less DoF, the infants face is still too easily discernible that I thought it was just Oof, until I realized it was the old foot focus shot. I cant wait to shoot my friends' kids

hehe ( its sortve fun to put it that way )but they keep postponing it, while thier kids just keep on growing :\

tirediron · Mar 9, 2011

The way that I would meter these would be to set the camera to 'Manual' and 'Spot' metering mode. Select a single focus point and place that on the child's skin and use those settings (For exactly how to determine the exposure information from the camera's metering display refer to your manual). That will prevent the camera from considering all the bright white in the exposure. Also consider acquiring a large translucent shower-curtain or similar to act as a diffuser for window lighting.

pony · Mar 9, 2011

tirediron said:
The way that I would meter these would be to set the camera to 'Manual' and 'Spot' metering mode. Select a single focus point and place that on the child's skin and use those settings (For exactly how to determine the exposure information from the camera's metering display refer to your manual). That will prevent the camera from considering all the bright white in the exposure. Also consider acquiring a large translucent shower-curtain or similar to act as a diffuser for window lighting.

I will definitely try and diffuse light better next time. It was so gloomy I think I overcompensated by throwing open the blinds and putting her too close to the window. It was still not super bright in the room, but the light I had was a bit harsh. Can I chalk that up to newb mistake?
I had the camera in manual and spot. And on the baby's face. On my LCD it looked a little dark/grey so I upped the EV. Too much I guess

Thanks for your help. Another friend is letting me practice on her 2 week old twins on sunday. I will try harder

Reyna · Mar 9, 2011

for being a complete newb and not knowing how to meter these look great!

1. too centered and the blanket is blown a little.
2. there is a lot of open non used space on the right. when they go to print and frame, half her hair/head will be chopped from the frame with a lot of unused space on the right.
3. my favorite. did you used a bean bag? i like the fabric. again, try re cropping it so there is room for when it's framed
4. odd. uneven horizon. the blanket is blown in a few spots. maybe try taking the picture more from the top so you can see her face. to me it looks like the basket is just sitting on a kitchen table.
5. again, there will be a lot of unused space on the right and her hand will be chopped off when framed.

i'm really surprised at how well these came out considering you've never done a photo shoot. seriously? newborn skin is HARD to deal with too.

pony · Mar 10, 2011

Reyna said:
for being a complete newb and not knowing how to meter these look great!

1. too centered and the blanket is blown a little.
2. there is a lot of open non used space on the right. when they go to print and frame, half her hair/head will be chopped from the frame with a lot of unused space on the right.
3. my favorite. did you used a bean bag? i like the fabric. again, try re cropping it so there is room for when it's framed
4. odd. uneven horizon. the blanket is blown in a few spots. maybe try taking the picture more from the top so you can see her face. to me it looks like the basket is just sitting on a kitchen table.
5. again, there will be a lot of unused space on the right and her hand will be chopped off when framed.

i'm really surprised at how well these came out considering you've never done a photo shoot. seriously? newborn skin is HARD to deal with too.

Aww, thank you Holly.
Very good tip about leaving room for a frame. I would never have thought of that.
This was one of my best friends baby and she, of course, thinks the photos are beautiful and perfect and fabulous LOL The first one I actually cloned in the left side of the blanket because baby was too far to the left. Maybe I will practice cloning and try to do that for the others so baby doesn't get chopped. I'm kind of embarrassed, because they are so far from perfect, but I know she will want to frame some of them.

I do not have a beanbag. I just piled a bunch of blankets and waterproof sheets and stuff on top of a Boppy on top of a bed. As far as newborn skin...I have heard it is rough. I was lucky I guess to get such a pretty baby right out of the gate. She has some flaky skin on her feet, but was otherwise pretty blemish free.

So, another friend has 2 week twins that she has asked me to take pics of this weekend. I definitely need the practice so I agreed. I have not seen them yet and I am terrified. Also very excited...but scared.

Thanks again for your kind words and advice. I will definitely try and put it all into practice

pony · Mar 10, 2011

j-digg said:
I feel that the "foot shot" should have less DoF, the infants face is still too easily discernible that I thought it was just Oof, until I realized it was the old foot focus shot. I cant wait to shoot my friends' kids hehe ( its sortve fun to put it that way )but they keep postponing it, while thier kids just keep on growing :\

Agreed. Mom wanted a foot shot. I never took that pic of my own kids so I totally winged it