Newborn Critique Please! Lighting & Pose

[KatiaGPhoto]

I recently did a newborn shoot for a friend. Mostly just for practice; I've only "tried" to do one other and it didn't work out very well. Poo-splosion, puke-splosion, baby wouldn't go to sleep, etc.

But this one turned out okay, she did decide to sleep for a bit. I have some other photos to process, but this one was my favorite!

Let me know what you guys think with regards to lighting. I'm not sure if the bright spot on her back is too bright and should be toned down a bit. I had some light coming in from a big bay window behind me, but it was just starting to get dark and I brought out the speedlite But yeah, unfortunately I'm working on a laptop screen with a HORRIBLE range of viewing angles, so I never know what my photos really look like on another monitor.

Also, I'm not sure of the pose. It's a pretty classic pose, but she wasn't cooperating very well. I couldn't get her other arm hidden so I just shopped it out. Her feet we're all askew as well so I just didn't include them. Her little baby fingers grasping Mom just warms my heart though, so adorable!

And lastly, I think I may end up cloning out the bit of Mom in the bottom right corner before sending the rest of the photos to Mom.

Anyways, here is Ripley!


Ripley! by katiagphoto, on Flickr

Camera - Nikon D90
Exposure - 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture - f/8.0
Focal Length - 50 mm
ISO Speed - 500

 

[timor]

Looks good. Cute pose, very symbolic. Don't remove any of Mom hand, babies don't fly. Screen does not matter, print it and compare with your vision.

 

[pixmedic2 1]

aside from the lighting spot on the babys back, everything else looks fine. I would leave the moms arm as-is as well. my eye keeps getting drug over to that watermark though...its pretty cool, but a little distracting.

 

[KatiaGPhoto]

Do you find the little piece on the bottom right corner a distraction? The part directly under babies knee?

And I know I know the watermark is not the greatest

 

[pixmedic2 1]

the piece on the bottom right i would guess is the babies other leg hanging down. not terribly noticeable. you can clone it out to just black if you want, but I don't think its very distracting.