with #2 it was about the only good shot I got of mom. she didnt' want to be in hardly any of the photos. she wouldn't give me any of her looking towards the camera except the far away shot and then a shot of all of them together so I really wanted to give them at least 1 shot of her and the baby. I have to get better at talking people into photos. do you think it would be better if i went in and cloned out the pink strap and then maybe it would look less like a bra strap?
As a mom of 5 kids myself, I don't feel truly pretty and like myself again until my kids are at least 6 months old. When I do my newborns, I do only newborns unless specifically asked to do a lifestyle newborn session where mom and dad are included. Our bodies have just gone through hell to get these tiny little ones here, and we don't want that to be on camera forever! As far as the strap goes, I think if you are going to try and clone out something, why not just clone out the bra strap? I think that's what I would do. I've never had to talk someone into being in a photo. If they call me to do pics, they fully plan on being in the picture
I can understand that. and maybe this was more me trying to pull them into the photos instead of concentrating on the photos. the dad was just all about it so it was more me just wanting to included her and not wanting her to be left out i guess.
I probalby should have explained #4 but it was one done more for the dog. they have had him for a long time and he has cancer and they don't expect him to be around much longer so they wanted something of the dog they could hang on the wall.
This explains it better, but I still think I would have brought the baby near the dog. I think they would enjoy a picture of both of their babies in focus. I think if you had brought the dog right next to the baby, that would be a gorgeous print they could have on the wall!
I agree with this as well. i probalby should have taken a second to think a bit more about the shot. we had just started shooting the baby outside when the dog and came over and just sat down there, the parents started to call her away when i told them to wait. So I think I had the right idea, just the wrong execution.
I think with those conditions, I would have just plain left out that shot. A quote I absolutely love from another photogs website
"Each of our photos is a testament to how we use the interplay between light, technology and people to create unique photographs tailored to your needs. " If your light is ruining the photo, don't take it.
I still have a ton to learn and when i'm coming into situations like this instead of moving on im trying to look at the situation and come up with a solution. more to work on.
As for the skin it might be a cop out answer, I did try to work with it. her skin was extremly splotchy and I was just not getting it down. I probalby gave up a bit out of frustration. after not being happy with the first set of shots and having to resoot and then not being able to get her skin right I may have finished up a bit to early on these. it's definatly something I have to study up on, and i'll look into that book. Sometimes I just struggle with those kinda of changes as far as how far should i change. the baby being a week old was really blue/gray and then red splotches. and when editing and looking at the dad's skin, his was looking okay to me so as i'm editing im my head is thinkign "okay, his skin looks right, so this is how the babies skin looked so this was how the babies coloring is. do i change it to try and make it look better. do i change it too much and have the parents go "she didnt look like that" so I'm definatly still working on that. good news or bad news for me is im going to get more practice because i'm going to get some shots of my nieces 1 month old today for them so i'll get more time in on skin for sure. thanks for the C&C
You know, this could create a conversation all it's own . Again, as a mother of 5, I remember my babies as these pure, perfect, soft, smooth, pink little bundles of joy. When I run into parents skin tone looking different than baby, that's when I grab my masking tool. Adjust the coloring for the parents then mask it out of the baby. Then adjust the skin for the baby and mask it out of the parent's skin. Babies are hard, with their little baby acne, and sometimes they scratch themselves. We don't remember that, and when I look back at pictures of my babies, I don't once think, I sure wish we had left all the discoloration and bumps and dry skin in! There might be other photographers who have a different opinion on that, but this is my opinion.
I will have to try remember this, just a few times as im sitting there editing and trying to clean things up in the back of my head I hear the mom saying "this isn't my baby, my baby is red and splotchy and beautiful just the way she is, why did you change her" and I sit there and second guess myself lol. doesn't help that I have a photo on my wall of my son when he was prolbaby a few months old. scratched up skin and stuff and it's one of my favorite shots of him.
My biggest tip for babies, is after 10-14 days old, they are no longer considered newborn. They are so much harder to work with after that 2 week mark. I tease my moms and tell them to just squeeze by the studio on the way home from the hospital. That is how young I want them. My studio is set to around 85 degrees with a heated blanket under all my props. I run a womb sounds on my mp3 player and have it right next to baby. They usually will sleep the entire session.
It's amazing howyou think photography is photography and if you can take a pic of one thing you can take any type of picture, but the more different things I try to shoot you really start to see how much of a diffrence each aspect is and how you really need a diffrent set of tools for each area of shooting.
AMEN to that! I think that is why it is so important to specialize in something. I specialize in newborn photography. My studio is set up for newborns ONLY. All other photography is done in natural light settings. A majority of my money in my business goes right back into my newborns. I DO newborns, and I do them well. I do almost everything else, and I feel I do them well also, but I LOVE my newborns, and I make a majority of my income off of my newborns!
Good luck on your next session!
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