Newborn shoot.

[12sndsgood]

Okay, this was sort of a paid shoot so i'm putting this one in here. This was an old coworker friend of mine. At my old work I was going to do a shoot of him and his wife, just for more practice, time went by, I got laid off from that company, started a new job. they became pregnant, had a kid and contacted me for photos. I had not shot babies before and it's really not something I really plan on pursuing. But i'm still trying to stay out of my comfort zone and shoot new and diffrent things, so after some discussion I decided to do it for them. I asked if there was anything speacial they wanted and they said no, not really. just some shots to show there family. When I arrived they had baskets and bike stands and bikes that they wanted to try for diffrent shots. I worked with what we could and tried to keep things simple. I went home. and I just was not happy with the first shoot. I asked to do a reshoot the next week because I wanted to do better for them. They ended up paying me and were happy for the shots. But I wanted to put them up here and see how I really did. the baby was only 2 weeks old. Her skin was red and splotchy so that was interesting to work with but here are a few of the results.

As always please be honest and tell me things that stand out,Wether they suck or are okay. I post up photos here to get feedback and improve.

1.)

Falloon002 by Square1 photography, on Flickr

2.)

Falloon014 by Square1 photography, on Flickr

3)

Falloon016bw by Square1 photography, on Flickr

4)

Falloon018 by Square1 photography, on Flickr

5)

Falloon021 by Square1 photography, on Flickr

 

[sactown024]

Nice group, I wish the baby was higher on the shoulder on number 2 so his face wasnt covered, I really like number 3.

I think the baby can use some skin tone processing, try dropping the red/orange luminace or try using the softening brush (if you use lightroom)

 

[cannpope]

I really like #3. Lighting is good

 

[12sndsgood]

Yeah I didnt play to much with the skintone of the baby. seemed the more I worked with it the worse she started looking so i kept things simple and just cleaned up her red spots.

 

[Derrel]

3)

Falloon016bw by Square1 photography, on Flickr

Excellent shot! I would clone in slightly more black canvas on the right-hand side, for a better balance. The father's head and nose are too far to the right of the frame,as shown. A small bit more black space added will elevate this from excellent to "outstanding".

 

[twocolor]

#3 takes it for me, but there are some pretty big issues with the others.

#1 the blanket is covering her left eye, but her expression is cute. Baby's skin tone is a bit on the red side. It needs to be warmed up a bit.
#2 moms bra strap really truly ruins this for me, the fact that baby seems to be going cross eyed looking at it (which I know isn't the actual case), just draws my eye to that bra strap over, and over.
#4 . . . what is the point here? I've never done a baby where something other than the baby is in focus. Especially the family dog. If you are doing a newborn session, the newborn should be the focus of the session.
#5 something is totally up with mom's face on this one. The idea is good, the baby in focus the parents out of focus, but the lighting on mom and dad is also very distracting.

The cool thing about babies at this stage is that once they are asleep, you can manipulate them as you wish . . . such as turning baby's face so that it isn't partially hidden by the blanket. In #1, #4, and #5 the baby's face appears to be mashed into the blanket. All it takes is a gentle hand to turn her head out of the blankets. I always have a basket full of stuffing items like burp clothes to stuff under the baby's chest if I need to prop baby until I can see their full face.

#3 though, is great!

 

[twocolor]

Yeah I didnt play to much with the skintone of the baby. seemed the more I worked with it the worse she started looking so i kept things simple and just cleaned up her red spots.

If you are working toward becoming a better photographer, you should learn more about how to work with skin tones on your different subjects. This sounds like a cop out answer to me. My favorite book on skin tones is called "Skin:The complete Guide to Digitally Lighting, Photographing, and Retouching Faces and Bodies." by Lee Varis. The things it teaches about skin tones are excellent! My copy sits by my computer at all times!

 

[shortpballer]

The black and white is gorgeous !

 

[12sndsgood]

#3 takes it for me, but there are some pretty big issues with the others.

#1 the blanket is covering her left eye, but her expression is cute. Baby's skin tone is a bit on the red side. It needs to be warmed up a bit.
#2 moms bra strap really truly ruins this for me, the fact that baby seems to be going cross eyed looking at it (which I know isn't the actual case), just draws my eye to that bra strap over, and over.
#4 . . . what is the point here? I've never done a baby where something other than the baby is in focus. Especially the family dog. If you are doing a newborn session, the newborn should be the focus of the session.
#5 something is totally up with mom's face on this one. The idea is good, the baby in focus the parents out of focus, but the lighting on mom and dad is also very distracting.

The cool thing about babies at this stage is that once they are asleep, you can manipulate them as you wish . . . such as turning baby's face so that it isn't partially hidden by the blanket. In #1, #4, and #5 the baby's face appears to be mashed into the blanket. All it takes is a gentle hand to turn her head out of the blankets. I always have a basket full of stuffing items like burp clothes to stuff under the baby's chest if I need to prop baby until I can see their full face.

#3 though, is great!

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?


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.

with #5 i think it was a bit of hair on her face from the wind. but this was the best shot of this one that I had. the entire yard for the most part was in total sun. So what I did was setup my backdrop about 2' to of the baby and set the baby in the shad because she was squirming when I brought her out into the light. so i blocked the sun for her so I had a big shade/sun mark. so i brought out my flash and tried to light her up and make the transfer from shade to sun less noticable. Her blanket on the right side was getting hot with the flash on the right side so that was about as bright as i could light that area up. was a new experience for me trying to balance the light that way.

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

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.

 

[twocolor]

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 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!

with #5 i think it was a bit of hair on her face from the wind. but this was the best shot of this one that I had. the entire yard for the most part was in total sun. So what I did was setup my backdrop about 2' to of the baby and set the baby in the shad because she was squirming when I brought her out into the light. so i blocked the sun for her so I had a big shade/sun mark. so i brought out my flash and tried to light her up and make the transfer from shade to sun less noticable. Her blanket on the right side was getting hot with the flash on the right side so that was about as bright as i could light that area up. was a new experience for me trying to balance the light that way.

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.

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.

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!

 

[twocolor]

Check out how Robin used a dog with a baby in the family session he just posted!
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/professional-gallery/305407-beautiful-family.html

 

[12sndsgood]

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!

Thanks. I definatly want to narrow down what I do, I know in the end that for me will make me happier and allow me to concentrate on being really good in a certain area then average in a lot of areas. But at this point in time i'm still not where I want to be so i'm trying out as much as I can I said I never want to do weddings but after getting roped into shooting my friend's wedding I realised that it was a lot diffrent then what I thought i would feel about it and i liked it, so these new area i'm still trying to explore a bit and feel i'm at least competent at them before I start to narrow down my focus. To be honest I started up my business before I should. But at the time I was out of work and had the actual time to spend on thigns to get the business going properly. And I also know myself well enough that if I had waited and had gone back to work like i'm doing now. I never would have started the business, I would have just kept doing what I was doing. So i'm glad that I pushed myself to open shop. And i'm going slow so I can improve on things and try new things and start to narrow my focus down.

I appreciate all your replies and think i'm going to go back thru some of these to spend some more time working on them.

 

[fancifulimpressions]

I love daddy and baby, its sweet

 

[janineh]

Usually you do newborns in the first 2 weeks of life, for the simple reason baby being asleep and curled up.

I do a lot of newborns and its very tricky and you need a lot of practise to get it right.

The only photo that is nice is the b&w if you ask me.

Skin tones on babies are a big challenge and it takes a lot of time editing out red spots etc.