Newborns, Quinceanera's and children, oh my!

[Aayria]

Hey everyone! I haven't been about the forums in a few weeks and thought I'd drop by to say hello and share what I've been up to. In the past you guys have been such a huge help, with honest criticism and an attention to details that I may have myself overlooked in photos, and I wanted to say how much I've appreciated it!

Since I took up photography as a more serious hobby, I've had opportunities practically coming out of the woodwork to gain experience and practice! It's been so much fun.. I've grown in friendship with families I only barely knew before =)

I wanted to post a few of my favorite shots from recently, mostly just to share how I've been learning and what I still need to work on.. But also because I know there will be more experienced photographers here who can catch things in these that I could use to build on down the road. Thanks so much for taking the time, and I hope you enjoy the pictures!


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[Aayria]

Ummm.. not quite what I was going for >< Does anyone know what part of the

 

[mdtusz]

Read the sticky...


That said, you just grabbed the url from the page in your adress bar. You need to use the image url.

 

[er111a]

hmmmmm something did not work right

 

[Aayria]

There, all fixed! Thanks for the help, I had to dig around in the html code to find the source link on flickr.. Maybe there's an easier way to do it?

 

[kelli_anne]

They look wonderful!!! The only thing that really is bugging me is photo 2. The baby hand that is sticking up in the left hand side. I feel like it is taking away from the mother and baby's faces. Number 1 is very creative. Thank you for sharing!!

 

[dom yo]

pic one is AWESOME
looks like the baby is doing a little celebration dance

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Not really my kind of photography (especially newborns) but I fell in love with the idea of Quinceanera after watching the movie of the same name so I had to take a peek.

Not surprisingly (meaning what else are you going to do?), the Quinceanera shots are kind of like wedding shots which I don't care much for in general. But I love your newborns. I would have preferred #1 without the diaper, which is not that photogenic, but I realize that in these days of nude children "porn" hysteria it was/is probably the safe thing to do.

Too bad.

#2 is quite nice but I think it would be way, way better if you got rid of the light area going up along the left side. Can't tell what it is and it distract from the rest of the image, imho.

#3 is perfect.


I can't see #4

 

[Aayria]

Not really my kind of photography (especially newborns) but I fell in love with the idea of Quinceanera after watching the movie of the same name so I had to take a peek.

Not surprisingly (meaning what else are you going to do?), the Quinceanera shots are kind of like wedding shots which I don't care much for in general. But I love your newborns. I would have preferred #1 without the diaper, which is not that photogenic, but I realize that in these days of nude children "porn" hysteria it was/is probably the safe thing to do.

Too bad.

#2 is quite nice but I think it would be way, way better if you got rid of the light area going up along the left side. Can't tell what it is and it distract from the rest of the image, imho.

#3 is perfect.


I can't see #4

You mean you don't like number 4? It was supposed to be a photograph of a white computer screen displaying http:// text....

All fixed now =)

Thanks for the kind words, everybody! I am partial to number 1 because it is my baby =P I seem to have developed the photographer's version of writer's block since then, because the creativity well is running dry. I think perhaps my inhibitions are lower with my own children and I'm more open to trying creative ideas, when with other babies I tend to fall more into the "cookie cutter" newborn photography rut... Something to work on!

I see what you guys mean about #2... Maybe I will play with it in gimp later and try cloning out the light area on the left.. To my eye I thought it was cute to have another little baby foot in the background, but I think I can see what you mean about it.

 

[ghpham]

umm...what is "Quinceanera"?

I love all the pics. Very well done. Number 4 made me LOL!

 

[Aayria]

umm...what is "Quinceanera"?

I love all the pics. Very well done. Number 4 made me LOL!

A Quinceanera is sort of a "coming of age" ceremony celebrated in hispanic tradition for girls on their 15th birthday. There is a procession and time of prayer during the mass, followed by a wedding-reception-like party afterward, full of family traditions. You can look it up on google, there are quite a few photographers who specialize in quinceanera photography. I had never had the privilege of being a part of one myself, but I had heard of them back in high school spanish class =P It was such an honor when a family from church asked me to come and photograph their daughter's big day!

 

[ghpham]

Thanks for the explanation!

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Thanks for fixing #4. Very nice shot although I can see how some will not like it.

My only problem with it is the design/logo on the hat thing. it is distracting while not adding to the image.

There is a woman I read about recently that does beautiful newborn photos and I will try and find some links for you. I talked about her in some threads here but who knows which ones But I will try and find a link just in case it can inspire you.

In the meantime, just try and look at newborns you shoot as if they were your own

 

[Aayria]

I wanted to add, if you would like to see more of what a Quinceanera is all about, you can view the "full set" slideshow on my blog, linked in my signature. Just click on the link, then either scroll to the bottom of the page, or click on the "Quinceanera Photography" button on the top right of the blog =)

There are a lot of pictures in the slideshow that aren't as good as the few I picked out as my favorites- some with very glaring flaws, and the slide show software cut off the tops of some of the vertical pictures. (A couple have the entire heads cut off UGH ) But overall the whole experience was an amazing opportunity to learn and grow, and the family was thrilled with their pictures =)