Riley's Photo shoot

c.cloudwalker · Aug 7, 2011

I agree with Bitter. The background looks smooth except where it meets the corner of the table but the main problem is that one can see where background and "floor" meet and the floor is all wrinkled. The wrinkles are easy to take care of. Either weigh down the cloth or tack it to the table to keep it stretched. Then smudge the meeting line a bit...

I take it the baby is a girl but, man, that backround really hurts my eyes. The pink bow/nose/mouth of the bear and in the rug would have been a very nice and subtle way of telling us that and you could have used a not so blinding BG.

The ones with the older child do not do anything for me. As said by others, the relationship is not clear at all. She is facing away from the baby and that make them not belong together. Actually with the first version of it I thought you had pasted the girl into a photo of the baby, giving it an old looking PP to mask imperfection in the girl part...

mindfloodz · Aug 7, 2011

I agree cloud, I should have had my older daughter behind her as if she was reading to her from behind.. it would have made it looked more connected. I knew when I took the picture it wouldn't look right. My wife insisted that I include her in the picture as to not isolate her because we had a new baby and we didn't want to not include her. The background would not allow for me to put her in any other position. It just would not work with her behind it or anywhere else for that matter with me using the table as my platform for my little bed scene. My older daughter was in the picture dangling her legs while sitting on the dge of the table, which gives the illusion that she was cut and pasted in.. Being that no one should be able to dangle their legs past the floor. With the bed on the table giving the appearance of the floor, this problem is created in that scene, which I recognized before I even took the picture, but she still insisted on this composition.

Also, do you think a white or a background would look better? Or should I go with a tan? I'm limited to what I have for BG's.. Any ideas are welcome. I am gonna revisit this shoot today

c.cloudwalker · Aug 7, 2011

Anything more subtle would do, lol. But then again, I'm the only one who said that so keep the BG pink if you like it :lol:

mindfloodz · Aug 7, 2011

Maybe if I went more carnation pink with the BG? I thought it was a little much myself. It offered great contrast, but it was a little like "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HOT PINKKKKKKK" ya know? Something more pantel would be nice. I wish eI had wood fllor to work with. Oh well, I will figure something out. Gonna try it again today. Keep ur eye out, and tell me what cha think after round 2

c.cloudwalker · Aug 7, 2011

Now, have you looked at paper BGs. They are not that expensive and can last through quite a few shoots if you are careful with them. And you can build a BG holder fairly cheaply out of plumbing parts found at any hardware store, including one that can be dismantled and stored away in a small package. PVC pipes rule!

mindfloodz · Aug 7, 2011

That's a really good idea.... I have tons of PVC from when I used to do Heating and cooling. Where can I find paper BG's? Hobby stores and such?

c.cloudwalker · Aug 7, 2011

No. You will have to get those from photo stores but being in Chi-town you've got to have a photo store that has some and/or can order whatever color you want.

Now, you can also make your own out of painter's drop clothes. You get a basic canvas and paint it whatever color you want. The main advantage here is that today you got a girl so you paint it pink. Tomorrow, you get a boy and you paint it blue.

I've used canvas drop clothes for years and my cyc wall today is the same basic idea although way more expensive. It can be painted over and over, whichever color you need. You can even match the color of something else in the picture if need be by having the paint custom mixed.

sbakewell0508 · Aug 7, 2011

i thought the pink background was a little much as well in a full length, in a close up it might now be as bad.

as far as your shutter speeds, that is why you can get sharp focus, it is hard to hand hold at that slow shutter speed, i know lots of people do, but handholding at slower shutter speeds is not my forte! i would bump your iso up i am not sure what cam you used and how it handles iso but what if you shot at like a stop or two above wide open (on your fifty) and had iso up too 400 with a shutter speed of at least 60 of a second? (following the shutter speed "rule" you need to have your shutter speed above the length of your lens to avoid camera shake)(you have to shoot manual to do this (not sure if you know that)) get next to a window and then get your hands on a nice large piece of cardboard and cover it in aluminum foil.. to act as a reflector and put that on the other side of them (opposite window) to help bounce light. raise all the blinds in the room, even other rooms to help the light spill in..

raising your iso will help with the shutter speed.

i ordered two paper backdrops from a touch of class teacher supply,it was the bulletin board paper...i have the floor and green (green is REALLY green) its not something i would use on a client, but its something i use for my own kids.

i would not put the bed on the table i understand you are trying to get the light to spill on her but i think if you get her next to the window (even if that means moving furniture for a little bit!) that will allow you to get the separation you need. i see pull backs from photo shoots all over and they have the baby right next to the window.

i hope some of this helps, i just am regurgitating what i have read on forums, facebook, and what i have learned myself, i of course am not an expert, just suggesting. :-D

sbakewell0508 · Aug 7, 2011

here is a quick edit of your file (hope you don't mind!) anyways, it was brightness mainly, crop, small curves, little bit of hue/saturation on the yellows, red, and magentas.. i think her skin still looks a little flat and i am not sure what her skin looks like in person of course, it looked a little red in the picture, but i could not tell if the skin was picking up the pink cast of the background, i just tried to even it out, if it was mine i would work more on it, but i did this in like 10 mins. you can see a bit of pink along her back but that would take longer to get out, i orginally was just trying to change the background color, but it looked to much like she was digital put in.

oh and i fixed the bed/blanket line, kinda sloppily but again just a quick edit. :-D hope you don't care, (its private on my flickr stream and i can of course take down.

Scoody · Aug 7, 2011

My first thought when I saw that background was...

mindfloodz · Aug 7, 2011

I am going to make a new thread for the pics from today';s shoot, but here 2 from what I did today.

I know black is not the best to use with this shoot, but I tried it anyhow

sbakewell0508 · Aug 8, 2011

the backgrounds are definately better, the "rug" needs to be ditched, it is just to much going on, turn the bed straight so it is is parrallel to the camera and then prop the babies hands up under her little cheek and get do on to the same level, in the first one where you crop it just a touch .. once the rug is gone you will be able to do this, if you really want to use the rug, put it more under the bed, but getting her hands underneath her head more and bringing her head more toward camera will help. where is your light source? i looks like something is coming from the front by the way the bed is lighter in the front. but i think these are better. good improvement.