Two (bad) baby photos(a question, maybe CC)

[arais81]

I took a couple of photos of my godson. I am well aware that the shots are far from perfect, even far from 'okay', but the baby's mom wants them printed. On 20×30. The conditions in which I took these shots were horrible, I didn't exactly intend to even take photos anyway. Bad lightening, so the ISO was about a billion. I'm not sure what it was, but it was at least 800. On canon 450d. I feel sick even writing it down

So...What I told his mom is, they can be printed on 10×14. I did a very quick edit in lightroom, since I don't have photoshop right now.

First edit: I blurred the background since it was too cluttered, and put the photo into sepia, since WB was way off.

Second edit: darkened background (very bad masking, but just to give you a general idea...I'll do it properly before printing)

Which edit do you think works better? Also, are they printable on 10×14? The noise probably won't be as visible at that size and the small mistakes less noticable...I hope. I've stared at them for too long, I need a second opinion

And another question - what do you think about the eyes on the second photo? Is it too much?

cheers

 

[RauschPhotography]

First of all, I wouldn't recommend using sepia tones if the picture was shot at a high ISO to begin with/has excessive grain! In my experience, it's always looked worse. Keep in mind that the ISO plays a huge role in your printing quality, and it'll look much worse printed than on your computer screen. I'd tell the mother that you'd be happy to shoot some other pictures (again, watch the ISO!) and print those for her. Both parties will be much happier!

 

[arais81]

I did tell her that, but she thinks they're great and wants them printed. I personally hate the photos but it's harder to argue with family members than with anyone else

She will actually probably be offended if I don't print them, so the only question I have is either version one edit or version two edit. These will just be put in a family photo album, and I see this little guy at least once a week, so there will be loads of photo opportunities.

I'm not that crazy about sepia either, but the color cast was just so off it seemed like the only option. Although I am aware that a bad color photo won't be fixed if I put it in bw

 

[Derrel]

I was expecting really,really bad baby photos, based on the title...these are nowhwere near as bad as many that have been posted here on TPF. A parent would probably like both of those shots.

 

[Gruen Photo 7 Design]

the second shot is staged pretty well. cute expression.

print them & see how they turn out! go 8X10 first...

 

[vtf]

If you take additional shots, raise your shutter speed, 1/14 is not fast enough, for a baby or toddler you need 1/250 or so. This will cause you to lower the aperature or raise the iso> I think the issue is shutter speed because alot of motion blur is apparent. May need flash in the future.
I cant compared the editing because I dont see the originals.
The 2nd looks better due to the eyes, chances are thats what sold the parents.
Keep on posting:thumbup:
BTW noise can be dealt with, OOF cant.

 

[RauschPhotography]

I did tell her that, but she thinks they're great and wants them printed. I personally hate the photos but it's harder to argue with family members than with anyone else

She will actually probably be offended if I don't print them, so the only question I have is either version one edit or version two edit. These will just be put in a family photo album, and I see this little guy at least once a week, so there will be loads of photo opportunities.

I'm not that crazy about sepia either, but the color cast was just so off it seemed like the only option. Although I am aware that a bad color photo won't be fixed if I put it in bw

Go for edit #2, and convert to grayscale. Might help a bit.

 

[arais81]

If you take additional shots, raise your shutter speed, 1/14 is not fast enough, for a baby or toddler you need 1/250 or so. This will cause you to lower the aperature or raise the iso> I think the issue is shutter speed because alot of motion blur is apparent. May need flash in the future.
I cant compared the editing because I dont see the originals.
The 2nd looks better due to the eyes, chances are thats what sold the parents.
Keep on posting:thumbup:
BTW noise can be dealt with, OOF cant.

Sorry, what is OOF?

I'm horrible at portraits as it is, I'm much more at home at landscape photography I think
I know I need a flash but I probably won't be able to afford it till christmas (If Santa is generous )

 

[vtf]

OOF is "out of focus"
You can use the on board flash in this situation.
Portraits are tough, I'm just learning myself.