Critique Creative Criticism Newborn

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caitlinjade95

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caitlin
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I have a friend who has a 7 week old baby and she just wanted some nice photos taken on her little girl for a canvas and she asked me, i really want to learn more and become a newborn photographer. I'm in no way a photographer at the moment im learning, and i love every moment of it. I didn't attempt poses, i wanted it to be 100% safe so all the photos ive taken are of her on her back and she just wanted some lovely shots of her face. I took them with my canon 600d and a 50mm lens. Any positives and negatives will really help me out here. I know i am not a photographer i certainly dont need to be told that lol just looking for some tips on what i can do next time to get some better shots!

I just used natural day light and edited on photoshop, i didnt really want to change too much about her or give the photo the plastic look i tried to keep it as real as possible. I did really struggle with the dry skin in her eyebrows i couldn't edit that out!!

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Look to me like a good attempt - I certainly don't know that I could do any better as never photographed a baby:(

You wanted a critique so here goes....

I think you were right to use natural light rather than a flash or other bright light (I think there are all sorts of H&S issues you need to be aware of:)). But that doesn't mean you just have to accept what you are presented with.

For example you could use a reflector of some kind - needn't be anything fancy just a sheet of white card/cardboard - to provide some reflected light on a side of the baby that is a bit dark.

Likewise you could use something like that to prevent light falling on the baby being too strong eg in picture 1 the cheeks look to me to be a little blown ie too bright and lacking in texture.

Also don't forget that you could move the baby nearer to or further away from the source of light (window) or have them at a different angle to the light.

Maybe you could practice with a baby sized dolly that you can move around without hassle etc and get everything set up so that the mum/dad just has to put the baby where the doll was:)
 
thankyou for your reply, i knew my lighting wasnt perfect, i just had the one window to play with and thankyou for the reflector tip!! I just wanted to see what people thought, thanks for taking the time to reply!
 
Hope it helps - I'm sure others will have other suggestions:)
 
A friend recently asked me to take some photos of her little girl. I want to get some experiance with newborn photography as this is what i really want to do. The little girl was 7 weeks old so a little older than most newborn photography shoots but still perfect. I want to take training before i attempt any poses at all so i just wanted to fulfil her wishes and get her some photos of her little girl that she wanted so i just took the photos of her on her back because it was mostly the quality, settings and lighting that i wanted to have a go at.

I would love some creative criticism or any tips you may have. This was my first time so i know that it's not perfect i'd just really like some input into this!!
I edited using photoshop and i didn't want to over edit her skin and run the risk of it looking fake and plastic!!


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Is there a thread not already started with these images
 
Why delete ? And which one do you want to delete this one or the last one ?
 
either it dosn't matter, i wanted to edit the other thread but couldnt find an option to ask something else which is why i started a new one..i've looked and tried to delete the other one but not been successful
 
Just ask on the last one , it will bump your thread up the pile anyway :)
 
but then i dont know how to delete this one either! haha i know i dont need both but needed to add some info
 
I thought I was really cracking up - I was sure I had already commented .......
 
I thought I was having a deja vu... turns out it really DID happen before.. so would that be a vuja de?
 
Critique wise I'd be interested why you've chopped the corner of the babies head off in so many of the shots? Is it a style you were aiming for?
 
Thankyou!! Yes i created another one i wanted to add some more info, im still new to this and i havn't worked out how to delete a thread and i cropped some of the babys head of because she wanted some really close and i was struggling to catch all the details further out. they arn't all cropped lol it just so happens that these ones are!!
 
you can't delete threads - only staff can delete them.

You CAN however edit your existing posts... At the bottom of each post block is a line with your name, a time, and the words "Edit" and "Report" - click on the "edit" word and it'll allow you to add extra bits to one of your posts, or delete bits, or swap the photo's...

Anything else, press on the "report" word, and ask for what you want in the report box, and someone in the staffroom will help you as soon as there's a free minute...
 
caitlinjade95 said:
Thankyou!! Yes i created another one i wanted to add some more info, im still new to this and i havn't worked out how to delete a thread and i cropped some of the babys head of because she wanted some really close and i was struggling to catch all the details further out. they arn't all cropped lol it just so happens that these ones are!!
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That explains that then. Which ones do you prefer? The cropped or uncropped ones?
 
I prefer them uncropped but her mum loved the cropped ones for the details, im glad i did both styles i can see whee i went wrong with the cropped ones i should concentrate on getting the details a little further away
 
caitlinjade95 said:
I prefer them uncropped but her mum loved the cropped ones for the details, im glad i did both styles i can see whee i went wrong with the cropped ones i should concentrate on getting the details a little further away
Click to expand...

Not sure what you're shooting with, but even with a reasonably entry level camera these days, it's as well to frame your shots a little "loose" in the camera, and give yourself scope for creative cropping - it's one of the bonuses of the posh cameras these days that you can actually still get an acceptable a3 print from half of the frame on the "pro" level kit...
 
caitlinjade95 said:
I prefer them uncropped but her mum loved the cropped ones for the details, im glad i did both styles i can see whee i went wrong with the cropped ones i should concentrate on getting the details a little further away
Click to expand...

Not sure why you'd ask for critique on the ones you prefer the least then?
 
i was using my canon 600d with a 18-55mm lens or the 50mm lens i used them both to have a try with them. Im asking for crituqe on these ones because these are the ones edited. I love these ones too, im having a play around and seeing what i like best, its all part of learning isn't it. :)
 
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