Portrait shot of my little boy

IanClark

IanClark

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..it's been a while since I posted some pics but I took this shot today. 9.5 months old and getting cheekier by the day :)

Bit of natural light from his left. Flash bounced off the ceiling and some cheapy fake fur thing behind him. Taken at 50mm, F1.8 @ 1/125, ISO100 and +0.7 expostion compensation.

He was playing with a ball and just as I took this shot he dropped the ball and I caught it as it rolled over his hand. Either that or he has a cool ass balancing trick :D

Both shots are of the same image, the second, just a tighter crop.

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thats brilliant the eyes pop, how did you do it - scratch that you posted how, still brilliant though was there much pp to bring the eyes out ?
 
alexkidd said:
the post processing makes the child look like a demon
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Ouch, A little harsh. In what respect?

I'd prefer that if you're going to comment then consider offering some constructive advice as to what you think is wrong and how it can be improved.

I'm open to CC, not C. ;)
 
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david1701 said:
thats brilliant the eyes pop, how did you do it - scratch that you posted how, still brilliant though was there much pp to bring the eyes out ?
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Thanks David. Selective unsharp mask on the eyes mainly.
 
alexkidd said:
the post processing makes the child look like a demon
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Not to me it doesn't :thumbsdown:

I think the shot and the PP are very good! :clap: My only CC would be that the rattle (if that's what is in his hand) is a little bit distracting as it's out of the DoF and a bit too prominent. Also being shot landscape, for me at least he looks a little restricted in the frame (top to bottom). Good catchlights, and a nice sharp image for me at least LOL (y)
 
The processing makes him look doll-like and puts me in mind of that website from the US that keeps doing the rounds.

That aside, I think you have a good clean shot, with some decent light. I too, find the ball a bit of a distraction. Perhaps it would be less if his whole hand were in shot.

I think the framing is fine at the top, but more at the bottom to show his elbow and hand would probably help.
 
Thanks guys.

I'd been advised that the PP was overcooked a little ahead of posting the images here but I wanted to see what CC's I would get here also. I understand I have gone too far on the skin smoothing but this is the way to learn.. get CC's.

Thanks V8 / Jay for the CC's :)
 
I think the PP is definitely overdone but I think that this makes for a very interesting image, and stands out a bit more from the usual child portrait. It reminds me of that National Geographic shot of a mummified girl. I mean that it a good way...
 
Interesting PP here. I keep looking at and can't decide whether the I like it being overcooked like this or not. I think I would have like to seen him in another coloured jumper perhaps or a different coloured background, rather than the white on white?

My screen shows the orange/red saturation up quite harshly. Could just be my monitor..but may just have over tweaked that channel. Those red bits in the jumper I think distract.

I like the detail and sharpness of the eyes actually, but if you had caught him looking directly at the camera I think that would have been even better.

Definately a lovely baby boy and looks like a distinctly cheeky and happy little chap!
 
Ok, my initial reaction was 'Wow, nice sharp shot, and the eyes really stand out'

But my C&C would be that the left arm is a little bright, there is no detail there and the skin is a little too smooth, but smooth as a babies arse is a very well known saying.

I like it (y)
 
willwebs said:
I think the PP is definitely overdone but I think that this makes for a very interesting image, and stands out a bit more from the usual child portrait. It reminds me of that National Geographic shot of a mummified girl. I mean that it a good way...
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LOL Thank you. I'm not sure I've seen the mummified girl however I know you do not mean this in a derogatory way and I'm glad that you find some merit in the shot :)

EdinburghGary said:
Good work IMO. And a real sweetie, nothing remotely demonoish!!
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Thank you Gary, appreciate the compliment :)

amb3rsil said:
I like the detail and sharpness of the eyes actually, but if you had caught him looking directly at the camera I think that would have been even better.

Definately a lovely baby boy and looks like a distinctly cheeky and happy little chap!
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Thank you amb3rsil. I'm wondering whether I'm not seeing as much orange as others are. I'm going to play around and pull out a lot of it. Plus I do have some other shots that I need to work on so will take all the comments on board. Thank you for the compliments and advice :)


Cavking said:
Ok, my initial reaction was 'Wow, nice sharp shot, and the eyes really stand out'

But my C&C would be that the left arm is a little bright, there is no detail there and the skin is a little too smooth, but smooth as a babies arse is a very well known saying.

I like it (y)
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Thank you also Cav. I tried burning in a bit of detail and recovering highlights but I think many were beyond recovery. Thanks again also for the C&C and compliments :)
 
Sorry Ian, as has already been said, the PP makes him look like a doll. Not exactly demonish, but dolls scare me at the best of times :LOL:

Tone down the PP on his skin, and it'll work :)
 
hehe, Thanks Betty :)

Also, thanks Crazygeordiegirl. I compared this shot to the raw and was particuarly shocked at the difference.. yup, definitely a bit David Dickinson going on with a lot less leather texture :D.

Going to work on a less orange/smoothed version :)
 
Ian, a lot of people have said the PP does make your little one look like a doll, but I think it certainly has the potential of being a great shot :) What a cutie little boy you have x
 
Thank you Bunny :)
 
Sweet christ! You're wife gave birth to a cartoon. ;) The eyes are great. Put them in the normal version and I think it will be a winner.
 
petemc said:
Sweet christ! You're wife gave birth to a cartoon. ;) The eyes are great. Put them in the normal version and I think it will be a winner.
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haha, well it's a lot better than a demon :D

ok ok ok I get it, the PP is over done !!!!! :D.
 
I think it's been pretty well covered - a really nice shot, with just a bit too much enthusiasm in the editing. Babies don't need smoothing, they're pretty smooth already.

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Sorry Ian, I just noticed your edit box isn't ticked.Say the word and I'll remove the edit. :)
 
Hey CT, feel free to post an edit. I've played around a little tonight and I'm just not getting what I want so it would be interesting to see what you've come up with. :)

Cheers
 
I'll put the edit back Ian, but you need to tick your edit box or them mod's will have me!
 
Yeah CT, that certainly is 100% better. I'm trying to work out how ended up with such an orange result and I think quite possibly what has happened is that as I'm playing around with it, my eyes have become acustomed to what I'm seeing therefore maybe I've added a bit more.. that's the only thing I can think of because as I was editing it, it just didn't look anywhere near as bad as it does when I look back over my version.

Yours is most certainly a more natural look. Thanks for that. (I'll go and turn my edit option on :) )
 
Oh gawd yes, you can definitely sit there looking at that screen until your judgement has gone all to rat poo. Many a time I've thought a shot was brilliant going to bed, and deleted it as soon as I looked at it in the morning. :puke:
 
Here's my own take (on the tighter crop version). Better tones? I also added a tiny bit of noise to reduce the smoothing a little bit. I do have the RAW but I worked on the already PP'd version.

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Unsharp mask and a tiny bit of dodging to boost the lightness a touch. :)
 
top drawer i really like these shots well done
 
Hi. He looks gorgeous. I like your second version much better but could we see a version without the eye-popping?...i'm not sure he needs it, he's got lovely big eyes anyway.

Anna
 
Hi Anna,,
Thank you :)

Do you mean with the eyes a little less sharpened. Pretty much all I've done on the eyes is the unsharp mask :)
 
Beautiful Baby. I'm new to photography so I can not add advice. Although, I like the natural look much better.

Mazie
 
IanClark said:
Hi Anna,,
Thank you :)

Do you mean with the eyes a little less sharpened. Pretty much all I've done on the eyes is the unsharp mask :)
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Really wow, then he really does have amazing eyes! What do they look like with less sharpening / no sharpening? I've had a second look and i still think that there is a slightly articial look to his eyes? Don't get me wrong, i think its a fab photo though!(y)
 
Anna,

Without any sharpening, there's a loss of definition. I'll pull out the unsharpened ones later tonight :)
 
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