Critique Photos of my baby

[Mark Ross]

Most of my experience is of landscape photography so I haven't done much portraiture and none of babies. However with the new arrival in my family I was motivated to try and capture some special images. I bought a Sigma 50mm f1.4 Art specifically for the purpose and I must say I love it. I have learnt a few things, particularly that I need to use the central focus point on my Canon 6D at wide apertures as the other focus points just aren't accurate enough to nail the focus at this depth of field. Also reducing clarity in Lightroom is great for smoothing skin, although I have only applied it using the brush tool, to ensure the eyes stay sharp. I also haven't done much B&W in the past either, so this is new territory for me in more ways than one.

 

[TopBanana]

What a gorgeous baby you've got, congratulations!
I think they're a great set, my personal opinions on them:
1) Can you do a local increase in exposure on the darker eye (baby's left one), I think that would lift the photo
2&3) Lovely, but watch out for distracting catch lights
4) My favourite. Lovely expression, the eyes are fantastic, and the right amount of depth of field to show mum (I presume) whilst still having the focus clearly on baby

 

[Mark Ross]

Thanks for the feedback @TopBanana. The first three were shot using natural light from a window (with a bit of fill flash bounced off the ceiling) so I think that's where the distracting catchlights are coming from. Now you've pointed them out I can see what you mean - I hadn't noticed it before.

 

[TopBanana]

lol, sorry! It can be quite annoying when you notice something in a photo and then you can't "unsee" it!

 

[Nuzik]

Hi Mark, congrats on the little one. Nice focus shots there, just watch out for the lighting as perviously said and look out for backgrounds keeping them clear for me i find that best. Nice to see photos of babies with their eyes open my little boy hardly opened his, i thought he was a mole for the first 2 months.