3-month old

[kellymdempewolf]

I'd love any C&C on this shoot with my best friend from childhood and her 3-month old. Thanks!



This one shows the focus on the "Meals to go" bag that is the result of him refusing to let her eat with two hands when we went to lunch, so we came home with hers in the bag and this shot is of her nursing him before he naps and she can finally eat...ahhhh...the story of motherhood!

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Hi Kelly,

I get the impression that you're trying to tell a story through this series and people will have different ways of doing that which can make it difficult to critique. My comments below relate to how I would tell the story so whether this suits you I'll leave to your own feelings and opinions.

#1 - I would have liked to have seen the mother and baby together to show the bond and relationship. For me, the baby on someone's shoulder without seeing who it is misses outon the story of the bond between mother and child. From a technical standpoint, The vertical line in the corner of the wall isn't vertical so it could potentially do with a rotation. However, I think the main thing is the light from the windows is bright and distracting - pulling my attention away from the baby.

#2 - Too much going on in the photo, especially when you're trying to focus the viewer's attention on a subject (being the plastic bag) which isn't normally what someone is use to looking at. I think to achieve what you're trying to do you need to crop tightly around the bag on the table, dropping off the bottom of the photo while still leaving your friend in the photo. Take some of the right out of the photo as well, to the edge of the bag so you're just left with your friend and the plastic bag in the photo. Window light again is quite bright while you're friend is a bit dark by comparison. Some fill flash might have been needed here. I' wouldn't mind seeing it in colour as well.

#3 - I like what you're attempting to achieve here. However for me cropping off through the other eye doesn't quite work.

#4 - I like this shot too but two things come to mind for me. Firstly, your friend's hands look a bit strange being cropped off at the fingers - I think i'd prefer to see her entire hand in the shot or them cropped out. The other thing that bothers me is the brightness of the window light on the right relative to your friend on the left who is much darker around her hair. For me it creates a tension that unbalances the photo. I'd suggest trying a gradient filter which increases the exposure on the left to balance out the the exposure throughout the photo.

Again, what I've described here relates more to my style. I know you're working on your own so I'll leave you with these thoughts and you can decide if they're helpful to you or not.

[Donald]

Kelly

What you have here is a set of very intimate portraits that show, I think, the trust that your friend has in you. The two that feature her and the child show her relaxed and obviously comfortable with you taking photographs.

I'm no people-photographer, so my opinions need to be taken on that basis. The biggest challenge I see you facing with these is the lighting. For example. om the second one 'Meals to go', I wonder if a bit of fill flash would have helped fill in some fo shadows and help counteract the blown light we have coming through the window?

On that one as well, I don't know if it was your intention to not have it straight and have it rotated slightly (you'll see that the verticals are not vertical). I feel it's in a sort of no-man's-land that makes it feel as if the rotation is accidental rather than designed.

And then again on the last one. If you'd had flash to fill in on the faces, you could have avoided the over-exposed light coming in through the window, which makes the image seem more cold and harsh than it could have been.

[JakeKait]

That last shot is beautiful, showing the mom and baby bond! Love the drool coming off baby's lips!

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Kelly,

I can't improve upon Malcolm and Donald's excellent advice.

It gives you an excuse for a reshoot and see the cute baby, eh?

Cheers,