Helpful Posts Helpful Posts:  0
Results 1 to 11 of 11

Thread: Another one - here's my first attempt at an infant shot.

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Amherstburg, ON, Canada
    Posts
    19
    Real Name
    Lynn Fox

    Another one - here's my first attempt at an infant shot.

    This is my baby girl at three weeks old. It is my first attempt at an infant shot. What could I have done differently?

    Another one - here's my first attempt at an infant shot.

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Chandigarh, India
    Posts
    1,541
    Real Name
    Sahil Jain

    Re: Another one - here's my first attempt at an infant shot.

    Lynn, at the outset, congrats for the new born and your baby is very adorable.
    What else could you have done?
    You could have taken a few hundred pics more
    The possibilities with infants are immense. The faces they make while sleeping are very fascinating. Just keep clicking
    As far as this image is concerned, this is a bit underexposed. I would have tried giving it a high-key effect.
    I would have included more of her arm in the frame. Also, the polka dots are a bit distracting, but I guess nothing much could have been done about them.
    Waiting for more of her pics.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Amherstburg, ON, Canada
    Posts
    19
    Real Name
    Lynn Fox

    Re: Another one - here's my first attempt at an infant shot.

    Thank you Sahil,
    I have a real problem with getting in too close. I fill my frame with my subject and rarely leave enough room for cropping. Cutting off her arm was a result of trying to crop this image down to 8x10" size even though there was no space to do so. I need to work on that.
    Thank you for your comments and the compliment on Emily. I am glad for this forum and the learning opportunities it presents.

  4. #4
    Moderator Donald's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Glenfarg, Scotland
    Posts
    21,402
    Real Name
    Just add 'MacKenzie'

    Re: Another one - here's my first attempt at an infant shot.

    Now, right at the start we need to get one thing clear. No-one in this world knows that baby as well as you do. So, to be as presumptious as to try and offer you another version of an image you have made of your child is a bit cheeky. However, to illustrate my point, I hope you don't mind me doing so. Notwithstanding the fact that it's a gorgeous image that must be treasured by you and will, I am sure be so by her, I felt it was a little flat. The tones across the image are quite similar and needed a bit of an injection of post-processing to make them 'pop' a bit more.

    So, I have introduced a curve to create more contrast and then a dose of Local Contrast Enhancement just to bring up the tonal differences and get a bit of that 'pop'. And then, some Output Sharpening.

    Your original

    Another one - here's my first attempt at an infant shot.


    My version (which you may feel is a total nonsense)

    Another one - here's my first attempt at an infant shot.
    Last edited by Donald; 29th November 2011 at 03:23 PM.

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Chandigarh, India
    Posts
    1,541
    Real Name
    Sahil Jain

    Re: Another one - here's my first attempt at an infant shot.

    Well everyone has their own style of framing. Getting close is no problem, but I hope you don't get so close that your lens isn't able to focus
    Just kidding.
    You cropped the image to have it in that size? You wanted to maintain the proportion? Did you try resizing your image?

    Give my love to Emily.

  6. #6

    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Chandigarh, India
    Posts
    1,541
    Real Name
    Sahil Jain

    Re: Another one - here's my first attempt at an infant shot.

    You version is a good improvement, Donald. That is how I was expecting to see it, after processing. Even I tried processing it, but it didn't open up the way other JPGs do. Something wrong with the format?
    I was in a rush, so I didn't try much on it.

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Amherstburg, ON, Canada
    Posts
    19
    Real Name
    Lynn Fox

    Re: Another one - here's my first attempt at an infant shot.

    Thank you Donald. Your version is an improvement as Sahil said. And I am open to advice regardless of whether the image is of my child. I am here to learn The only comment I have is that now the "newborn fur" is a bit more obvious in the image. I converted to bw to try and hide that as well as the ruddiness in her face and little scratches typical of newborns.

    About resizing - I took a basic photography course once and the instructor drilled into us that you are better to crop than resize an image. He proposed that resizing images "destroys" them by stripping pixels causing loss of image quality. Perhaps I took that too much to heart?

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Chandigarh, India
    Posts
    1,541
    Real Name
    Sahil Jain

    Re: Another one - here's my first attempt at an infant shot.

    Lynn, I don't think resizing does all that damage to the pic. Trust me its safe. I can't back up my words with technical explanation but someone with more knowledge & experience would throw more light on it.

  9. #9
    Goldcoastgolfer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Gold Coast, Australia
    Posts
    1,798
    Real Name
    Mal

    Re: Another one - here's my first attempt at an infant shot.

    Quote Originally Posted by lynnfox1975 View Post
    The only comment I have is that now the "newborn fur" is a bit more obvious in the image. I converted to bw to try and hide that as well as the ruddiness in her face and little scratches typical of newborns.
    If you're trying to hide her "fur" that could be a reason for opening up your aperture on your next shot and shallowing your depth of field - and just focussing on her face. Her scratches you should be able to touch up fairly easily though with most programs. As for ruddiness... what ruddiness?

  10. #10

    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Amherstburg, ON, Canada
    Posts
    19
    Real Name
    Lynn Fox

    Re: Another one - here's my first attempt at an infant shot.

    Thank you Malcolm,
    What I meant by ruddiness was just redness and uneven skintone. At the time of that picture she didn't have the beautiful even clear skin she has now at 3 months old. She's lost the fur now as well - lol! I am due to try some more shots of her she is even more photogenic now if that is possible

  11. #11
    Goldcoastgolfer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Gold Coast, Australia
    Posts
    1,798
    Real Name
    Mal

    Re: Another one - here's my first attempt at an infant shot.

    Ah - I see. Three months is an awesome age for baby photos. They smile a lot more and there's no such thing as an unnatural pose! And they don't answer back...

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •