Wrinkled background

[kptasteve]

Was wondering if the wrinkled background takes away. How would I replace it if I wanted to? Would sharper focus on baby work? I knind of like the softer feel to the focus.

From 01-02

4752×3168 pixels – 2187KB
Filename: _(49_of_113).JPG
Camera: Canon
Model: Canon EOS 50D
ISO: 400
Exposure: 1/60 sec
Aperture: 4.0
Focal Length: 68mm
Flash Used: No

[zona5101]

I think it would be a stronger image if it was not wrinkled. You can photoshop it out. Easy if you don't care about maintaining the shadow (just paint it)...more work if you want to keep the shadow (paint, blur, clone, layer masks and all that).

[mandyatm]

I think it is okay but agree that it would be nice without it. What I would have done is pull the baby farther from the background, gotten down lower and taken it from the front instead of above. That would hopefully blur the background out. The wrinkles on the floor are okay. In this case, I would first do a gaussian blur on just the back of the background and see if that helped. If that isn't enough, I would clone out the wrinkles as best as possible. I think that will help a lot. Here is my quick stab at it. I will remove it if you want.

[srt]

I agree with above, a different perspective would have helped as well as putting baby farther away from the background. Something else you can do is adjust the levels in post and make the background a little brighter which I have found from personal experience tends to clear out small imperfections. Altho here it may make the towels underneath the baby blend in.

[irishmuth]

I agree that then angle is more bothersome than the wrinkles, but I was able to brighten the sheet to make the wrinkles less noticeable and then mask those layers so the baby isn't too bright. Not ideal, but let me know what you think.

[cherrygirl]

I think you have a good start but think maybe you just missed it. The angle is not right, need to be a little more at the baby's level and the skin tones look off to me. As for the background, it's easier to fix that before you start shooting to avoid having to jump through hoops to fix it. A wrinkled backdrop just looks unprofessional.

Keep at it, try again but get closer to that sweet little girl!!!

[FallinWoman]

You have gotten good advice about the wrinkles. I would have preferred a sharper focus on the baby's eyes. I love the idea of the picture!

[irishmuth]

I tried a similar photo shortly after getting my first dSLR. I didn't have a lighting set up (still don't), so I was forced to go with a slower shutter speed than I would have preferred. I basically didn't know what the hell I was doing, so my WB was pretty off as well. I just knew I had seen the shot somewhere and was determined to replicate it. I guess my point is that - as you can see from my before and after - a significant amount of improvement can be done in post.

However, I agree with cherrygirl that it would be much better to improve the photo itself if possible. I think you would need a light specifically illuminating just the sheet so that it has that high key look. And an angle like those below would allow you to give distance between the baby and the backdrop and also focus on the baby's eyes.