B&W baby photo

[dmmagnuson]

I am new here and was just hoping to get some feedback on my picture I took of my 5 month old son. I am just learning how to use my camera so any feedback is appreciated!

I shot this with an Olympus Evolt E-510

ISO speed: 100
Exposure: 1/60
Aperture: f5.3
Focal Length: 35mm
White Balance: Auto

[dave.turley]

Hi
Beautiful baby. I'd love to see the colour version of this if you have one. The B&W can be a little harsh, darkening the eyes and lightening the skin can give baby a slightly alien look coupled with the highlight in his eyes being dead central and a little mesmeric. The compositon is lovely the subject is perfect and the expression is fab. All of the above comments are from a pretty inexperienced eye and only expressed as my humble opinion.
Dave

[dmmagnuson]

Thanks Dave, I appreciate your feedback. Unfortunately I took the picture in B&W. I took some in color and some in B&W and I thought this one came out the best out of what I took. Like I said I am pretty new at this and was playing around with my camera and different settings. Thanks again for your comments!

[CrystalH]

One suggestion that I'd make is to always take your photos in colour. Forget about all the other settings- b&w, colour accent, etc. You can always change these things after if you start with a colour photo, but if you take it in black and white, you can't ever change it to colour.

[dave.turley]

Hi
Just a little side note, I always shoot in colour and use Nik Software Silver Efex Pro to convert. It's a great program and despite my inexperience, I'm surprised at the quality my sometimes ordinary photos can be given.
Dave

[SusanH1970]

What a cutie!

Try not to use the onboard flash. It gives very harsh, flat lighting, and puts pinlights in the eyes. When photographing babies, try sitting the baby near a window with indirect natural light coming in. Try to position the baby about 45 degrees from the window - look for nice catchlights in the iris. You can use a reflector (if you don't have one, a piece of white foamboard from a craft store will work fine) on the opposite side to bounce back some light and fill in dark shadows. You'll get a much softer, lovely light, which is perfect for babies.

[dmmagnuson]

Thank you so much for all the feedback, I will definitely choose to shoot in color and convert to B&W after for future shoots. Thanks for the tip on lighting Susan, I was afraid the picture looked a little too harsh because of the flash.