newborn - did I fake it well enough?

[mandyatm]

I was really looking forward to seeing this shot on my computer, but I missed the focus. I am so sad but I know they mom was really looking forward to seeing it. Did I fake it well enough or should I not include it and hope she doesn't ask?

I am having issues with my focus lately - just the last couple sessions. I set the focus point, and the part that is in focus is sometimes on the complete opposite side of the picture! I haven't had this issue before. Could there be a problem with my lens or camera?



50mm
f/3.2
1/50 sec
ISO 200

[Life in Motion]

Well, personally i think you faked it well enough for a client to be happy! part of the face and the front half of the flower looks in focus. If you did this by blending blurrs you did a great job in my opinion. I think that any mother would be happy you caught the shot this well. Maybe it sticks out worse in a series of the shots from the day, but standing alone it looks perfectly acceptable to me. Being fairly new to photography, when i have done shoots recently and have the people come and pick out the ones they want to be their final images to print. they always surprise me and pick out a couple that i hadn't even edited because they like something about the picture that I missed having my photographers technicle goggles on lol . I think that sometimes we over think the technicality of a shot, which in most cases that's necessary, however a moment like this is will be too precious to the mother, to leave out and not let her have the opportunity to make the choice whether she wants it as a print. Because she will most likely never with a point and shoot come close to catching a smile as precious as this one herself during her babies first months, even if it is the worst focus in your batch, it could possibly be the best to her for the reasons of 1) it's a priceless smile that few catch newborns doing while having a camera in hand 2) even if you had to fake it it is probably better than anything she could recreate herself 3) let her make the decision to have it or not, she will most likely choose yes, they always choose one you least expect because you are only looking with your technicle eye

just my honest opinion

[peeperita]

i think mom will be pleased.....baby portraits are often soft focus.....and you've captured a beautiful smile.....

your focus issues could be a number of things.....a larger aperture at a close distance leaves you with a fairly slender plane of focus.....the tiniest movement on your part.....a breath or even pressing the shutter could move you a half inch or so from your subject.....changing the plane.....



but, again, in this instance, razor sharp focus isn't neccessary......

peeper

[Jill H]

Personally I think this is a really gorgeous sweet photo that I as a mother would be very pleased with. The face looks in focus to me.

[zona5101]

agreed. being a bit soft is working for this shot...it is good to go.

[samhail]

I think the photo looks great and the mother looks very pleased. Heck, I would be pleased if I took this shot!

[mandyatm]

Thanks all! I do hope she will be pleased.

@ Life in Motion, I know what you mean - I am always surprised at the images they pick. I tend to look at everything from a technical standpoint and see the problems with color, focus, composition, etc, but they just see their perfect smiling baby! I KNOW they will want this one, I just wanted to make sure the quality is acceptable to print.

[NicoleScraps]

I am no expert from a technical standpoint, far from it. But as a mom, I would be thrilled with this shot. I think it looks wonderful.

[sk66]

Originally Posted by mandyatm

I am having issues with my focus lately - just the last couple sessions. I set the focus point, and the part that is in focus is sometimes on the complete opposite side of the picture! I haven't had this issue before. Could there be a problem with my lens or camera?

Nice pic!
Wide aperture + short working distance = very shallow DOF....as noted, any movement can cause it to shift.

As for the point shifting..it could be if you are using the focus/reframe technique... If you are actually setting the focus point within the final composition it shouldn't be.
With my Nikon I can lock the focus point to ensure I don't accidentally move it, and I can view which point was actually used by the camera in the LCD.

[Fernando]

I agree with Life In Motion...
#1) its a great shot, composition and expression wise
#2) baby shots should be fairly soft and not super sharp/harsh anyway
#3) I have come to learn that when I look at my clients shots I find myself being too technical and even though "I" may not really like a shot (because im zooming in 200% and its not as sharp as I like or whatever), the client in many cases thinks it's one of the best shots of the session. If they are happy....... i'm happy. That's all that matters.

I am sure the mother will love this shot!