First newborn

[jax314]

I took this for a friend of mine and as a means of gathering some experience with newborns. I have never done this before, as I got my camera after mine were born. Can you please let me know some things I did well and some things I could do better? What is your overall impression of this, so I know how others feel....

I know the ISO is really up there...I had it on auto ISO so I could have a minimum shutter speed fast enough to compensate for my shakes as I did this handheld indoors....How much does this take away from the image?


Thanks!


Camera Nikon D5000
Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture f/3.5
Focal Length 35 mm
ISO Speed 1800

[~AJ~]

I think you've done a wonderful job with this shot!

I did a workshop with a baby/toddler/child photographer and she never uses a flash and doesn't have a studio. She only uses natural light and the rule she basically follows is to not go below 1/250 - especially when you're shooting babies & toddlers. She basically bumps up her ISO & adjusts apeture to be able to stick with 1/250.

The light is gorgeous & your focus is perfect. I think sticking to f/3.5 (if that's the widest you can go) is best for doing newborn photos too.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that I personally think your settings are spot on

Beautiful photo - thanks for sharing!

[rubysue]

I'm new at this and haven't shot any newborns yet, but I prefer them naked. That whole sentence sounds entirely inapropriate... LOL. anyways, I think the red shirt is distracting, doesn't say "newborn" to me. Maybe converted to B&W it might be better? Just a thought, cute picture though.

[kristenh]

i like it a lot, too; she's very sweet. i'm assuming the mom picked her clothing, so no control for you there...

what if you moved the whole setup to right next to a window? the light would be very pretty then. just an idea

wish mine were newborns again so i could try and emulate you

[maria janina]

I think the photo is gorgeous...well done!
i don't mind the red at all, that is just a personal thing. Not everyone wants sweet, soft colours in baby photo's. I do think if the pink background was a neutral colour, it would have been better.

[jax314]

Thanks for the comments everyone. I am grateful for a site like this to get feedback and learn from.

[Life in Motion]

i think that the exposure could be upped a little in post.......see how the front of the blanket looks grey......assuming it is white.....you could just adjust it easily to bring it closer to white and give the pic a more airy feel.....jmho

[SuperDan]

i like it...

[SusanH1970]

What a little sweetie.

Something about the skin tones is off to me, though. Sort of desaturated looking - I'm seeing a lot of grey and some blue, and a few magenta patches. Yes, newborns can be blotchy, but this looks just too cool and desaturated to me.

[jax314]

Thaks for the new replies....

Well, the blanket was a light pink rather than white. As for the skin tones, all I did in PP was a crop and an AUTO TONE in Photoshop......I didn't change anything else at all. So I can see how the white balance/skin tones could be off slightly......

looks pretty good to my untrained eye on my monitor though

Thanks again!