Baby's first Christmas!

[jillmp13]

Ok - so we cheated! I wrapped up some empty boxes and gave them to my nephew and let him play! My sister wanted something for a holiday card.



I originally liked how it came out, I liked the aperture and the bulbs in the foreground, but I'm wondering about that background - the white wall, I'm thinking it's distracting now - or makes the photo too bright? Or maybe santa is too distracting, not blurred enough? Thoughts?

I shot with a Cannon Rebel Xsi
75-300mm lens - I forget exactly where I was, I'm thinking between 100-200mm
ISO 100
again, unsure of the fstop, I need to pay more attention! I don't have the data with me but I try to shoot as small as possible, so maybe around f/4.0
Used an external flash - pointed straight at him, there was a ceiling fan lamp that was creating shadows on his face so I tried to fill

Thanks in advance!

[kristenh]

he's very cute and not a bad idea to give him something to hold- will steal that idea myself.

i'm not as bothered by the white wall as i am by santa (sorry, sir). he's like another guy competing for attention in the photo. when i saw it, as i always do, i thought, how can i steal that idea for myself? and immediately wondered how it would look with wrapped presents in the background- but all one color or color theme that is not too bold- maybe gold or silver- and then a shallower dof so that you can sort of tell that they're presents, but it's a non-distracting, non-detracting background and the baby stands out sharply. and its a huge mountain so that there is nothing else in the background. i like the lighting, although it would be great to get a real twinkle in his eyes.

if you try it again, pls post

[kristenh]

oh, and btw, as the parent of three boys, i know, i just know, how incredibly simple all my brilliant suggestions will be for you

[jillmp13]

thank you for the feedback!! you're right, santa is like another guy competing for attention, that's a great point. and i when i was purchasing the wrapping paper i was thinking colorful! but now that you bring up the gold or sliver, one color for the presents, maybe even green? something solid - it totally makes sense, less distractions, and that'd be simple and elegant, just the silver or gold.

I have another one with out santa (or only his feet) but again i think you're right and should have had a shallower DOF.

BUT - I tried to shoot on Aperture priority, so I could control that, but it slowed my shutter speed down, and since he's a baby and constantly moving, he was coming out blurry. How do I get around that? Is there a way?

Here's the other pic:



Thanks again! Great suggestions!

[kristenh]

okay, sorry to take a while to get back to you. pesky job takes up all my time

i think you might have the aperture thing backwards- if you are changing it and it is making your shutter speed slower, you need to go the other way. smaller aperture numbers mean bigger actual apertures- holes- which means more light gets in, so they allow for faster shutter speeds. so if you make your aperture number smaller, your shutter speed should get faster, all other things being equal. try that and see if it helps.

the background in the second photo you posted is less busy and distracting, but i prefer how, in the first one, you were at the baby's eye level.

also, i'm no expert at this by any means, but they say 50-70 mm is perfect for portraits. someone who knows why might post!

oh, one last last thing- put him up against something green and take a few shots- see how you like what he looks like against green- before you invest in more paper- green makes some people look all sallow.
oh, one last thing- you could seat him a bit farther away from the background and still use the same aperture but the background will be blurred better. kwim?

[bookloveraz]

I personally like the second better, only because that blue bulb by his leg in the first one is distracting me. It looks like he has a weird shaped leg...