Baby nephew outdoor shoot

[CHANC3]

Here is my nephew Issacc he is almost 4 months old. First time photoshoot with baby, How is the pose and composition? Also how could I have made it even sharper?

Camera Nikon D5000
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture f/6.3
Focal Length 50 mm
ISO Speed 200
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash No Flash

[MrJones]

I think you got some sun flare into the picture which gives a feeling like it's not quite sharp, but looking at his eyes it seems you focused correctly.
I don't like the pose and composition, I want to see more of his mouth and neck instead of that furry thing you've got around him. as for composition - I think a centered composition would have worked better on this one.
did you do any PP to his eyes? his left eye is brighter then his right one..
why did you choose to shoot at f/6.3? a wider aperture would have given you a nicer blur of the background.

[CHANC3]

Thanks for the comment MrJones. I did do some pp in lightroom and yes I also noticed his left eye is not as dark as the right it just took me until after posting to notice. I can honestly say that I do not know why I used f/6.3. I am trying to really understand exposure but I am usually clueless when it comes to preconcept and planning. I tried so hard for him to hold his head up but his insisted on digging his chin into the the fur that he was laying on.

Here is another from the same set. I'm not sure but his face seems a little red and you almost lose detail in his head around the edges because of the bright sky. His mom held him abover her while we were both on our backs. I think that the strongest part is that he made such a happy expression. Also some light pp in lightroom.

Camera Nikon D5000
Exposure 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture f/10.0
Focal Length 44 mm
ISO Speed 200
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash No Flash

[MrJones]

well.. here you used f/10 which was really unnecessary but it's ok with the background being just white overexposed sky. on the other hand, you've used f/10 which caused your camera to use a slow shutter speed of 1/100 and that's why you got the motion blur of his hand.
it's a lovely picture with a great expression but all the issues that you've pointed out are caused from pointing your camera at the bright sky. the light is coming from behind him (mostly) and his face doesn't get much light, that's why it feels a bit reddish, it's just isn't exposed as the rest of the picture.

my suggestion is to start easy, put your subject in a shaded area and start exploring the use of different apertures to see how they affect the background and the light coming in.
to get a nice picture when shooting into the sun you should have used a reflector or flash to fill in the shadows on his face.

[CHANC3]

Thanks again your comments are well received!!! Just curious for a shot similiar to this how might one go about determining the aperture. Like you said to do I take a range of images at different apertures and shutter speeds but it feels more like a guessing game for me rather that knowing why I should choose those settings. I did use a flash on some of the photos and may share some later but his face was shiny. I think that I will bring my reflector next time.