First New Born

[astjohn7065]

Hey guys,

This was my first newborn shoot, and I am looking on basically any kind of feedback you can give me: Composition, lighting, etc. Also, any tips for new borns would be great!

Thanks!

EXIF
ISO: 3200
50mm @ f1.8
1/125
flash did not fire

[metoo]

Your focus is off, it looks a bit blown out on the face, the hand is cut off and the angle you're shooting from is giving an up the nose shot. Those are the things that jump out at me. it's a bit noisey but that I could deal with myself.
Were you going for a nice candid or a portrait? If you were going for a nice candid I would say you need to up your apeture a bit 1.8 is tight and it's hard to get enough in focus. believe me I try all the time lol. it also looks like it's possible your focus fell on the blanket instead of the baby. I also think you should have stepped back a hair to get both hands in and maybe shot from above a bit more so we were not getting the up the nose effect. It looks like you were getting nice light from the window so maybe if you moved the baby a bit you could have had more light falling on him allowing you to lower your ISO and get a higher Fstop number. that's all I got. Good luck. Newborns are so darn cute!

[astjohn7065]

Originally Posted by metoo

Your focus is off, it looks a bit blown out on the face, the hand is cut off and the angle you're shooting from is giving an up the nose shot. Those are the things that jump out at me. it's a bit noisey but that I could deal with myself.
Were you going for a nice candid or a portrait? If you were going for a nice candid I would say you need to up your apeture a bit 1.8 is tight and it's hard to get enough in focus. believe me I try all the time lol. it also looks like it's possible your focus fell on the blanket instead of the baby. I also think you should have stepped back a hair to get both hands in and maybe shot from above a bit more so we were not getting the up the nose effect. It looks like you were getting nice light from the window so maybe if you moved the baby a bit you could have had more light falling on him allowing you to lower your ISO and get a higher Fstop number. that's all I got. Good luck. Newborns are so darn cute!

Thank you very much for your response! I really appreciate what you said. To answer your question, this is certainly a candid. The shot was taken less than an hour after the baby was born, and I was squeezing between 8 different family members to get the shots that I did. The photo was taken still in the birthing room, and the lighting was TERRIBLE, so I had to pump up the ISO in order to compensate for the poor lighting. The "window lighting" that you said, is the white light that was shining right by the door. I didn't have control to be able to move him and so I had to get what I could while other people were holding him. Therefor, it was very hard to work with the lighting and composition. Thank you very much for all you said, and I definitely agree with the focus. I will certainly work on that in the future!

[fenris117]

I agree with metoo about the focus and composition. I like the colors a lot! I'm assuming you used a 50mm prime to take this picture, and from my experience, the 50mm is susceptible to camera shake. I have to say that I never got rid of the shake until past 1/150ish. I'd suggest you invest in a 35mm prime as well because it's a wider angle, so less camera shake.

[metoo]

Originally Posted by astjohn7065

Thank you very much for your response! I really appreciate what you said. To answer your question, this is certainly a candid. The shot was taken less than an hour after the baby was born, and I was squeezing between 8 different family members to get the shots that I did. The photo was taken still in the birthing room, and the lighting was TERRIBLE, so I had to pump up the ISO in order to compensate for the poor lighting. The "window lighting" that you said, is the white light that was shining right by the door. I didn't have control to be able to move him and so I had to get what I could while other people were holding him. Therefor, it was very hard to work with the lighting and composition. Thank you very much for all you said, and I definitely agree with the focus. I will certainly work on that in the future!

oh, I can totally relate! When you said photoshoot, I thought this might have been some set up shots you were talking. Candids can be tough. I love my 50mm lens but it can be tight in certain spaces. Iwould love a 35 but it's not in the budget. :/ I'm thinking a flash will be my next purchase. Just something cheap that swivels so I can bounce it.