My friends daughter

[Weird Girl]

Other than my friends (the mother) arm being in the picture (just got photoshop but don't know what I am doing in there yet-just use Lightroom), does this photo interest you? I think her eyes could be more in focus (this was a decent crop) and the lighting a little better (first time using my 1 light system and just got my second). I would like to know what other flaws you may find with it to help me. Is this a typical baby picture or do you feel something when you look at it? Any other comments welcome. Thanks guys!

Camera: Nikon D5000
Lens: 18-55mm
Shutter Speed:1/50
Aperture: 4.5
Focal Length: 26mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Strobes

[EmyB]

I really like this photo of the baby, gorgeous, lovely light and expression and catchlights, but it's a real shame about the hand which I feel ruins the photo. And the skirting board (is that what it's called??) running along the bottom of the wall is distracting too. Is that white carpet a blanket or the carpet? You could possibly try covering the skirting with the blanket, maybe.

P.S. I am surprised you got such a sharp picture with such a slow shutter speed. My toddler is forever moving (as a baby too was always throwing his arms about and wobbling his head) and I need way faster shutter speeds to freeze him!

[ccting]

DSC_0365.jpg
First, I am sry for modifying the pic without permission.

EmyB, How does it look now? I think the part below the angle is not the main focus.. so i just have it cropped. The focus are the emotion on her face, and her hands..But, i don't feel right about the crop..

[Weird Girl]

Actually they used this picture on their xmas card and did a similar crop to yours which I do like- I was just afraid of cropping that much and making the picture not as sharp. I also loved the outfit she was wearing- leopard print tutu!? adorable lol but yes, i would love to master photoshop and see if I can get that arm out of there- anyone know of a good tutorial? Also the base board bothers me a little as well but I keep seeing tons of photos with a wall, base board, and carpet or hard wood but I do think it's a little close to her head... anyway, I plan to take more of her soon so I will definitely pay better attention to my backgrounds!She can sit up by herself now too so no need for her mothers arm Thank you for your comments!

[karen_s]

What a cute expression you caught.

I don't have much to add except a comment on the baseboard thing. The issue I see here is where the baseboard is so I think you are on the right track. It pretty much cuts a line through the middle of the image rather than maybe cutting it on a third. It also cuts through her head thus tempting the eye to move away from that adorable little face. It's not wrong really, but it does seem to detract a bit. A slightly lower angle might have fixed it by keeping the area behind her head clean from the line.

You would be hard pressed to remove that arm in Lightroom but you might have a chance in Photoshop CS5. Google "Content Aware" or clone tool and you will probably find some good tutorials.

As for settings, since you are using a flash (which looks like a good first attempt) you might try upping your ISO a bit to get a faster shutter speed. I don't know the D5000 but my guess would be it probably performs well at ISO 400, maybe even 800? Test it out and see what can live with for noise. I think if you could have gotten even one more stop for shutter, it would have helped you to avoid the motion blur. My rule of thump for beings that sit still is 1/60 and for beings that fidget, 1/125 at a minimum, preferably more.

Still a pretty good attempt.

[RLucas]

This is actually quite good. Sans the hand. Nice job balancing the light. Very natural looking. It looks a little soft, but not too bad.

[Weird Girl]

Thanks everyone! I love the feedback I get on here- honest and educational! I can't wait to try this again with my NEW lights and my new knowlege! I also can't wait to see if I can complete my first task in photoshop and see if I can remove that arm!

[RLucas]

Originally Posted by Weird Girl

Thanks everyone! I love the feedback I get on here- honest and educational! I can't wait to try this again with my NEW lights and my new knowlege! I also can't wait to see if I can complete my first task in photoshop and see if I can remove that arm!

Try the content aware fill. It looks like it could handle that pretty quickly.

[Weird Girl]

ok, here is my first attempt using photoshop to remove that arm... be completely honest (even though you know it was removed) and let me know if it looks natural. I cropped it a little more too but doubt it's printable that way...?

[Weird Girl]

I noticed that the coloring in the rug looked weird once i posted it so one more try...