my first newborn/baby shots -- please give feedback!

One of my co-workers had a baby back in June and she asked me to take some pictures. This was my first "real" time taking pictures for someone. Here are two of the shots that I have looked at so far.. Let me know what you think !











Here are two more I have been working on. I am not sure if I like the way the last one came out.. I have mixed feelings about it.. More to come later!






Ok two more..

I was having some lighting issues. Looking for feedback/ideas on these. I used natural light.. no flash. All I have for a flash is the one that is on the camera.. Any ideas on how to make these better? I am going back next week to do some over and some new ones..

Super poses,. Don't care for shadows in first pic. Hope to see more, you have a great eye....

I agree... you have superb ideas. I can't tell if a couple of the pics have camera shake, or if the effect was intentional. Specifically the shot with the dad looks either OOF or shaken. But I think they should be thrilled with these.

There may be some camera shake.. my tripod broke when I got there.. I could not get the camera to stay on it. I am going back again next week to try some new shots and try some of the old again.. hopefully I will get the tripod fixed by then..

Seeing as how this is the first time I have done pictures for someone, I am coming across some problems/questions as I go along. The parents and I talked and I am going to give them a disc of the images. If this is something you do, how do you do this exactly? Do you re-size the images? I started out taking each image and resizing it to 4 x 6 and 8 x 10. If you re-size it, what resolution do you set it at? Or, do you leave it at the standard size and resolution and leave the adjustments to the customer?

I was actually doing this 4 times for each picture because I was doing a border around the images as well. Is this something you would do? Please give me some feedback both on this question and the pics. I am trying to build a good name for my self.

Also.. when you do photo shoots of people, say newborns, how many images do you give the parents? (Everything that came out well or do you limit your sessions to a certain number of shots)

These are very good. I love the shot with the books. Very creative.

Thanks! I also love the book shot, but I don't think it came out very good. I want to go back and re-take it. It is no where near crisp. The lighting was just horrid on that day.. not nearly enough.. and I didn't want to use my flash... what are good alternatives to when there is horrid lighting...?

I think these turned out pretty good! Especially for your first time. My favorite is the one with the books. I think it'd be even cuter if you used vintage books next time!

The photos of the baby with the parents I think are the nicest ones. I agree about the lighting/shadows, along with your lighting you might need to look at what settings you're using to make sure you're getting the best exposure.

I think you did some interesting compositions. In the ones of the baby's arm or leg you might want to look at if you want to have just an edge of an article of clothing showing, or show more of it or none - an edge of something can be a small area of color and shape that can be distracting.

I've mentioned on the board before that my job was working as an EI spec. with infants at risk for delays (like preemies etc.). The two photos where the baby has the eyes open don't show a real happy or contented face, which I don't think makes for as good a portrait.

The baby could just be fussy or tired or hungry etc., but it could be the baby was reacting to something that felt unusual. In the one with the books, that less than happy looking face might be because of being on a hard cold surface, or the position may feel awkward - some babies are not going to like being up on something. The baby would likely respond better to being on a soft comfortable surface.

If you're going to do something with books I'd think about using them somehow in the background, or at most stack one or two thin books with a soft cushioning blanket on top (maybe folded so you can see the spines of the books?). A baby or toddler should not be placed on a surface that they can't yet get down from safely; a newborn wouldn't be rolling over yet of course but it's something to think about as the baby gets older. It's probably a good idea to use the parents as a guideline as to what would work best for their child.

You have some very well thought out and placed shots and I agree the shadows are kind ehh for those pics. My boss says children shots of newborns are the hardest and I agree because to get the best you have to wait for the child to wake up on there own not be woken up or sleepy. for the one with the foot i like the idea and the detail but back the camera up a lil don't be afraid of having a background even if it comes out blurr it adds to the over all picture.