Bethea

[Kaye Leggett]

I rarely take pictures of people but when my great Niece popped by this week, the camera had to come out.
I posted a photo of her when she was 6 weeks old as part of my project 52, of course she has grown and she now has the cheeky monkey/joie de vivre face all little ones have.

I was pleased with the composition of this shot, but really feel out of my depth in the processing. The main adjustments so far are to cool the photo a little - the room lighting is very yellow and the room itself has lots of yellow and wood in it which gave her a warm hue. I've brightened her eyes a little and conversely darkened the background - C&C please.

[Shadowman]

Very nice, great focus on the eyes yet softness to the skin.

[Kaye Leggett]

Very nice, great focus on the eyes yet softness to the skin.

Thanks John. I was very conscious to focus on her eyes and I am glad the skin looks natural.

[Donald]

I was very conscious to focus on her eyes and I am glad the skin looks natural.

Certainly nailed that beautifully.

I just wonder about that (what do you call it?) plastic bib thing pushing the fabric of her jacket/jumper way out on her left (right as we look at it). If it was thought that was a problem in the image, what to do about it? I thought about cropping it tighter in on the right.

[IzzieK]

What a beautiful child! I like her baby soft skin and the eyes!!! the eyes have it here...I thought cropping it close on both sides will benefit from makingthis shot stronger...also a bit to the forehead...as that top of the head is a bit of a distraction there...

[Kaye Leggett]

Thanks Donald and Izzie for commenting and also your suggestions. Yes, making this into a portrait shot is the obvious choice - it's not called portrait format for nothing is it ??? Izzie, I've tried cropping the forehead too, but only a tiny fraction, any more and the balance of her face seemed wrong.

[Donald]

Gorgeous. Those eyes!!

[Dave A]

The eyes are stunning, nicely done.

Dave

[Mike Buckley]

when my great Niece popped by this week, the camera had to come out.

Good choice, as obvious as it is!

There have already been some really great comments, so I'll only mention that though the skin tones look acceptable, they don't seem spot on to me. I always keep a small WhiBal card in my pocket. Once I take one picture that includes the card in the scene, I can use it during post-processing of all of the other photos of the same scene to nail the white balance, which is especially important when dealing with skin tones.

I realize that when small children are moving about from place to place with each place having a different light source or worse yet two or more light sources, it's not often practical to use a neutral density card. Even so, if they happen to settle in one place for about two minutes, using the card can be very helpful during post-processing.

Perhaps the skin tones shown below work a bit better for you, though still not perfect to my eye.

[bnnrcn]

The crop looks great Kaye , beautiful baby

Thanks Donald and Izzie for commenting and also your suggestions. Yes, making this into a portrait shot is the obvious choice - it's not called portrait format for nothing is it ??? Izzie, I've tried cropping the forehead too, but only a tiny fraction, any more and the balance of her face seemed wrong.

[jcuknz]

Cute Kid, fun kid But I am glad you found the portrait mode, great improvement.

I am frequently reminded of the laziness of photographers that they do not remember to turn their cameras for portrait shots, a habit I acquired from years of using SLRs, though to be honest I often forget now I am using digital 4:3 or whatever it is. To shoot 3:2 and crop to 4:3 seems silly to me when you can use the full sensor in portrait mode.

[Kaye Leggett]

Good choice, as obvious as it is!

There have already been some really great comments, so I'll only mention that though the skin tones look acceptable, they don't seem spot on to me. I always keep a small WhiBal card in my pocket. Once I take one picture that includes the card in the scene, I can use it during post-processing of all of the other photos of the same scene to nail the white balance, which is especially important when dealing with skin tones.

I realize that when small children are moving about from place to place with each place having a different light source or worse yet two or more light sources, it's not often practical to use a neutral density card. Even so, if they happen to settle in one place for about two minutes, using the card can be very helpful during post-processing.

Perhaps the skin tones shown below work a bit better for you, though still not perfect to my eye.

Thanks Mike - that's a good tip - I have a white balance card in the bag but have to cinfess it doesn't come out often. Tis the time for New Year's Resolutions so I will add that one. I think Bethea looks a little 'white' now, but will play with coolingmy image more.

[Kaye Leggett]

Thanks for continued comments and Mike for your tip. I have a white balance card in my bag and it rarely comes out, I shall add it to the New Year Photographic resolutions.