Baby Boy - Jay

[wilgk]

It's been a while, but moving house and a daughter's wedding, have kept me away from the camera & this community.
I hope to return to more active participation.
The bonus of moving into a new house, friends come to visit with their cute Baby.

[Shadowman]

Nice efforts.

[DanK]

Very nice photos.

If I can offer a few suggestions:

--I'd crop a bit less tightly at the top.

--Personally (this is a matter of taste, of course), I would not shoot wide open. I know that narrow depth of field is a mantra for many people doing portraits, but one can't consistently get even the important parts of the head in focus wide open. In the first, for example, it looks like the left eye (viewer's right) is out of focus.

I'm curious: what did you use for lighting?

[rpcrowe]

I tend to like the last image best. Perhaps because it was shot for a longer distance and the baby is in focus from nose to ears.

I like shallow DOF portraits but, tend to like overall sharpness in baby images...

[Manfred M]

+1 to Dan's and Richard's comments.

I do shoot narrow DoF, especially in portraiture, but usually to ensure that the background does not distract. When I shoot in a studio with a simple background, I'm generally at f/8 in order to get greater DoF and thereby greater sharpness. The soft hand in the foreground in the first image is definitely a bit distracting.

Like Richard, I find the third image works best for me. Not only is the overall effect more balanced without the very shallow DoF of the first two images, but you have also eliminated the hot spots on the camera right side of the baby's head that we see in the first two shots.

[wilgk]

Thank you John, Dan, Richard & Manfred for your comments.

You are right Dan, only one eye in focus there, I thought ok, but I see what you mean.

Like all, my favorite is the last, maybe because it’s Mother’s Day coming up, & my friend finally became a Mum after her 40th Birthday.

Manfred, I didn’t notice the overbright areas, but definitely see what you mean now.

Dan, just window light in the room, we used to live in an older style house with n North facing windows.
One of the main aims in building was to get a light bright house, that was oriented better.

It is a modern glass, concrete with timber and metal cladding style, so a cool white paint & daylight temperature lights fit well.

Our daughter who does love a photo...of her thinks it’s great.