Just made this baby announcement. I am fairly new to digital media editing and have always been interested in photography. My wife is a fan of this, but it's just not exciting to me. Any critiques would be welcome...
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Thoughts please...
- Thread starter ajsnow6234
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Looks fine to me. If I were to make any changes it would be to put the head shot at the top center (i.e. replace the hand and move that to the bottom row).
I understand the look you're wife is going for, it's more sentimental for her. But I'm with you on the whole look itself. The crops seem a bit awkward. For Elliott's face, I think it feels more natural rotated back to its original state.
I think you'd get more depth if you photograph the body parts in a different angle, not just head on/straight. Open up your aperture, try shooting in AV mode if you're not used to manual yet.
Congrats!
I think you'd get more depth if you photograph the body parts in a different angle, not just head on/straight. Open up your aperture, try shooting in AV mode if you're not used to manual yet.
Congrats!
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I think you may be missing the point, note the birth weight, it's only 3lbs 4oz and thus Elliott is most likely a preemie or a very low birth-weight baby (or both and hence his "tiny parts").
I also disagree with most of pakyooh suggestions. Thus, keep the rotation of the nose and mouth and it isn't going to do much good to use a wider aperture given the scale of these pictures. Given that, the only way you could get a noticeably smaller depth of field is too move much closer to the subject (like the tip of a finger, etc.) and that really wouldn't convey the "tiny parts" message nearly as well (IMO).
I find the whole black theme a bit too harsh, I think of babies and pastel colours, but hey what does your wife think? Is she happy with it all. I agree with others that the crops of some of the pictures are not great - especially the mouth and nose.
I think I'd go with a foot, hand and face nothing else needed.
I think I'd go with a foot, hand and face nothing else needed.
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A bit creepy for me too (and I associate black-edged cards with funerals rather than births). The subliminal messages seem all wrong; I'm not getting the feeling that this was a happy event. I'd start again, and ditch the 'body parts' idea altogether...
As others have noted, a pastel-colored background might also be an improvement (and maybe some light-colored text).
Definately needs scale, like a tiny hand holding your finger or something. Anything to make it look softer is nice too. 
Definately needs scale, like a tiny hand holding your finger or something. Anything to make it look softer is nice too.
Exactly, cliche phrase, but a picture tells a 1000 words, just a simple shot of the baby holding a finger with the text semi opacitated in the corner would do the job perfectly.
Black isn't a great colour to chose, as others have said, it's a funeral colour, it looks nice and "artsy" but it still gives off the wrong message.
Please don't take any of these posts as being needlessly negative, if you're new to photography then expect feedback that you don't always want to hear, but run with it and you'll hopefully get a better project out of it
Btw, if it's your baby, congratulations, I wish you all the best
Thanks! I definitely have been experimenting more with AV and other modes than auto.
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I agree, I don't love the crops on some of the pictures. Right now I was just working with what I have. He spent a lot of time in the NICU, so we are kind of rushing to get something done. My wife likes the overall look of it, but part of me thinks she's just being supportive. For all I care she can go to shutterfly and make something straight from their site.
We'll will see what the family thinks when they get them. I think it is cute, but overall not that happy with it. Some of that is just being critical of myself though.
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Black isn't a great colour to chose, as others have said, it's a funeral colour, it looks nice and "artsy" but it still gives off the wrong message.
Please don't take any of these posts as being needlessly negative, if you're new to photography then expect feedback that you don't always want to hear, but run with it and you'll hopefully get a better project out of it
Btw, if it's your baby, congratulations, I wish you all the best
No offense taken at all...trust me I'm not that sensitive! The only reason I'm not getting too into this is we've had so many shots already on Facebook and spread throughout family. The scale and overall size has already been established...this is just one of those technicalities to make my wife happy.
Critiques are always welcome and now that I think of it I have to agree that black was a terrible color to go with.
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try to add one of Elliot smiling ... that one reminds me a bit of a mug shot
If I could catch him smiling it would be by accident. He is still technically a month early, born two months early. I think it may be a bit before he is smiling often.
If you need to re-do the shoot, you have about until they're 4 weeks old to get get it done. Around that time, all they do is sleep and their easier to handle.