hmmm colour.. or not? Baby close-up

[KO_300D]

Hi guys,

first of all - good pic or not a good pic, and is colour better or black and white?

This is my baby daughter

http://www.tobie.co.uk/Pictures/IMG_0502.JPG

http://www.tobie.co.uk/Pictures/IMG_0502bw.jpg

I particularly like how clear her eyes have come out

[Warman]

I dont like the fact that the hands are out of focus but its a nice photo.
B/W and color well, i think there are advantages in both. Perhaps you should split the color shot into channels and see the result.

[Skyline]

I dont like the fact that the hands are out of focus but its a nice photo.
B/W and color well, i think there are advantages in both. Perhaps you should split the color shot into channels and see the result.

I agree with the hands out of focus

It would definatly change the photo.

[ijohnson]

I can barely find a situation where a child looks better in color. I agree about the hands being out of focus but the B+W one in way better.

[Meerkat17]

I don't wish to offend anyone but I don't like the picture at all

firstly its the wrong way up - its unatural having to eyes staring at you from a vertical view point - I keep wanting to turn my monitor on its side.

secondly as already has been said the hands but not only that its head is cropped on two sides.

If I was going to show my child off I'd want to do so with a good picture - get someone to hold the child whilst you take the shot!

Once again I don't wish to offend but its just how I feel about the photograph.

David

[ijohnson]

I hope that if you ever see one of my pictures you are just as honest. Too many people here are nice to the point of patronization.

[Warman]

I dont think there is much chance of that...

I must totaly absolutely and utterly disagree and i am one who totaly hates baby shots. This one for me is very tender and caring. The wrong way up is for me very right as it is the position i would expect to see a baby in the maternity.

Head cropped in both sides is something that i dont see as a problem and doesnt bother me as composition goes.

And hey, this is a good picture and if i ever have a child i wouldnt mind at all that she was shown off in a picture such as this one.

[Kell]

I'd go for the color one.

I for one don't usually enjoy baby shots, or at least they're not my favourite subject. But this one has a couple pluses. To start with, it's not pretentious - it doesn't attempt to make the baby look good - it just captures a moment.
Then I totally disagree with it not being the "right way". Actually, it captures the perspective of someone lying besides the baby.
Actually, looking at the picture, I can imagine it is the mother in there, lying besides her child, looking at it with loving eyes, and the baby is looking straight back.

Not an amazing or spetacular foto, but touching. Definitly not worth such a harsh critique (just my opinion, for what it's worth).

[ijohnson]

The more I look at it, the more I dislike it. It looks really weird. The hands, the cropped face, the sideways orientation? I just can't be a fan anymore.

I still stand firm in that Black and White always looks better on kids.

[Meerkat17]

Sorry Warman and Kell but I think you both have over-active imaginations to read into a picture things which aren't there just to make it work.

The picture is certainly not flattering to the child and later in life he or she is going to be highly embarrased each time that picture gets shown.

I will say that the B&W version is better, at least you can see some detail in the eyes whereas in the colour its just two black pools.

Regards
David

[SoCal69]

Well, I think everyone will see something different based on their own likes and experiences. I think photos of children (especially infants) are difficult to critique because, well, because they are children - everyone loves to see pictures of kids.

That said, I can see both points of view on this one. My own opinion (not that it is really worth all that much) is that the photo doesn't do anything for me for the reasons stated by others: primarily orientation and crop. I think backing up or zooming out just a bit would help, including perhaps bringing the hands within the DOF. Of the two, I do agree that the B&W version is better.

Nonetheless, she is very cute and I am sure you will be taking many many more shots to share with us!

[stopbath]

Here's my take:

The hands. We don't need them crisp and clear. The folded hands being blurry is fine. It tells us the pose the baby had (fetal) but we aren't distracted by looking at the detail in the fingers. We concentrate on the eyes. Bonus! The photo is in the eyes! Notice too that the nostrils are hidden by the hands, so again we get to concentrate on the eyes.

Orientation. While odd and disturbing to the brain (the brain works harder trying to recognize eyes not right side up.) it is still a valid composition and I think it's good.

B&W/Colour. I would pick black and white. In colour we end up checking the skin tone. Black and white is better in my opinion.

Eyes: If you brighten the irises a little bit, it might make those peepers stand out more.

Crop: Too much forehead and maybe too much hands. Try a square layout in croping. The square, I think would help frame the eyes better. (Balance the eyes top to bottom.)

You might even want to play with rotating the photo 30 or 45 degrees to the right, as if the viewer was tilting their head... A round or oval vignette might even work...

[KO_300D]

thanks all for your input, it's certainly been both useful and interesting.

I was kind of experimenting with close ups when I took this one and I particularly liked it because of how clear her eyes came out. I agree with both sides about the orientation - it is an unnatural angle to be looking into a pair of eyes however at the same time it's a very baby-like angle as was stated earlier.

I find that black and white pictures of children can be compared to liking Marmite - you either love it or hate it, and I often find that some people will recommend it whilst others advise against it.

I'd like to add the following images for further opinion;

http://www.tobie.co.uk/31Dec_1.png

http://www.tobie.co.uk/31Dec_3.jpg

[Kell]

@meerkat17
hehe, yeah, maybe I have an over-active imagination - but isn't that a plus on what concerns creativity and art? I guess sometimes it might be, and other times one ends up with points of view that look odd to everyone else, because things seem to make sense to you. This is probably the case. Either way that was probably a reaction to critiques I found harsh, so I went on to look at the bright side. Sometimes pictures take a whole new meaning when you try and imagine the situation they were taken too. But nevermind, I'm rambling.

@KO_300D
That last shot you posted has a great subject, I'd say nearly perfect, but I think you can improve the b&w version a bit more by either making it darker or showing it within a black frame - the way it is it looks too bright imho. But once you do a few adjustments, I think you have a winner there. :)

[1rushfan]

We all ruin good pictures by changing the way they looked when we took them. We all make good pictures by changing the way they looked when we took them. We all make nothing when we start talking about our imaginations and photography, because you can not photograph your imagination.