Family/newborn shots

This was my first time shooting someone other than my own family.

Both shot on T4i with 40mm pancake
#1 is natural light, #2 was with flash through umbrella

I’m still fairly new to photography, but even newer to photoshop. Baby had the typical newborn blotchy skin, so I was trying to find balance between evening and smoothing it out, without losing all the texture and making him look porcelain (mom got some skin smoothing as well). Did I overdo it?

Critiques on any other areas are definitely welcome as well.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …76068277@N04/11​343894306/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …76068277@N04/11​343933164/

#2 is your bread and butter. #1 OK but the surroundings and composition are a little weak. #2 spot your images!

jetcode wrote in post #16532036
#2 is your bread and butter. #1 OK but the surroundings and composition are a little weak. #2 spot your images!

Thanks so much for the comments, I agree about #1's comp. What do you mean by 'spot your images'?

sometimes images may have small blemishes. in this particular case there is a very small white line running contrary to the hair on the baby near the mother. it could be dust on the sensor.

yup. it's nit picky for sure.

For historical context when darkroom printing was in her glory days dust on a negative or paper would be seen as a black or white spec, line, etc. The printer had to "spot" the prints before presenting them. If you go the analog film users thread in the lounge you will occasionally see film images with lots of dust from scans. The photographer did not spot the print.

jetcode wrote in post #16532492
sometimes images may have small blemishes. in this particular case there is a very small white line running contrary to the hair on the baby near the mother. it could be dust on the sensor.

It's actually a tiny thread or piece of fabric from his blanket. I didn't notice it until the very end when I converted to b&w. I didn't have time to go back, but I'm going to use this image to practice in PS. The removal tool in LR wasn't doing the trick.

Nit picky is great! I really appreciate your feedback and need to get thinking more about the small details.

Very cool, I wasn't familiar with the expression, thanks so much for sharing.

Post #4: Baby Photography

PhotosGuy wrote in post #16536880
Post #4: Baby Photography

Thanks Frank. Checked your post and the links in that link, lots of good info there. I had Seona's thread bookmarked, I'll add that other link as well. Thanks for sharing!

I would like to comment for retouching. I think you should do it less.
The baby's skin does not look real.
This is just my taste. if you had the originals as well we could comment it better.

yilmaz wrote in post #16537667
I would like to comment for retouching. I think you should do it less.
The baby's skin does not look real.
This is just my taste. if you had the originals as well we could comment it better.

That's exactly what I was questioning with the original post... I'm still learning to find balance and keeping things smooth but realistic. Appreciate your input.

Baby's mom had asked if I could do anything about his patchy red skin, but as you said, maybe I overdid it. Mom and dad were both very happy with the images I gave them, and for my experience/skill level, I'm happy with them... but now it's time to learn from them and improve on them.

Here are the originals:

For the skin smoothing, I brushed the Surface Blur filter, followed by a high pass filter to bring some texture back. I've found a number of techniques through google and youtube tutorials... it seems like Photoshop has 100 ways to reach the same goal, so I'm not sure if I chose the best technique for the job here.

No takers for editing the originals? Like I mentioned, this was my first time shooting someone other than my own family, so I'm just looking for any tips on skin smoothing, eyes and any other pp stuff.

Here's another shot from that day: