Did I blow it?

I missed focus on the back eye. Does it ruin the whole pic? This is my first and LAST time taking newborn pics. I will leave it up to the professionals! I did it as a favor to some really close friends. I did warn them that NB are one of the hardest to take pics of.

I did clone out pimples in LR and softened skin. It is not the best. Should I mess with it in PS more?

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/vkov​CJ

Honestly the OOF eye in the first one kinda ruins it for me. But the second image is beautiful.

Thanks..it ruins it for me too. GRRR

First is unfortunately a tosser with OOF eyes and your lightsource being reflected so largely.

Second is much better all around in terms exposure, sharpness, comp and expression.

I would check the blown highlights and look at bumping exposure in the eyes due to being lit from the back/top.

Maybe try a reflector next time (you'll be back on the horse before you know it ) as a fill?

Cheers,

Jeff

beavens wrote in post #17615725
First is unfortunately a tosser with OOF eyes and your lightsource being reflected so largely.

Second is much better all around in terms exposure, sharpness, comp and expression.

I would check the blown highlights and look at bumping exposure in the eyes due to being lit from the back/top.

Maybe try a reflector next time (you'll be back on the horse before you know it ) as a fill?

Cheers,

Jeff

Thanks for the feed back Jeff! I did bump the exposure up a lot and was using a reflector. We were taking the pics in their house and it was VERY dark. I struggled through this whole shoot

mamaof2 wrote in post #17615758
Thanks for the feed back Jeff! I did bump the exposure up a lot and was using a reflector. We were taking the pics in their house and it was VERY dark. I struggled through this whole shoot

I feel your pain. I went through the exact same thing just a couple weeks ago with some close friends who recently had a baby. No big, bright open rooms and the combination of natural light and deflectors left something to be desired. Don't even get me started on the clouds coming and REALLY mucking things up. Ended up going with an off-camera flash + umbrella and reflectors when I needed it.

Got to roll with the punches I guess.

I agree with the first one.

The 2nd one looks much better.
I would just pull the red channel back a little and bump up the NR a little. That should smooth out the skin more. Also, maybe add a slight vignette? That just personal preference though.

Thank you both! I will try and mess with it more tonight. I do not even have an off camera flash (gasp)....so I was really going in blind .

Clean up pimples but dont soften babies skin. Too many baby photos have blurred skin and overly sharpened eyes. They end up looking baby alien.

Jessi, you are your own worst critic on stuff like this. All thing being equal, yes it would have been great to have the back eye in focus as well. But I would also bet you an entire paycheck the parents are going to love that shot completely.
NB's are tough, and it is even tougher when the lighting is inconsistent. As others have mentioned, off camera flash would save the day in cases like this. If you don't have one, you did the best you could with a reflector. And as mentioned above, the folks on here are going to notice the technical issues and give you suggestions on how to resolve them. But the family is absolutely going to fawn all over your shots. I love them too. Sometime technical things get in the way of just getting a genuinely beautiful shot. In your case you have great shots with a few little things that you can do better on, but no one, but us camera nuts are even going to notice.

sirquack wrote in post #17615797
Jessi, you are your own worst critic on stuff like this. All thing being equal, yes it would have been great to have the back eye in focus as well. But I would also bet you an entire paycheck the parents are going to love that shot completely.
NB's are tough, and it is even tougher when the lighting is inconsistent. As others have mentioned, off camera flash would save the day in cases like this. If you don't have one, you did the best you could with a reflector. And as mentioned above, the folks on here are going to notice the technical issues and give you suggestions on how to resolve them. But the family is absolutely going to fawn all over your shots. I love them too. Sometime technical things get in the way of just getting a genuinely beautiful shot. In your case you have great shots with a few little things that you can do better on, but no one, but us camera nuts are even going to notice.

Thank you so much Ron! Yes you are right she loves the photos and she didn't even notice the blurred eye till I mentioned it (dumb move on my part). You are also right that we are our own worst critic. Thanks Ron!

sirquack wrote in post #17615797
Jessi, you are your own worst critic on stuff like this. All thing being equal, yes it would have been great to have the back eye in focus as well. But I would also bet you an entire paycheck the parents are going to love that shot completely.
NB's are tough, and it is even tougher when the lighting is inconsistent. As others have mentioned, off camera flash would save the day in cases like this. If you don't have one, you did the best you could with a reflector. And as mentioned above, the folks on here are going to notice the technical issues and give you suggestions on how to resolve them. But the family is absolutely going to fawn all over your shots. I love them too. Sometime technical things get in the way of just getting a genuinely beautiful shot. In your case you have great shots with a few little things that you can do better on, but no one, but us camera nuts are even going to notice.

Too true. In the end, the the only opinion that TRULY matters will be the parent's.

If they are happy then you can just tuck those thoughts for improving next time in your pocket.

Jeff

mamaof2 wrote in post #17615829
Thank you so much Ron! Yes you are right she loves the photos and she didn't even notice the blurred eye till I mentioned it (dumb move on my part). You are also right that we are our own worst critic. Thanks Ron!

We should be our worst critics. If you just satisfy the clients fairly low expectations, you set yourself up to fail if you get a discerning client, and you dont improve if you aim low.

gonzogolf wrote in post #17615989
We should be our worst critics. If you just satisfy the clients fairly low expectations, you set yourself up to fail if you get a discerning client, and you dont improve if you aim low.

And this is equally important, as the other side of the coin.

Someone I look up to says that "iron sharpens iron".

Never get complacent. Always strive to be better.

The rest works itself out.

Jeff