family photo

recently took a series of family photos of which the one below is a part. This was the only photo in which we managed that the baby would be looking at the camera. The problem is that my speedlite for whatever reason didn't go off properly in this shot. After this it was impossible to get the attention of the baby with the dogs beside him. Had to crank up the exposure on lightroom 1.4 stops, but it still doesn't look right to me. What do you think I could do? anybody has any idea on how to edit it better?

Thanks!

Heya,

It's hard to get a baby to do anything, so I wouldn't worry about getting a shot with the baby looking at the camera. Having the whole family looking at the camera and centered is pretty much in everyone's family some where, so I wouldn't worry about it. I'd look for the more creative examples you might have, with the family looking at each other, or just interacting, showing emotion instead of just teeth.

At 1/50s, you can notice a lot of softness from motion blur (eyes, fingers).

Personally I wouldn't put much into this photo to save it. But, if you need it because the client wants it, maybe try to play around with exposure via masks and raise mom & dad a bit more.

Very best,

My eye goes to the bright curtain first, so I agree the subjects need to be raised in exposure and add a vignette to reduce the background.

This is another one I have, but with the baby looking and playing with the dogs

and the original re-visited. I'm going fecking crazy

Heya,

Maybe you can mask the baby from one to the other with some wizardry? Would be hard probably.

The other one is much better, the subjects look a bit more natural to me, exposure is much better, you can see everyone's eyes (pups too). Also much less soft looking, more contrast, etc. I even like the white balance better.

I totally get wanting the kid's face/eyes, but the other photo is much better.

You could push exposure & curves and make a black & white with the baby face one.

Very best,

Some good suggestions.
I would match exposure, swap heads, retouch and call it a day.
I did a quick rework I can upload so you can see what I mean, if you like.

-Duck- wrote in post #18068150
Some good suggestions.
I would match exposure, swap heads, retouch and call it a day.
I did a quick rework I can upload so you can see what I mean, if you like.

please

I have to admit, never thought of B&W

I took a shot at it. Not perfect but just a quick edit.

This wizardy is beyond my means, I can swap small things and correct the levels a little bit when the background is not busy only. Would any of you care to explain the process to achieve that in photoshop (or point me to a good tutorial). I don't need step by step, but the key aspects. I am not going to use your images as I firmly believe in presenting something that I have done, or that I am familiar with. I will be presenting my BW edit and as well the one where the baby looks at the dogs. If I manage myself to edit them properly mixing them, I will send that edit to the couple separately. Thanks for all your help, guys, really appreciated

https://www.youtube.co​m/watch?v=SZg4csZb_OM

Awesome. Will practice tomorrow

Thanks!

This is the better photo because the parents and the dog look good, and the baby looking away is better than the baby in the shot where he is looking at the camera.