My 7 month old, C&C Please

Here's 2 shots of my daughter. I have serious issues with my PP. What looks good to me one day doesnt look good to me the next. I find myself re-cropping and messing with exposure each time I look at them. Photos include,but are not limited to, the following. I think its time someone else look at these and throw in their $.02. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

They look great...

cute!! I would love to see the second pic in a nice B&W conversion...but I am always partial to B&W's!!

I can see a little movement on her left arm in the first shot.

Less photoshopping on the second pic... she almost looks fake.

cutie indeedie

I've always said that one of my favorite baby "parts" are their little corn niblet toes. To that end, it makes me absolutely NUTS when I see photographs of babies wearing SOCKS on their feet. Thank you for not doing that, but perhaps you could cuff up her pant legs a bit so her feet aren't dwarfed by the pant legs. She is an adorable kid by the way.

The second photo has a priceless expression and I love how velvety her skin is. The lighting is a bit wonky though. There is no light coming equally from the left side and the right side, highlighting the sides of her face and leaving the center area in relative shadow. Photographers typically don't worry about lighting ratios on babies, of course, but tend to go to a flatter 1:1 ratio because kids move around a lot. Perhaps bringing one of the lights slightly to the center, to fill in the shadowy area in the center of her face? I could be over thinking it, but I look at the photo and think she looks like a gorgeous Gap Baby, but the lighting is just a hair wrong? I would move the light towards the one direction you can almost guarantee she will look, which is towards you. Nice shots though. Beautiful kid.

Thanks to everyone for their input. Suecassidy, if you're still subscribed, You bring up a key point. I agree about the lighting. I'm pretty much self taught through trial and error and what I read here.I've tried the 1:1 ratio but I found it leaves the skin looking a little flat so I lowered the power on the one of the lights for more of a fill light. I've found this is difficult because, like you pointed out, kids move around a lot. My normal set up is one light camera right @ 45 degrees to the subject and fill light camera left directly to the side or slightly behind the subject. If I were to go a 1:1 should I move the lights to both at 45 degrees to the front on either side to give an even light?

I'm pretty sure my problems with exposure are due to my light positioning but not really sure where to go from here.

Love #2. Sweat smile.

I have a 7 mo old too and she is so tough to photograph. The movement is constant- you did a great job on both pictures. I like the first better than the second.

I prefer the second by a mile, the first looks obviously staged, the second looks candid and a pricelss natural expression. perhaps try a b+w conversion as already suggested too