Noobie: C&C Please!

Hi All!

I'm new to the forum and fairly new to DSLR shooting. I've had a Sony DSLR for the last almost two years, but I never really did much with it and have never been totally thrilled with the image quality. I just ordered a Canon 60D kit and 50mm f/1.4 lens. I'm really excited to expand my knowledge and learn new things. I'm a SAHM so the majority of my pictures are of my 4.5 month old daughter. Here's one I took with my Sony for critique. Thank you!

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Welcome to the forum!
Nice pic - soft but seems to work for the angle and subject!
Am sure the pros will have more to offer...
Keep shooting and posting - there's lots of help available.

I would darken the blacks a lot more. Looks liek it is a little draggy on the shutter. maye shoot higher shutter speed. Turn on "Image Editing OK" So we can post examples.

Thank you! I turned on the "Image Editing OK". I can trying to remember, but I believe the shutter speed was quite slow. It was my first time shooting manual with my old camera and I wasn't really sure how to increase the shutter speed, I've since figured it out. I really look forward to any feedback I can get, thank you!

Welcome to the forum, enjoy your 60D it's a nice camera, congrats on ur bundle of joy, do be careful on using flash in the lil ones eyes. i see caatch light which cud be from the flash or i may b wrong, i am told is not good for little babies eyes, having said that, i usually shoot my little one in ambient light coming thru the windows or out in a shaded area where the baby wud not be in direct light. u cud use a softbox light at low power which is diffused and not directed in the babies eyes, with the oncamflash u cant control the direction of light as u cud in the off cam flash.

Ambient light situations: shoot with the light and not against it especially when u are not using flash, hope this helps keep posting.

uaerc wrote in post #11553600
Welcome to the forum, enjoy your 60D it's a nice camera, congrats on ur bundle of joy, do be careful on using flash in the lil ones eyes. i see caatch light which cud be from the flash or i may b wrong, i am told is not good for little babies eyes, having said that, i usually shoot my little one in ambient light coming thru the windows or out in a shaded area where the baby wud not be in direct light. u cud use a softbox light at low power which is diffused and not directed in the babies eyes, with the oncamflash u cant control the direction of light as u cud in the off cam flash.

Ambient light situations: shoot with the light and not against it especially when u are not using flash, hope this helps keep posting.

Thank you! The light reflection in her eyes is the ceiling light and an open window. My pediatrician also recommended avoiding the use of flash when possible until they're older. i try to shoot her in natural light as much as possible. My 60D will be here this week, can't wait!

good compostion but just a little soft...

Bounce the flash, it's not direct light and looks a lot better when used than when trying to use "natural" light from a window. Sure if you don't have a flash unit then a natural light from a window is better than the camera built-in flash in most cases. Flash if used correctly can do magic on your photos, the main idea is to try to make it look as natural as possible, as if the flash was never used, once you accomplish that with a little practice you'll appreciate those precious baby photos a lot more. I have a 19 month old and know exactly how important and how hard it is sometimes to achieve a great photo but practice will get you there. Your photo is good, a little soft like others have mentioned and perhaps light was the reason, not enough light will require you to open your aperture wide or slow the shutter thus causing motion blur by the slightest camera movement.

Heres a quicky. I darkend the little one with levels and did a unsharp mask to bring out the eyes and details in the face

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last correction made it a bit better. Eyes should most always (nothing is ever definite!) be in focus.

Nice composition, but a little soft on the focus of the baby