Good Photo, Let's Make it Great

The first rule of photography is compose a good shot, but there's usually a lot involved and since a lot of this happens automatically for me now, it's only in retrospect that I can break at least some of this down:

1. Know what you're going to do before you do it.  ... I took my 50mm for this situation given the working distance, low light and my desire to focus manually.  My Canon was set to AV mode, ISO 1600 and f2 in advance.
2. Make your kids at ease.  Being a father has built up my repertoire of jokes, funny noises and quirky faces.
3. Find the light.  I moved between the window and the kids while being careful not to cast a shadow.  The upside is soft lighting and specular highlights in the eyes.
4. Compose the shot well.  I wanted both kids in the shot, but wanted Zoe to have her due (she's often overshadowed by her bigger brother if you can imagine that).  So the focus point went on her and Aidan was slightly cropped out and out of focus.  Composition follows the rules of thirds and is well balanced (two similarly sized subjects lending equal weight to each side of the photograph)

Okay - that's not bad coming straight out of the camera.  Zoe's got a marvelous expression and Aidan, well, he's doing what he does best.  A funny, well exposed photo then gets some magic sauce via Phat Baby Photography processing.

First the digital RAW file is processed for exposure, contrast, noise reduction and white balance.  Then, I go into Photoshop and remove a few stray hairs and a scratch above her eye (someone tried to take her milk money and she put up a good fight).  Through the magic of Phat Baby Photoshop actions I add some pop to the eyes, a bit more contrast and a soft baby glow.  Sounds like a lot, but it's what I do with every one of the baby photographs delivered to my clients.  What do you think?

Want to learn more about baby photography and the specifics on how to take great photos of your own kids?  Subscribe to this blog, comment or contact me on my photography site to stay in the loop on my "Photography in the Park" baby photography classes.