Bring on the Color: Recent Child/Baby Photoshoots

My3Sons

I had a bunch of recent child photoshoots, and decided to try something different... bright, bold, beautiful color. I've always been a little afraid to use bright colors, and I've been stuck in my safe, simple white/black background blah, blah, blah mode. I really like the colors! That's not to say I won't be using black and white backgrounds anymore, as those are great traditional (and contemporary, depending on how they are used) choices. I'm just happy to have something a little different too.

Enjoy the colors...

Comments (and criticism) always welcome... it's the best way to improve!


















Most of these were created for the blog, hence the storyboard feel. To see more, visit my blog at:
www.naturalphotographydesign.blogspot.com

-Melissa
www.naturalphotography.smugmug.com

Coleman Photography

Great Series. I think the bright colors worked will!

pwp

Love it! The colors are wonderful!!

angevin1

Bingo! I agree! Bold is great! Great stuff!

goldilocksandmy3bears

OMGosh I love these! I love the colors, the kids, the clothes the shoes everything! I in fact have been trying to work more with bright colors, Lollipops (although I can't seem to find the multicolored swirl only swirly yellow ones:cry ) rainboots, and converse tennishoes. Can you help me figure out how to pp to make the colors brighter??
Thanks
Courtney

My3Sons

goldilocksandmy3bears wrote:

OMGosh I love these! I love the colors, the kids, the clothes the shoes everything! I in fact have been trying to work more with bright colors, Lollipops (although I can't seem to find the multicolored swirl only swirly yellow ones:cry ) rainboots, and converse tennishoes. Can you help me figure out how to pp to make the colors brighter??
Thanks
Courtney

Sure. I have a quick tutorial on some color pop techniques on my blog. www.naturalphotographydesign.blogspot.com

Scroll down to the bottom and click on Techniques. Then you can find the post: Color Pop with Photoshop. This should give you a start. I also like to use actions these days, since I have started shooting in Raw. I post lots of tips and techniques on my blog. You can sign up for the site feed towards the bottom of the blog if you would like to be notified of new posts. You can also leave comments and/or questions in the comment sections of the posts if you need help on anything.

kidzmom

THANK YOU for posting this! Your site is awesome and your pictures....well they are just phenominal! Makes me want to get up and move---so much energy---the essenece of childhood. WELL DONE! Keep shooting those vibrant photos! You are very very good at it

My3Sons

Thank you so much everyone! Makes me feel more inspired.

Sometimes I wonder if even having a blog is worth the amount of time it takes, especially since people, including those who are in the portraits, rarely comment. I was honored by a recent contact from someone who has seen my posts here on Dgrin, and has been following my blog. I'm thankful for my Dgrin community. Thanks all.

angevin1

My3Sons wrote:

Thank you so much everyone! Makes me feel more inspired.

Sometimes I wonder if even having a blog is worth the amount of time it takes, especially since people, including those who are in the portraits, rarely comment. I was honored by a recent contact from someone who has seen my posts here on Dgrin, and has been following my blog. I'm thankful for my Dgrin community. Thanks all.

Following your blog now! Love the tips and tech's too! great photos and a Super big thanks for sharing!

Cantfeelmyfingers

great post! I absolutely adore the 2nd out takes one! Too funny!

kidzmom

Hey you better keep up that blog! Now that I saw it I'm hooked. MAJOR blog envy here:photo I lOVE your pictures. So inspiring! I have a 10 y/o, 7 y/o, 3 y/o and 8 month old so the kid pictures are very appealing to me. It takes a ton of time I know, but I bet they appreciate it more than you think. They aren't commenting because they expect that you KNOW it is good. I love working with templates myself so it gives me food for thought. THANKS!

My3Sons wrote:

Thank you so much everyone! Makes me feel more inspired.

Sometimes I wonder if even having a blog is worth the amount of time it takes, especially since people, including those who are in the portraits, rarely comment. I was honored by a recent contact from someone who has seen my posts here on Dgrin, and has been following my blog. I'm thankful for my Dgrin community. Thanks all.

ivar

I think the colors worked very well! The lollipop one works very well, especially as a series. I also really like the dotted bg. I prefer it over the blue one;

My3Sons wrote:

The separation between the kid and the bg seems a bit weird here especially around her head, almost like she was in front of a green-screen if you know what I mean?

The outtakes are just awesome

goldilocksandmy3bears

What are you backgrounds? sheets? paper? It seems as though the pictures are all in the same location but the backgrounds are changed I love the polkadotted one.. well actually I love them all oh and thanks for the link to your website and the help on color pop!! I'm going to try it out and follow you!

Wil Davis

I love the bright colours, but I'd be wary lest they take away from the skin tones of the kids. Also I don't know for how long I could live with them; I'm reminded of the Paul Desmond¹ quote about Ornette Coleman's² playing: "It's like living in a house where everything's painted red."



- Wil

¹ Alto saxophone player, composer of "Take Five"
² One of the major innovators of the "Free Jazz" movement of the 1960s

Agnieszka

Love the colors ... (but the skin colors in 2 & 3 look off to me)

Agnieszka

Wil Davis wrote:

I love the bright colours, but I'd be wary lest they take away from the skin tones of the kids. Also I don't know for how long I could live with them; I'm reminded of the Paul Desmond¹ quote about Ornette Coleman's² playing: "It's like living in a house where everything's painted red."

Sorry, didn't get to read this comment until now, and I actually agree. Less is more. So if you have a super bright & colorful background I'd choose some calmer clothes .... otherwise it will get too busy and one will get lost in the pic / all the different patterns + it will look ages in a couple of years.

My3Sons

ivar wrote:

I think the colors worked very well! The lollipop one works very well, especially as a series. I also really like the dotted bg. I prefer it over the blue one; The separation between the kid and the bg seems a bit weird here especially around her head, almost like she was in front of a green-screen if you know what I mean?

The outtakes are just awesome

I think you're right on the one with this background. It is the same blue paper, but with a texture added in pp. I think I need to darken it, and do a little more retouching around her head, especially in the one on the left. Hopefully that will help. I love the damask pattern, but I'm not sure if I can really pull it off. I'll keep working on it.

My3Sons

Agnieszka wrote:

Love the colors ... (but the skin colors in 2 & 3 look off to me)

2 and 3 look good on my monitor, I was actually wondering about the last one. Does baby have some purple hues in the shadows?

My3Sons

goldilocksandmy3bears wrote:

What are you backgrounds? sheets? paper? It seems as though the pictures are all in the same location but the backgrounds are changed I love the polkadotted one.. well actually I love them all oh and thanks for the link to your website and the help on color pop!! I'm going to try it out and follow you!

These were all on-location shoots, so they were done at different houses. The polka-dots is a blanket. The aqua is paper. Glad to hear your gonna try the color pop. The main thing is to play with the curves and levels in Photoshop. Then you can adjust the hue/saturation as well. Playing with selective color is fun too. Adding a touch of black can really help a picture pop as well. Have fun!