Tried to get some baby pics

snapapple

I tried to get a good shot of my grandson. I hate to spend more than a few minutes trying to take pictures. I don't want to tire him out. He was in a good mood and we put him on the bed to play. I didn't want to use the flash in his eyes, so I tried it with natural light. This makes for slow shutter speeds, I know. No tripod either. These were just quick shots. So they did not come out sharp. Can anyone tell me a better way to get a good shot. I'm so disappointed that I don't have any good pictures of him. Do I have to blind him with a flash?

I'd put this in the whipping post, but you can only put one image there. So, go ahead, tell me how to make it better.

Here's the original.


Cropped version


My best efforts with Photoshop

4labs

I would use the flash. It won't hurt their eyes and when you don't have good enough light there aren't any options.I checked with my Dr. ( I think Mitchell can verify) that the flash is perfectly safe to use.

cyoung

The first photo had a slit of sunlight that was coming through......have you tried opening up the drapes all the way to allow more sunlight in? or is that something else?

Ive taken so photos of my daughter with the curtains opened up but left the white sheer in place to act like a big softbox.

snapapple wrote:

I tried to get a good shot of my grandson. I hate to spend more than a few minutes trying to take pictures. I don't want to tire him out. He was in a good mood and we put him on the bed to play. I didn't want to use the flash in his eyes, so I tried it with natural light. This makes for slow shutter speeds, I know. No tripod either. These were just quick shots. So they did not come out sharp. Can anyone tell me a better way to get a good shot. I'm so disappointed that I don't have any good pictures of him. Do I have to blind him with a flash?

I'd put this in the whipping post, but you can only put one image there. So, go ahead, tell me how to make it better.

Here's the original.


Cropped version


My best efforts with Photoshop

Crispin

4labs wrote:

I would use the flash. It won't hurt their eyes and when you don't have good enough light there aren't any options.I checked with my Dr. ( I think Mitchell can verify) that the flash is perfectly safe to use.

I had the same concern when photographing my girlfriend's newphew.
I ended up putting the flash on manual, full power and bouncing it off the roof and walls. It ended up giving it a very warm look.

Lovely expression on his face!

Oakley

I like the uncropped version for 2 reasons:

1) The camera shake is evident in both crops. No amount of photoshopping will fix that.

2) The natural light spilling in from the window leads the eye to the baby and gives some perspective to the shot. You could even go so far as say that the sliver of light represents the newness of life and the hope it brings. But taht might be a little much.

I'm the same when it comes to sticking a flash in anyones face - especially babies. But most people, including mothers, tell me it's ok. I certaintly hate having to use the flash, but in most indoor cases, you can't get away from it.

Well, that's my two cents.

Flyinggina

What a cutie. I've been taking photos of my granddaughter since a few hours after she is born (she is now 19 months old). I find that a flash is often necessary for inside shots - either that or going to an ISO that results in more noise than I want in a baby picture. When I had my G5, I used the built-in flash at its lowest strengh setting which didn't seem to bother the baby at all. With the 20D, I generally use an external flash bounced off of a white ceiling. It is still really hard to get a good sharp picture, especially now that she is a constantly moving target!

Incidentally, Focus Magic, which works as a plug-in with PS, can improve a photo that suffers from motion blur. It also sometimes does a better job than unsharp mask.

Virginia

adrian_k

Susan, sorry - scrap them - I know you can do better. I don't think these are salvagable. There's nothing wrong with the pose/scene.
Hopefully you have the time with him to catch him in a good mood. That's the good thing about being a parent rather than grand parent, you can catch the moment and you're less time constrained.

I don't know what camera you're using (or flash). On-board flash can be quite agressive and never gives really good results, there's no harm in it but pretty soon babies get p1$$ed off with it.
What shutter speed were these shots, there looks to be enough light to shoot w/o flash. What was the ISO? they don't look too noisy, maybe you could up it?

Get the practise in now - he's only going to get quicker.

snapapple wrote:

I tried to get a good shot of my grandson. I hate to spend more than a few minutes trying to take pictures. I don't want to tire him out. He was in a good mood and we put him on the bed to play. I didn't want to use the flash in his eyes, so I tried it with natural light. This makes for slow shutter speeds, I know. No tripod either. These were just quick shots. So they did not come out sharp. Can anyone tell me a better way to get a good shot. I'm so disappointed that I don't have any good pictures of him. Do I have to blind him with a flash?

I'd put this in the whipping post, but you can only put one image there. So, go ahead, tell me how to make it better.