Before and After Blog Hop: Newborn
I'm so sad to hear that one of my favorite Blog Hops on the internet is going to be closing down. I can't say that I was a faithful participant, but I certainly did enjoy it when I found the time to link up! Thank you, Monica, so much for hosting this for the past 18 months.
This is my Straight Out of Camera Shot (SOOC):
What an adorable baby! I appreciate my friend trusting me to do her newborn's portraits.
But here's what's wrong with this picture....
- I broke the cardinal rule in Newborn Photography. I did not over expose this image. Overexposing is crucial to minimize the red splotchy newborn look that so many babies have. As an added challenge, this newborn was also jaundiced. See all the yellow and red skin tones in her face?
-But I loved the fact that this super tiny newborn (I believe she was only 5 days old?) was staring straight into my camera. Open eye shots of newborns is always hit or miss. Newborns tend to look cross eyed or unfocused when their eyes are open. And there's no telling what they'll be doing with their mouths :) Its too early for smiles at this age, too, which is why 95% of newborn portraits are taken while baby is fast asleep.
At first, I tried to fix skin tones by adjusting exposure in Curves. Then I adjusted color balance by adding blue and cyan and green to compensate for all the red and yellow. Then I adjusted saturation and lowered the yellow and red.
I still wasn't happy. Maybe it was just my eyes or my monitor, but I couldn't get the yellow cast to go completely away. So, when all else fails.... Black and White baby!
After:
This is my Straight Out of Camera Shot (SOOC):
What an adorable baby! I appreciate my friend trusting me to do her newborn's portraits.
But here's what's wrong with this picture....
- I broke the cardinal rule in Newborn Photography. I did not over expose this image. Overexposing is crucial to minimize the red splotchy newborn look that so many babies have. As an added challenge, this newborn was also jaundiced. See all the yellow and red skin tones in her face?
-But I loved the fact that this super tiny newborn (I believe she was only 5 days old?) was staring straight into my camera. Open eye shots of newborns is always hit or miss. Newborns tend to look cross eyed or unfocused when their eyes are open. And there's no telling what they'll be doing with their mouths :) Its too early for smiles at this age, too, which is why 95% of newborn portraits are taken while baby is fast asleep.
At first, I tried to fix skin tones by adjusting exposure in Curves. Then I adjusted color balance by adding blue and cyan and green to compensate for all the red and yellow. Then I adjusted saturation and lowered the yellow and red.
I still wasn't happy. Maybe it was just my eyes or my monitor, but I couldn't get the yellow cast to go completely away. So, when all else fails.... Black and White baby!
After:
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