Cut daughter and dog. Prefer the blue background to the pink and the last shot of the dog is great but the focus appears to be on the nose and the eyes are soft. The lighting appears pretty good but would have prefered to see a catchlight in both eyes on the first pic of your daughter anf the second of the dog.
I have never been a fan of baby portraits but I must say that I admire yours for a few reasons.
1. You were able to capture your daughter smiling and looking in the general direction of the camera. *disclaimer* I do not have any experience with getting children to look at a camera and sit still...but it appears that you did a pretty good job of that.
2. The pictures are engaging to the viewer...meaning, the way the body is positioned at a diagonal in pics 1 + 2 leads the viewers eyes from one side to the other. It creates motion in a static medium.
3. The pictures seem to be exposed correctly...there is a slight difference in her skin tone from picture 1 through picture 3, going from cooler to warmer to neutral. That is a small nitpick and when you look back on these pictures you will be concentrating more on the emotion than the tone of the skin But since you asked a photo forum for critique I figured I should point it out.
4. The focus is pretty darn sharp...babies move around and being able to use strobes definitely helped out. Good job!
Now here are some small things to consider for your next time since this is a photo forum giving feedback.
1. In the first picture the right side of her face is getting all of the flash while the left side of her face is in a shadow. Also, her right eye is catching the light from the strobe while her left eye is darker.
2. I do not know the feasibility in keeping her clothes from getting wrinkled or twisted but if that would be possible it would/might improve the quality of the photos.
I offer my suggestions only as an objective point of view. I hope that they have been insightful and might be of some help. I must admit that I judged these more from a fashion background and some of what I said might be different for child portraiture. I also admit that I am better at critiquing than I am at actually composing my own pictures..lets hope that says something positive about me I also offered you a more detailed account of what I thought because it appears that you are more advanced than a typical proud parent snapping a couple thousand mediocre shots.
In the end I think you should be proud of the pictures you have presented for us to view and you definitely have an upper hand on many parents who use a point and shoot. Good luck with future critiques.
bluesboy - Thanks. Yeah the last shot did not turn out quite like I wanted because of the focus. First time using strobes so hopefully learned some things and will have the light coverage better next time.
Top Gun - Thanks. Yeah getting them to sit still and be able to adjust the camera at the same time is a challenge but worth it if you can get some good shots. First time with strobes I used to shoot a lot with a Canon 20d a few years back so I have had a little experience in working with a dslr. That and got tired of spending a few hundred bucks a month on baby portraits at a studio when the people really didnt know how to compose the shot or use the camera properly.
They are good and sharp but almost too sharp. The shadows on 1 don't seem to work well. I like shadow but it doesn't look pleasing on a baby. Maybe a black and white.
Of the set 3 is your strongest image and 5 is the strongest in the set. You mentioned a kit lens, I'd sell it and pick up a 50mm 1.8 for a similar price MUCH more versatile. hope it helps.
liamh - Thanks! Yeah something about 1 didnt sit well and whats worse is that the backdrop isnt actually blue it is a white backdrop over a black one. Anyway hoping to try somemore this weekend.
SJMD - Thanks!
sheilar - Thanks! I think I will try that crop as well.
timhpark - Thanks!
elader - Thanks! He would be more than welcome. We have three; one yorkie, one yorkie poodle and one mutt (not that the yorkie poodle isnt a mutt as well)
Sam Hassas - Thanks! Number 1 just didnt turn out as I had hoped but the shots are shown in sequence to how they were taken. So that was one of the first shots with the new strobes so hopefully the longer I shoot with them the better I will get. As for the lens replacement I am going to get a Nikon D90 tomorrow and while I am picking it up I am going to scout out the lens selection. Hopefully will have some nicer photos up before next week.
, your daughter is too cute, but that last shot of your pup is just priceless 