Awwww...and this from someone who is not a fan of babies!
Very cute studio shot, love that the baby is still small enough to fit in the lightbox and stay on the fleece you put down for him. I am impressed that you got away with an ISO of 50 and only 1/160 for such a squirmy subject. The lighting is just right for this shot, no glare or overly harsh shadows. Composition is fine for this portrait. The b/w is an interesting choice, but it works.
Overall a very sweet image, the expression is wonderful and he looks happy and relaxed. What more could a baby want?
I'm going through the entries, stopping at those images I feel have had the benefit of an unconventional eye and dwelling a little longer to try to see and appreciate what you saw. This is one of those images.
Positives: The directness of this image is staggering! I challenge anybody to pass it by without some form of reaction - it made me laugh out loud. I think you have the lighting just right as is the toning / conversion.
Critical stuff: Great picture to be sure but since Nikolai as given you this wonderful expression, have you delivered on the photographic aspects? Lighting is great but I think your focus is a little off; there are some aspects of the edit I might taken issue with - firstly the background banding.... how did you shoot this? RAW? Did you use the highest possible bit depth throughout the workflow? Also, I think I'd have ben tempted to smooth the skin a little - the conversion has emphasised some of the natural vascular mottling on his chest and arms.
Overall: A great, great image but one which has a couple of minot technical limitations.
I'm normally not a fan of baby pictures, and have voted them down because I get so sick of them. This isn't the case for yours, however, and I really like this one. Great expression, and the pose is a little bit different from a lot that I see. Nice B/W too.
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