Chefneil

Maybe you could have framed his head inside of he corner created by the two lines.

picpiper Loc: California

With that in mind there is NOTHING wrong with the picture. It is a spontaneous, captivating, and personal image of a beautiful little person.

If, however, you are going to pose the child and take photos that are to be judged by some group of "experts", I think all the above comments should be taken into consideration.

Since you started with:
you are obviously aware of some composition and background pitfalls.

Regarding the watermark - it is probably a bit too large; the white is pretty distracting . I recently found this video very helpful: http://petapixel.com/2014/06/25/tutorial-simple-way-add-watermark-images-without-ruining/#more-138704

SteveR Loc: Michigan

The eyes are just too gorgeous, and the hair is just to curly cute, and the lips are just to beautiful and red. Above all that, the baby is just much too cute. I think you shouldn't take such cute baby pictures!!

Chefneil

Boberic, I don't know about tall the online tech and stripping a watermark, but I think that a watermark is good for letting people know who took the pic. Yes it can be stripped away, but how often does that happen? (this is a real question) to the average photographer.

Some day I may have a portfoilo and it may get passed around, either at a party or over the Web and I want everyone to see who took all of those specatular photos. My watermark has my name and blog address and I hope that those who see it will travel over to the site and have a look.


olc

frankie c Loc: Lake Havasu CIty, AZ

NOTHIN :) Great Light Catch in the eyes. Exposure it really good. Maybe subject could be a little higher in the frame but that's just being picky :)

buffyjean Loc: Washington, North Carolina

1/125- 800- f-5

Rongnongno Loc: FL

If the camera was at level, you would not have the 'floor problem' base board among other things. Another give away is that you see the top of the kid's shoulders.

jimni2001 Loc: Sierra Vista, Arizona, USA

The watermark is easily removed and the fine for doing so and using the photo for profit is enormous. I have a friend that got $45,000 for this very thing happening to him last year. There were three photos involved. Because you post something on the web does not make it public. You still own the copyright and if you shoot in a raw format or crop part of the photo then you have evidence that it is yours.

frankie c Loc: Lake Havasu CIty, AZ

You know.. I just read some of the other comments.
heay... Listen It's an informal portrait. Those text book studio rules don't apply and shouldn't. It's a great shot. Like it ain't gonna hang in the white house.. (yet) But it could be a magazine cover.

ebbote Loc: Hockley, Texas

Cute child Peggy.

amyinsparta Loc: White county, TN

Just put a different background in and you have a terrific shot of a good looking kid!

HOT Texas Loc: From the Heart of Texas

Almost a perfect shot, Camera angle perfect, background sucks unless you just want a snapshot looking picture, lighting good, just a tad overexpose, You did good, make the watermark much smaller.

Zone-System-Grandpa Loc: Springfield, Ohio

Very cute child !

Head and shoulder shots usually lend themselves for a vertical shot.. Next time, try shooting vertical, always focus on the eyes, and, of course, try to get yourself a nice background that would not create any distractions ;-)

~Doug~

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

By the signature on the photo I'll assume I'm writing to Peggy.

A lovely child I must say. Obviously shot on short notice... children often have to be photographed this way... many of us here have lots of experience with that.

That said, this is a lovely shot of a beautiful child. True the baseboard is in the wrong place, the child is framed a little too far left and the exposure could have been better.

But, given all the difficulties associated with making nice pictures of small children I'd say you did fine given the spur of the moment shot this obviously is.

If you want really nice photos of this lovely child, set up in a place in the home with plenty of window light and use a
50mm f/1.8 lens at 400 ISO. Use a background such as a couch, chair or something that will block the view of what's behind such as walls, baseboards, floors, that kind of thing.

The alternative to that is an extremely short depth of field that will throw the background completely out of focus so it won't matter to the shot.

I've posted one example of my grandson at about 18-months, at the family's dinning room table under in home window and artificial light with the lens I mentioned and my Canon t3i. Perhaps this will give you a couple of ideas on future shoots.

Best of luck.

Canon t3i, 50mm f/1.8, In home window light at ISO 400.

(Download)