What am I doing wrong? Pictures lack the "wow" factor.

[Adam]

I took a number of pictures this morning of my son ready for Christmas cards and while they are nice pictures, I feel they really lack the wow factor that I see on these forums.

I appreciate I am a beginner but I'd like to open myself up to criticism and advice to make myself a better photographer.

So, do your worst

Note that I placed a desk lamp to the left of my son to add some extra light but this may not necessarily have helped matters. These were shot as RAW and are straight out of the camera.

Edit: these were shot with a 60D using a Tamron 17-50mm non-vc lens at f2.8

Harry as a reindeer:

Harry eating Sophie:

 

[Adam]

I think that since they are raw photos, they lack, what you called, the wow factor. Editing can sort that out.

Imo, they are very very good photos. Your son is very cute btw (no pedo!)

Thank you, he is a good kid These were my favourite 2 from 30+ we took in various silly outfits!

As he is sitting against the background I wouldn't expect extreme DOF but they both just appear to be missing something and I can't figure out what. I see loads of sliders to change etc but I don't know where to start or have a very creative eye!

 

[Adam]

Ok so taking the comments on board I think I need to improve the following:

Composition: Being 11 weeks old I can't think how else I could prop him up but I don't think the throw adds anything to the shot. I'll find something more plain and neutral next time. I tried something different in the 2nd shot as the flash directly at him created all kind of shadows.

Light: Some good suggestions, I may invest in a better flash like the Canon 430ex II so I can point it upwards for some full flash.

Editing: I get the feeling that if you don't get the composition and lighting right then you still can't perform miracles so these aspects are the most important. However, I still think this is something I need to read up on.

Is that a fair summary?

I do have a Sigma 30mm 1.4 which I will try next time but I went with the zoom so I could move around more (mrs was moaning at me to hurry up as he was getting grizzly!).

 

[Adam]

Wait until he is asleep. Pictures of babies sleeping in silly hats - they make people go awwww

Flickr has quite a few to give you some ideas

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=sleeping baby with hat

As for the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 (I take it you did mean a 35mm rather than a 30mm?) - I think you will find on a Crop sensor camera such as the 60D it will do nicely.

We had some professional shots one when he was 4 weeks old, the woman was awesome but had the patience of a saint they came out really well done, they were very similar to the Flickr link above.

I'll give the Sigma lens a try next time, I will also invest in a speedlite too.

 

[Adam]

Thank you all for your comments, it seems I have a lot to learn and I completely underestimated what a complex subject photography is. Having good kit doesn't make you a good photographer!

I posted the same question on talkphotography and got ripped to shreds, lots of good information as well though so I'm going to give it another shot once I have bought a 430EX speedlite.

AHarvey: That's a fantastic picture, I think I saw some of your other shots in the sigma thread and those were exactly what I had in mind. Hopefully one day I'll be able to produce something similar. Thank you!