[Teresa]

I dont know what I did wrong. My lights weren't working right and the house/room we were in didn't have windows and if they did they weren't big enough to let in enough light. These SUCK BIG TIME!!!

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[Marian Murdoch]

Can you provide the EXIF data from your camera for us?

You have a lot of noise, probably a high ISO.

The focus is off on most of them. Look at the catchlights and you won't see a perfect circle.

What do you mean your "lights weren't working right"? Lights are either on or they're off. Not many other choices.

This is a baby. Any window, short of a tiny porthole, is going to let in enough light to shine on a baby.

Were you checking your histogram during the shoot?

Was this a paid shoot?

[Teresa]

i dont have any program that gives me the EXIF data...sorry

I know I had an ISO of 100

there area  few that are from a Sony Cybershot DCS-H5 point and shoot and the others were from an Olympus Evolt E-330 SLR.

Well when you are in an "apartment" behind an office in a storage company building it is hard to get any light in between the walls of the storage units and the other buildings surrounding the "apartment" (it looks like a house but they call it an apartment).

Also, i have slave lights and one wasn't being triggered for some reason. It would work one minute and not work the next....then they both wouldn't trigger....grrr this lights are about to be tossed out on the highway and run over

[Ryan]

Let's do this.  How about you pick one and we'll work on it?  It's really hard to evaluate and give suggestions on a block of 15 images. 

And if you'll attach it instead of linking from photobucket the forum software will display the EXIF data for everybody. 

[Teresa]

here is one not on here yet

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x259/photomom06/Annalynn%206%20month%20shoot/P1170644.jpg

[Marian Murdoch]

They didn't have a lamp you could use? There are always alternatives. Heck, I took the photo in my avatar with just one of those "as seen on TV" round emergency lights, in my windowless bathroom, without a flash.

You went through the trouble of covering up the support in number 13, but then chose to include the weird heart accent "whatever that is" in the background. What was your thought process on that shot?

You've either cut off the the top of the head, or come awfully close to doing so in many of these images. Watch your composition. Remember, mom's going to want to put it in a frame, and you'll need a bit of room to account for some overlap.

Watch your POV, too. In some shots, you're shooting from the feet, making the legs look larger than they really are.

Watch out for disappearing bodyparts when you shoot with dark fabric backgrounds. (disappearing fingertips, for example)

[Teresa]

no we were on a slippery tile floor and a baby who can't sit up and insists on sliding down to a laying position with a backdrop doesn't help so her mom put her in the booster seat. it was a crappy booster seat so we covered it but the "weird accent" piece you are seeing is a pillar they put a plant on that has the iron cast hearts on it.

my son was trying to grab her doll in some of the photos and i had to get in close enough to not get him in the shot or i cropped the photo close in PP so that way not to get him in the photo. he was being a terd today.

[Ed Farmer]

Teresa,

That doesn't address the problem that Ryan is talking about.  Most of us here would to be able to see the exposure information that your camera stores in the files as you shoot.  This should display if you use "Attach:" which is under "Additional Option" below the box that you type posts into.  

To start though, the biggest problem that I can see is that your cameras simply cannot take pictures in the dark.  I don't mean to sound flipant about it.  It is just a fact.  Many of the problems that I have seen with your images come back to this same problem.  

It may look to you like there is enough light to shoot and the LCD on your camera may make the image look OK while your are shooting, but the proof is in the pudding.  It was too dark where these were shot.

You can get better lights or you can move your subject.  But, no one here can tell you how to increase the sensitivity of your camera to make quality images in these circumstances.  It is not anything that you are doing wrong, it is simply a question of physics.

Please don't take any of this the wrong way . . . but there are limits to what anyone can do.

Ed

[Marian Murdoch]

no we were on a slippery tile floor

Why were you shooting a baby on a tile floor? Put her in the middle of a bed or find a carpeted area. Tile floors are cold and, as you said, slippery!

and a baby who can't sit up and insists on sliding down to a laying position

Welcome to the world of child photography!

with a backdrop doesn't help so her mom put her in the booster seat. it was a crappy booster seat so we covered it but the "weird accent" piece you are seeing is a pillar they put a plant on that has the iron cast hearts on it.

From what I see in #13, it looks like you had plenty of room to move yourself to the right so that the weird background item was out of the field of view.  

my son was trying to grab her doll in some of the photos and i had to get in close enough to not get him in the shot or i cropped the photo close in PP so that way not to get him in the photo. he was being a terd today.

I'll ask again: Was this a paid shoot? I know you have said that you can't afford to have someone watch your son while on photo shoots, but if he was really being bad, I would've apologized and asked if I could reschedule. That would give the mom a chance to say "oh, no...it's ok" but it at least shows her that you are aware that he's causing a problem. Always look out for your professional image.

That doesn't address the problem that Ryan is talking about.  Most of us here would to be able to see the exposure information that your camera stores in the files as you shoot.  This should display if you use "Attach:" which is under "Additional Option" below the box that you type posts into. 

And when you upload, you don't put in the photobucket address. You show it where to find the file on your own computer.

[Teresa]

again this is a storage unit company (like public storage) and they have an apartment in the back of the office and that entire place has NO carpet....and they were washing their bed linens today so it wouldv'e been on an ugly stained cream color mattress. would you want to see that in a photo? I know i wouldn't.
no she is a friend of mine but i charge her for prints but she hasn't bought anything yet because they dont have any money or else i am sure she would go to a real pro. my son wasn't being "bad" as you quoted it. he was just tired and it was around his nap time and he hadn't seen these people in a while. he warmed up to them after a while but he is an "only" child (besides my step son who is 12) so he doens't have anyone to share baby toys with so he wanted all the toys for himself. she doesn't mind my son. she loves him like he were her own son.
when i upload i put in what now? i didnt understand that mumbo jumbo...sorry.

also, i wasn't shooting in the dark. i had the overhead light in the room turned on (the ceiling lamp) but obviously wasn't light enough, huh.

[Ryan]

Pick one picture that you want help with.  The 16 you've posted is just too much for one thread.  When you post your message down under the box you type in is a plus sign with "Additional Options..." next to it.  Click that and you'll see Attach: followed by a text box and a Browse... button.  Click the browse button and select the photo you want our help with. Then click post.  That will attach it to the forum thread and we can see the EXIF.

[Mike Hodgson]

Look,

Practice, practice, and more practice, don't be so hard on yourself.
Learn from others who do babies, others, as in search the internet, see who specializes in this kind of work. Pay attention on "Set Up" "Positioning of the Baby" etc. etc. etc. Props, PROPS, O, did I say, PROPS? what do they use?

My photographer friend who I did a placement with, CAN MAKE A BABY SMILE. I kid you not, WHAT a genius.

I could give you ideas on what she did, I won't, do your homework, search, you'll have plenty of ideas, next shoot, we will see an improvement, trust me.

Good effort, I'm not one to kill you with advise.
 

[Ginnypenny]

Teresa
It is so hard to work on the floor with children since you have to get on their level to photograph, you would be laying on your stomach to get the shot.  I would have used the bed and covered it with something, it looks like you had access to fabric.  If you are planning on doing this type of photograph I would purchase or make a smallish bean bag "chair" so you have something to prop them up on when they can't sit yet.  The best shots you have are where you turned the baby on her tummy.  Otherwise you are shooting up her chest and up her nose in some of them.  The bean bag chair could have been used to prop her elbows up on when she is on her tummy and laid her against it when she is on her back.
The noise may be caused from lightening the shots in pp.  I don't know.  Try attaching your images like Ryan suggested so we can see what is going on by looking at the info that will show up.
Are the lights yours?  If you have access to them all the time - practice.  Set up a bowl of fruit or something (it doesn't matter what) and practice lighting it and getting your lights to work every time.  Babies are hard to shoot as it were, struggling with lights adds to the difficulty level and I can imagine how frustrated you were.
Don't get too down.  I am currently editing images from an egagement shoot that was a challenge and I am getting frustrated, it happens, but I learned a few things this shoot and looking back you may find this was a turning point in your photography.

[Teresa]

My photographer friend who I did a placement with, CAN MAKE A BABY SMILE. I kid you not, WHAT a genius.

i made her smile many times when the parents werent in the room...go figure!
though the pictures were in focus and fine on my camera but when I put them on my computer or tv screen they were blurry as hell

[Marian Murdoch]

though the pictures were in focus and fine on my camera but when I put them on my computer or tv screen they were blurry as hell

If they're blurry on your computer, they're blurry in your camera. Try zooming the image on your camera. When pixels are compressed on a tiny viewscreen, most images will look ok. Only when you zoom in will you really see the focus. Zoom in and look at the eyes. Again, also look at the catchlights. If your lights are circular, the catchlights should be a circle. If they end up looking like a rectangle, there is motion in your shot, either from your hand moving the camera as you hit the shutter, or from the movement of the child.

I know I had an ISO of 100

If you knew you were having lighting problems, you should either increase the lighting, or increase your ISO.

I hope you're not planning on shooting any weddings anytime soon, until you learn more about shooting in low light situations.