Fireworks of nature
by elinias

Comment:
I loved this photo and really wanted it to take first. I am not a member, so couldn't vote unfortunately. Way to go!!!

My Shining Star
by Sonifo

Comment:
What a lovely image! I think this is a great photo with terrific exposure.

Welcome to the World
by firstduchess

Comment:
Once again I would like to thank all of you who voted for my photo and all of you who commented favourably or gave honest and true constructive critism. This photo is not of my own daughter, unfortunately, but that of a friends. She was 4 days old and this was one of the quieter moments in our session, most times she was either feeding or screaming!! LOL!! She is dear precious little thing and I could only hope to have a child so lovely one day. She is like my own though, and I'm so pleased and proud of this photo for that very reason. So thank you all once again for voting and picking this as the blue ribbon. You not only honoured me, but you honoured her, as the perfect little angel she is!

As for the technical stuff, lighting was limited due to space unfortunately. It was not done in my "studio" where I can control my lighting totally, but in the dining room of my friend. I did not use proper lighting, due to space and had to use my skills in photoshop to compensate for many photos, although not too much for this one except for the fact that it was underexposed and needed some saturation and some softening. A little blurr goes a long way in newborn skin which is often wrinkly and spotted!

So thank you all again. This was a tremendous honour and I am forever grateful for it!
Diane
www.dcsphotography.com

A Fresh New Rain
by jdannels

Comment:
Congratulations on your red ribbon! I'm very pleased for you! And thank you also for your generous comment to me!

Welcome to the World
by firstduchess

Comment:
A comment about the large flower - we put it there for two reasons, one, we wanted to avoid showing the nether regions, but in this pose, she moved. The second reason was she had the clamp on the umbilical cord still attached and it didn't look very pretty, so we put the flower in front of it to hide it.
The baby is actually lying in a large sea shell, but for this image i had zoomed in close. It was remarked that the image is very much like Anne Geddes, it was not my intent to imitate her, I was simply trying to create a beautiful image of a 4 day old girl for her parents. I hope it was not thought that I intentionally copied her images or anything.

Welcome to the World
by firstduchess

Comment:
WOW!!! i'm so excited to have won. I photographed this little angel on the night the challenge began, but I had no idea of the challenge. I was simply practicing newborn shots for a friend. Then, on the 18th I discovered the topic and thought, hey I could try this photo, it fit. Much to my surprise and joy, it did well, very well!

Thank you so very much for everyone who voted and especially all of those who left comments. It is a huge thrill for me to have won this contest!

Blue Eyes...Green Nose
by DrAchoo

Comment:
Great photo and congrats! I love her look, she is so pretty!! I do like what you did with the eyes, makes it much more dramatic! And I love the softness of her skin. Well done!

Newborn and Momma
by loriprophoto

Comment:
A lovely shot of a new colt. I rated it an 7, would have made it higher if they were looking more toward the camera, so that you could see their eyes.

Spring Flowers
by Zippy

Comment:
Beautiful - a suggestion, a little more light in his face would have resulted in a 10.

Early Daffodils, Clearing Storm
by Bear_Music

Comment:
very nice! Good luck!!