Messy Face Baby


Apparently that was just blue icing, unfortunately it now looks like this poor kid face planted into a mud puddle… or worse…

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40 Comments

  1. alissa

    ewww looks like the kid was digging in their diaper

  2. This is very disturbing. I’ve seen adorable shots of children with ice cream all over their faces, In those shots you can tell the child was given an ice cream and enjoyed it. The mess is random and the children look happy.

    This looks like someone very carefully smeared goo on the child in a symmetrical pattern. It looks like scary clown make up. The child looks horrified, as if he is afraid of what’s going to happen to him next.

  3. faux-tog

    I know my opinion doesn’t matter, but why is this picture on here? to me it looks like a good photo, and the only thing “wrong” with it is that you don’t like the sepia? it is well lit, well framed, great catch lights. I would consider this to be a success. I understand that the icing is brown, but honestly, that isn’t a good reason for it to be on a site that is “exposing fauxtographers”. I wouldn’t guess that this was taken by a fauxtographer, it could be taken by any upscale studio anywhere. just my opinion.

    • Pelham

      Ok tell me, how is this well-framed? And the comp is boring, the subject looks sad and stressed, the icing (btw it’s meant to be blue) is hideously overdone, it’s overexposed, and they used vignetting.

      But because the flood or AlienBee they used actually gave the subject catchlights (which is par for the course in portraiture) it’s magickally elevated from fauxtography to potentially have been taken by an upscale studio?…Ok….*sigh*…

      • Vignetting used properly can do great things for photographs, I know a photographer that shoots 8K weddings and uses vignettes in his images.

      • photography is very subjective..you might think the comp is boring but some people like the minimalist look without the business….other than the sepia…it could have been a nice picture.

      • faux-tog

        I think it is well framed in the sense of “the rule of thirds” –but then again I’m not a professional photographer, so I’m only guessing that is what the rule of thirds from my basic photography intro class I took 6 years ago meant.

        the composition is a photo of a baby with icing on it’s face? what do you want extra swirls and stars? maybe an overlayed texture? it’s a BASIC PORTRAIT. it’s supposed to be focused on the baby.

        the baby looks, well, like a baby having it’s picture made, it’s not overly excited, but certainly not sad or angry or scared.

        I’ve seen icing that was more overdone than this, but it is a little bit perfect, my guess is that the parent wanted a messy faced photo, and the baby wasn’t interested in the cake. The photographer was probably just following orders per the customer’s request.
        it is not overexposed so much as an example of high key photography.

        and the vignetting looks nice, it brings focus back to the baby.

        as for the catch lights, I only mention them to express that it looks as though this photographer at least partially knows how to correctly light a subject.

      • Yeah, I have to agree, this photo isn’t that bad. I agree that the icing looks like poo now but other than that, this is a well shot photo. I have also submitted a lot of photos that are truly worthy of this site and only one of them has made it on here. I personally don’t think this belongs on here.

  4. It looks like the baby has poo on his face.

  5. Sam, couldn’t have put it better myself. The icing is PAINTED on symmetrically! Fail …

  6. I guess I just don’t understand why you would go to a monochrome c/ warming tones and cover up the colors of the frosting?
    It looks like someone went to great pains to enhance the irises (that technique drives me batshit crazy, btw, in what world do people live that unnatural eye color is appealing??) and then sucked the color right out.
    I guess we should be grateful though that they didn’t selective color the eyes and frosting, right?

    That being said, I agree with Sam; this is not a ‘natural’ frosting occurrence. My rule of thumb is, if the child can’t or won’t get messy on their own, don’t force the issue. The above photo clearly shows why you don’t. Look of deer in headlights is not attractive. No matter what tones you use.

  7. First thing I thought was that someone smeered it all over that poor kids face. Don’t think he enjoyed the experience!

  8. I don’t think the photo is bad, but it is a poor color choice. Or lack thereof.

    • I agree. I see the makings of a photog in this photo. Pros: Composition isn’t bad, eye contact is good. Cons: Focus is soft, and I would dump the vignetting. The icing on the face looks contrived and the sepia makes it look worse.

      Hopefully, this pic is a learning experience for whoever took it.

  9. BurninBiomass

    Ok, when I tell people I’m gonna get sh!t faced, this isn’t what I’m thinking of.

  10. I honestly don’t think this photograph belongs on this website. Is it a good photo? Not the best. I agree that the blue icing should have probably stayed blue, instead of mud. I also think that they should have chosen an image where the kid looked like he was enjoying it. Yet, it’s still a technically decent shot, decently edited, and some semblance of a coherent idea. Fauxtog? Absolutely not. Probably just not their best picture.

  11. The lack of color and any context to indicate what the smeared stuff is is what makes this photo a trainwreck. Without the ice cream/cake or whatever it was that the kid has all over his lips, and without any color reference, yeah, you are left to imagine … Unlike Sam, I’m not a fan of food smeared on anyone’s face (I don’t even like the bride-and-groom-cake-smash thing), but if you’re gonna do it, let the viewer know what it is.
    It also does not look natural. It looks like someone purposely applied the frosting or whatever, which defeats the whole purpose of a shot like this.

  12. Heather

    I would’ve left it in color for sure…but it’s not a bad photo at all. It really does not deserve to be on this site! This just looks like an innocent mistake in what to turn into sepia or not and I’m sure we’ve all made those. Technically, this person has some skill with a camera and that’s a lot more than most people that think they are a photographer have!!

  13. ithurtswhenipee

    dirty diaper face

  14. IMHO it is a very poor photo. Washed out so features barely visible except eyes, focal length way too short. I am not keen on out of focus face photos. And then there’s the subject. Looks fed up / sad, And monochrome – not appropriate for the subject. I’ve got pics of my kids with smeared faces, but they are in my snapshots, not formal pics, and they are SMILING, because it is funny! And this does look artificially smeared on. It is too evenly spread and only around the mouth.

  15. I Submit the most horrible terrible pictures and I can’t believe this picture made it on this site and not my submitted ones!!!!

  16. 1st thing that came to mind, the movie “Baby Mama”
    Caroline: [holding her son’s dirty hand] Is this chocolate or poop? Is this chocolate or poop?
    Caroline: [licks son’s hand and smiles] It’s chocolate!
    Kate Holbrook: What if that had been poop?

  17. Pelham

    Kid looks truly fed up, and someone – but not him/her – slathered the poor kid’s face with whatever shit they had laying around. It’s far too carefully done. I’ve never seen a kid do such a symmetrical job, have you?

    And yeah, I feel yer pain, Mia…I keep on submitting images and links to horrendous crap and have yet to see it up here. Go figure.

  18. I’m sure they get tons of pictures every day. I just wish they would put up more each day or put them up more often…I can’t get enough of them 🙂

  19. Kevibn Cantype

    Surely a case FOR selective colour….? btw, can’t type but can spell – I’m British.

    • Pelham

      Oh I dunno, looking at the fauxtogs on this site, they’d put only the icing in colour and leave the baby’s face grey. Or vice versa.

      BTW, it’s perfectly acceptable for Americans to spell ‘colour’ as ‘color’, ‘favourite’ as ‘favorite’ etc. Yeah, it drives me a little nuts too – I’m a Canadian of very British descent, so I also spell with British English. I think the Americans seceded the right to spell with an ‘ou’ around the first and only time they kicked your butts in battle, so let them enjoy their ‘o’s 🙂

  20. Snappy

    I sure hope the would-be photog can see this and take it as constructive criticism… they do have potential.
    I would have revealed the context, like including a cake in the picture and have the entire baby sitting up in the frame next to it. And for pete’s sake, don’t use B&W unless color adds nothing to the photo!!! Get rid of the vignetting too, and get the exposure right, it is too bright here.

  21. TollTollPhotography

    I’m sure this isn’t the ONLY pose, I’m sure this was probably one of many.

    It really doesn’t deserve to be here. I would LOVE a picture like this of my son.

  22. TollTollPhotography

    * in color. I would love a picture like this in color or solid B&W, not sepia.

  23. Pelham

    Then for the love of God, Tolltoll, DO IT!!!!! Instead if simpering over how you would love a pic like this of your son – go and shoot it yourself! Preferably improve over the trainwreck depicted here.

  24. artistwithacamera

    This pic has no business being on this site.

    So many of you sit around waiting for fresh blood so you can pounce. The facts of this matter are, we all have good pics, and we all have bad pics. This pic is not a bad pic- it’s excellent photography. I don’t know the photog, or the subject, so I’m not biased. And for a shot that calls for complete monochrome (or duotone, in this case), SC/selective colouring isn’t an optionm, which is obviously what the photographer was going for, a monochromatic scheme. It only looks like poo if you’re a tard, k? Otherwise, for the handful of B&W lovers out there, such as myself, it’s clearly icing, and necessarily black, so as to complete the remainder of the B&W.

    For the photographer: great job. Somebody said you have “potential”. What a bunch of crap. You’re better than that. Don’t let these people get to you. They’re idiots. You’ve got class and talent. 🙂 Fine work.

  25. ThePhotog

    First off, I would like to say thank you to those who don’t feel my photo belongs on this site. It certainly is not a good color choice in hindsight. This was the only one from the shoot that I removed the color from.. there were 15 or so left in color. I simply did it for something different from the rest of the shots. And no, the little boy was certainly not fed up, he is smiling in most of them, I just caught him in between grins. Another no… we did not smear the cake/icing on his face. He did it himself and he was very meticulous about trying to get it in his mouth. Again, thank you to those who felt my photo does not belong here, and to the rest, I’m sorry you don’t like my photo.

  26. ThePhotog

    One more note, I never enhance eyes.

  27. A little bit of frosting on the nose would have sufficed.

  28. Gal with a Camera

    It’s actually a pretty decent picture… nut he gross stuff on his face completely ruins it… :/

  29. y0y0master

    The photo isn’t bad but what bugs me is, whats up the huge watermark? It takes up a third of the picture. I understand the need and the purpose of it but it takes away for the photography.

  30. lol…it would actually be a nice picture if it was in color.

  31. dana_wana

    Obviously, this is one image of probably 200 that the photographer snapped while this kid was chowing down on that cake. Maybe the lack of color looks stupid when it’s singled out of the bulk and posted here. But, in an album along with the other photos, I’m sure it’s just fine. I have seen and done far far worse. Live and learn (and then get humiliated on a fauxtog sight. =/ )

  32. mtiffan

    “Someone’s been playing in the toilet…”

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