Cute little girl.

silentrunning · Mar 9, 2007

This isn't a very good picture, but she is a cute little girl. I took this picture at a friends house last year while she was telling us something. No one had a clue what she was saying, but she was adamant about it just the same.

brighteyesphotos · Mar 9, 2007

Cute! My boys used to get into that same pose when they had something they just HAD to share.

The_Traveler · Mar 10, 2007

If you have part of a potentially good photo, then one can make it into something with some work.

IMO, making a picture doesn't stop when the shutter button is pressed.

silentrunning · Mar 10, 2007

I like that! Thank you very much. This is what I like about this forum- ideas. I can't wait to show her mother.

JimmyJaceyMom · Mar 10, 2007

The_Traveler said:
If you have part of a potentially good photo, then one can make it into something with some work.

IMO, making a picture doesn't stop when the shutter button is pressed.

HAHAHAH that is too cute! You are funny! LOL Glad I checked that last one before i go to bed cause it made me chuckle.

And yes that little girl is very cute! Good capture!

EJBPhoto · Mar 11, 2007

Just a suggestion- get that date out of there!

And keep in mind your rule of thirds... don't center!

Efergoh · Mar 11, 2007

t'was a pretty low res pic. Not much to work with....that and my PS skill are pretty lacking. But I think you get the idea...

I removed the date stamp. If you can, turn the stamp off in your camera. It screams amateur. Even if that is what you are, you don't have to look like one. I also clone out the vent behind her head.

silentrunning · Mar 12, 2007

Thank you all. I have a LOT to learn.

The_Traveler · Mar 12, 2007

This isn't a very good picture, but she is a cute little girl. I took this picture at a friends house last year while she was telling us something. No one had a clue what she was saying, but she was adamant about it just the same.

Just a hint to guide your future postings. If you want help or ideas to improve your postings, state that explicitly.

From your original posting, it was really hard to decide whether you were just posting a cutesy picture for all of the viewers to admire or if you actually wanted photo-related advice.

A direct question about how to improve the picture or your technique would have gotten a lot more replies.

LaFoto · Mar 12, 2007

The galleries are as much for sharing as they are for asking for critique - maybe not as straightforward or harsh critique as can be given in Photo Critique, but often enough you also find some constructive critiquing in the galleries.
As all our forums here, it is all about communication.
And you can easily communicate - something, whichever thing it might be - with a photo. Whether that photo is technically perfect or not does not matter in the first place.
The reply can be of the "She REALLY is cute"-sort or of the "Yes, I can see she is cute but in order to make the photo of her better you might consider..."

I don't feel that in the galleries each and every poster necessarily NEEDS to specifically ask for critique. If it is offered and accepted as a friendly means of help for the future and future photos, ok. If not, also ok.

In your original photo, silentrunning, I could see at once that a) this little girl enraptured you with her cute face, lovely hair, big eyes and expansive mimics and gestures. You wanted to keep this as a memory. And I could accept that.

I do admit that I also saw that this is the photo of someone who - as I might say - still is at the beginning. As Efergoh is pointing out, the date stamp gives it away at once. It is so "loud", broad and yellow as it is, that you can't really want to see it in all your photos. Don't you agree?

Furthermore the use of on-camera flash shows that this is a spur-of-the-moment photo (which it definitely was, so maybe there was no way round using it, or else you'd have lost the moment) ... but overall it is your composition that kind of gives away the beginner. You included very much of the background, much of it is unnecessary and distracting.

While I am not too fond of The_Traveler's use of an entirely new background (it looks way too fake), I quite like Efergoh's cropping idea. And it sure helps the overall impression of the photo that the vent has gone, don't you think so, too?

But there is no doubt about one thing here: this girl is REALLY cute!!!!!!

silentrunning · Mar 12, 2007

I thank you very much for your comments. I never take offense when people try to help me develop new skills. I am VERY novice and admit to it right up front. The occasion for this picture was a birthday party for a litlle kid. I had not taken my good camera and was just going to take pictures to give the parents of the kids. Hence the dates. I hope everyone will make a mental note to be VERY critical with anything I post. I am an overachiever in all that I do and want to become a good photographer as I enter retirement. Thanks again,

Doug