Fall portrait C&C please

[pony]

I sharpened this up using flickr and thought it looked kind of neat...but wasn't sure about the overall finished pic. I feel like it looks off somehow.
Any critique or advice on how to do it better is appreciated
Thanks

 

[iPhoto17]

its very very nice but the background is way too blurred and very dissorientating, i got dizzy looking at the picture, but the colors are nice and its very sharp and focused

 

[Felix0890]

I agree with iPhoto on the background being too blurred. It just doesn't look natural to the eye. The child and leaves look stunning though. :thumbup:

 

[pony]

Thanks for the input.
I re-edited it. Does softening the background make it any less dizzying? The edit was super quick, so not the finished product and far from perfect. Just trying to see if that idea helps at all.
Thanks again

 

[syphlix]

the edit is weird too... why would there be a band of in focus leaves 3 ft behind your subject?

 

[iPhoto17]

it did help a little, just keep the leaves in focus and once it gets to the point in the picture where it starts to blur, start the softening there, not int he foreground like it is, id try to start softening right at the bottom of the ears

 

[Derrel]

The original portrait is one of the finest examples I have seen recently of a lens that shows absolutely horrible bokeh. It's not the degree of out of focus that is the problem in the original photo, it is the subjective quality of the out of focus rendering. In the original shot, we can see and identify background elements somewhat, and yet they are well outside the zone of sharpest focus,and indeed, well outside the depth of field band. But there is a harshness, a nervousness to the areas show out of focus. Why? On the smaller-format,high-quality cameras using the 4/3 and micro 4/3 format, lens designers often over-correct for spherical aberration to produce a lens that will cover a very small capture format with an exceptionally sharp, high-acutance image, and the over-corrected spherical aberration will artificially boost the sense of sharpness/acuity, but at the cost of horrible bokeh.

Nikon did the same thing with its 28-200 G series lens; they went way overboard at eliminating all spherical aberration, which made the lens look "Sharp", but also made it render OOF backdrops a lot like this camera's lens does, with very harsh,nervous bokeh.

 

[pony]

The original portrait is one of the finest examples I have seen recently of a lens that shows absolutely horrible bokeh. It's not the degree of out of focus that is the problem in the original photo, it is the subjective quality of the out of focus rendering. In the original shot, we can see and identify background elements somewhat, and yet they are well outside the zone of sharpest focus,and indeed, well outside the depth of field band. But there is a harshness, a nervousness to the areas show out of focus. Why? On the smaller-format,high-quality cameras using the 4/3 and micro 4/3 format, lens designers often over-correct for spherical aberration to produce a lens that will cover a very small capture format with an exceptionally sharp, high-acutance image, and the over-corrected spherical aberration will artificially boost the sense of sharpness/acuity, but at the cost of horrible bokeh.

Nikon did the same thing with its 28-200 G series lens; they went way overboard at eliminating all spherical aberration, which made the lens look "Sharp", but also made it render OOF backdrops a lot like this camera's lens does, with very harsh,nervous bokeh.

Thanks Derrel.
Do you think it is just the lens, or is there something I could do to improve similar shots in the future. I do know that my 25mm get a super smooth bokeh, maybe I should just stick to that for portrait stuff with OOF backgrounds?

 

[pony]

the edit is weird too... why would there be a band of in focus leaves 3 ft behind your subject?

Quick, sloppy edit :blushing:

it did help a little, just keep the leaves in focus and once it gets to the point in the picture where it starts to blur, start the softening there, not int he foreground like it is, id try to start softening right at the bottom of the ears

Any better, or should I just hit delete on this photo and be done with it?

 

[Misfitlimp]

I like the last edit better than the first 2

 

[SpeedTrap]

This photo would have been immensely improved by moving your subject out of the sun or by putting a diffuser over her.

The fact that half her face is in the sun and half is in the shade is what ruins this picture for me.


Some people are going on about bokeh, but I think there are other things that are much more of a problem.

Keep trying you will get it and it will look good when you do.

 

[pony]

This photo would have been immensely improved by moving your subject out of the sun or by putting a diffuser over her.

The fact that half her face is in the sun and half is in the shade is what ruins this picture for me.


Some people are going on about bokeh, but I think there are other things that are much more of a problem.

Keep trying you will get it and it will look good when you do.

Good point about the sun, that makes a lot of sense.
Newbie mistake taking a squirmy 3 year old out at noon-ish on a sunny day

I have only had a camera (this was a hand-me-down) for a couple months and I have only really been taking photos for 4 or 5 weeks.
I just got a reflector, but otherwise have no equipment. I will get a diffuser as well.
Would it be possible to use the flash on my camera to balance the light in a photo like this?

 

[nokili]

The background in my opinion is a little odd, but besides that the picture is strange to me. I don't know why but the pose of your subject is very "adult" to me. I don't know if that sounds weird or if that helps you at all. I know that people will not agree with me, and I am not trying to be rude or anything. Did you try any other poses?

Could be cause I'm just used to kids running around in leaves and throwing them etc lol maybe I just expect to much of the same

 

[pony]

The background in my opinion is a little odd, but besides that the picture is strange to me. I don't know why but the pose of your subject is very "adult" to me. I don't know if that sounds weird or if that helps you at all. I know that people will not agree with me, and I am not trying to be rude or anything. Did you try any other poses?

Could be cause I'm just used to kids running around in leaves and throwing them etc lol maybe I just expect to much of the same

I did not tell her to pose like this. Most of her other pics she is the usual crazy toddler. I kind of liked this one because it is so different than her usual expression.

Everything anyone has to say helps me. Seriously, that is why I am here so I appreciate all C&C. Good Bad Ugly, whatever...so thank you

 

[decado]

Also I'd like to add, the background is very bright, too many highlights (in the original at least).