Foster

Machine May · Sep 30, 2004

My 4 year old is probably the easiest child in the world to portrait; very photogenic, always smiling, loves the camera. When I turn on the camcorder though, he gets shy and runs away :roll:

Alison · Sep 30, 2004

Children are often difficult to photograph. To better this image I think you could:

1. Provide additional light on his eyes, can be done via fill flash or by using a reflector. This technique can also be helpful to smooth out the lighting on his face.

2. Increased DOF to blur out the background of the playground equiptment, I find the bars prodruding from behing his head to be quite distracting.

3. I think a full frame with his head would have been better than the tight crop here. It just feels too tight to me.

You've got a nice snapshot image, but I think incorporating some the of concepts of photography such as composition, DOF and lighting would really improve this image. My photography business centers on portraits and I learned many of these concepts the hard way, after coming home from shoots and going "What was I thinking??".

Machine May · Sep 30, 2004

I agree about the DOF. This was a "spur of the moment" shot and we spent 0 time "setting up" - in fact, they were all playing that day, so getting off any shot at all was difficult. I like spontaneous/natural photography. Also it was difficult to take a shot without shadows, it was very sunny.

As for composition, I tend to like how it's composed; what do you think is wrong with its composition??

Karalee · Sep 30, 2004

Machine May said:
I agree about the DOF. This was a "spur of the moment" shot and we spent 0 time "setting up" - in fact, they were all playing that day, so getting off any shot at all was difficult. I like spontaneous/natural photography. Also it was difficult to take a shot without shadows, it was very sunny.

As for composition, I tend to like how it's composed; what do you think is wrong with its composition??

AlisonS said:
I think a full frame with his head would have been better than the tight crop here. It just feels too tight to me.

Its okay to not agree with other people about your work, critique is a tough thing to come to terms with, we all post shots that we adore, and then when we post in the critique gallery, its subject to critique and suggestion by any and all in the forum, but thats all they are, suggestions to help us learn and grow in our photography.

That said, there are a few blown out areas on his shirt, the expression is priceless, but I agree with the tight frame round his face, the composition is a little bland, being centered in the shot.

Alison · Sep 30, 2004

Kara, you're spot on there. Photos posted in the general gallery are just for that Awww, good work factor. If someone posts here in the critique gallery I assume that they want honest feedback to improve. But, like you said, it's just an opinion. When I've posted here I've taken bits and pieces of people's ideas and tried to improve.

Machine May · Oct 1, 2004

I wasn't giving anyone a hard time for critiquing; just merely asking for elaboration on why s/he felt the composition wasn't good.

Also, it sounds like I need to start learning photoshop - for example working on the left shoulder being blown out, correct? I should be getting it soon. The photo is untouched (except scaled from 3mb of course

LaFoto · Oct 1, 2004

My immediate thought about this photo, too, was "Why is his head cut off?" Maybe that is a pet peeve of mine, but in portraits I just like the whole head (face), unless, of course, you deliberately decide on portraying only parts of a face. Then the crop would be so tight that the deliberation with which it was done becomes obvious. In this one, however, it FEELS to me like a mistake. But that's only me...