Little Zoe - C&C Please!

[Bugs81]

Good afternoon all-

Snapped these shots of Zoe over the weekend while visiting some family.

These are all straight out of the camera but wanted to get any preliminary feedback you'd be kind enough to give.

I'm still kicking myself over #3. I absolutely love this shot but I was having a hard time getting her to sit still haha.

Thanks in advance.

#1

#2

#3

 

[srinaldo86]

What a cutie!
I'm not wild about the pictures as far as composition goes but she still makes them good.

 

[bigtwinky]

I'm not digging them either, and not sure if you processed them if it would actually make a difference. They come off as snapshots, taking without much thought to the end product, and the fact that they are out of focus and blurry, not much thought to the actual result.

1- I love the light on her face and how it shines on her hair. Its too bad that you are too far out to really make her face and this nice light as the focus of your image. There is too much else going on in the image that is distracting...the door, the curtain...

2-3 Cute snapshots (as you said, you snapped them). Both suffer from camera shake / slow shutter. I also don't like how parts of the background are very white / blown out. While you should aim to get a shallow DOF and such to minimize background distractions, having something so overexposed can sometimes draw the eye away from the subject.

I'm not crazy about the black and whites either. I guess you are shooting JPG? If so, look at adding in some contrast in camera or in post processing as these are looking flat. I know you said they are straight out of the camera, but somethings with these images are very obviously wrong, mainly the out of focusness / blurry face. Take the time to learn to get it right in camera, and then post up the pictures you are happy with for CC.

 

[bazooka]

As far as softness goes, #1 looks pretty good, but #2 & #3... I can't tell if the focus is soft or if the shutter speed is too low? EXIF data is not there.

I think each of these photos has one or more distracting elements. You did well to go with B&W because I imagine that the distracting parts of the photo would be even more distracting in color.

I think #1 would be ok with a tighter crop: getting rid of the plaid wall paper and the excess head room.

 

[Bugs81]

bigtwinky and bazooka, thank you very much for the feedback.

I'm going to do some editing tonite and will re-post shortly thereafter.

All were shot in AV mode.

 

[bigtwinky]

AV mode, but what where the settings?
f/5.6 , 1/20 , ISO 800?

 

[Bugs81]

AV mode, but what where the settings?
f/5.6 , 1/20 , ISO 800?

#1 - f/5.6, 1/10, ISO 1600

 

[mishele]

I would like to see a tighter crop of #1. I agree w/ bigtwinky that the background is very distracting. I believe that picture has the most potential out of the 3.

 

[Bugs81]

Thanks mishele.

I'm definitely going to run with #1. Will play around with PP later this evening.

 

[g-fi]

AV mode, but what where the settings?
f/5.6 , 1/20 , ISO 800?

#1 - f/5.6, 1/10, ISO 1600

Ohhh, 1/10 is probably way too slow for kids, which explains a lot of the blur. It seems you had the lighting working against you. It's hard to get tack sharp images of kids to begin with, but with that slow of a shutter speed, even if they're sitting still it's working against you. + More light or + larger apt.

I've been shooting kids for two years now and I've learned that careful consideration of your surroundings and lighting before shooting makes the biggest difference between an OOF snapshot and a lovely portrait or capture of a moment. It may not feel as spontaneous to move your subject into better light, or change the surroundings, but a more staged sharp picture > spontaneous OOF picture.

Good luck next time!

 

[Bugs81]

AV mode, but what where the settings?
f/5.6 , 1/20 , ISO 800?

#1 - f/5.6, 1/10, ISO 1600

Ohhh, 1/10 is probably way too slow for kids, which explains a lot of the blur. It seems you had the lighting working against you. It's hard to get tack sharp images of kids to begin with, but with that slow of a shutter speed, even if they're sitting still it's working against you. + More light or + larger apt.

I've been shooting kids for two years now and I've learned that careful consideration of your surroundings and lighting before shooting makes the biggest difference between an OOF snapshot and a lovely portrait or capture of a moment. It may not feel as spontaneous to move your subject into better light, or change the surroundings, but a more staged sharp picture > spontaneous OOF picture.

Good luck next time!

Much appreciated g-fi, thank you!

 

[bazooka]

AV mode, but what where the settings?
f/5.6 , 1/20 , ISO 800?

#1 - f/5.6, 1/10, ISO 1600

You could have used a wider angle to open the aperture a bit me thinks.

 

[Bugs81]

AV mode, but what where the settings?
f/5.6 , 1/20 , ISO 800?

#1 - f/5.6, 1/10, ISO 1600

You could have used a wider angle to open the aperture a bit me thinks.

Agreed, definitely kicking myself right now...

 

[PerfectlyFlawed]

All out of focus.. but she's absolutely adorable!

 

[Bugs81]

All out of focus.. but she's absolutely adorable!

Thank you, will certainly work on the OOF issue.