Photos of children

kenzee

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I joined this forum in order to get some quick help in photographing glass close up but now I think I want a new camera .. and maybe a white umbrella haha~
I'm curious to know what some of you think of these 2 shots of my grandbabies I took last summer.
The first I pushed the color a bit in photoshop because of the back lighting, ..and that is dirt on her chin btw..
The second I just loved the expression but wondered about the bg~personally I thought the roughness of it worked with the softness of the subject but guessed it may be distracting. Possibly the focus was set more for the bg than his face.

I posted to get some CC so feel free!

kenzeespose.gif


maxinjly06.gif
 
#1 Her cheek is blown out - it's too bright and you've lost all detail which is a flaw that can't really be fixed. I would like her face lit better - it's too dark and her eyes are difficult to see. The viewer should be drawn to the eyes (or some other feature that the photographer intends them to be drawn to), but here, it's drawn to the bright cheek, which is very distracting. And the pose is unflattering - you can't really see her face, which is exacerbated by the lighting problems. Normally the dirt on her chin would have been the biggest problem, but it's overshadowed, literally, but other issues. I also don't mind the flares, generally, but I'm not keen on them on a child's face at all. Try getting her in bright morning light or early evening light rather than harsh midday sunlight; I think you'll notice a massive difference in the resulting quality. The truth is, when you are dealing with that kind of bright lighting, it's almost impossible to get a good shot, so it's better just to avoid it if possible.

#2 This one is much better in terms of photo quality, but you are still dealing with that harsh lighting and there are portions of the face that are borderline blown. I think it would have been excellent in bright morning light as it's a great capture of the child's expression. The composition of this one is much more appealing to me as well.

On both, I think you could use photoshop to brighten/enhance the eyes a little, but at least for the first one, I'd suggest a re-shoot instead. You have adorable grandkids, and I'm sure you'll have more opportunities to practice on them - good luck!
 
OK, I just tried to do some quick fixes in PSE, but I can't use most of the features on it for some reason. My own files work fine. That's really odd, though.

Maybe because it's a .gif? I usually work in .jpg....never tried to fool with a gif file.
 
Thanks for the thoughtful critique Stella..all of it very helpful. I'll try to choose my lighting better.
I'm lucky to have such great subjects to practice on..although the boy would rather not be in front of the camera and the girl tends to pose :D so both make for interesting practice.
and Yes, you're right, those are gif files..
 
Good lighting can do so much for a photo, obviously there are other elements too - composition, focus, and such, but without decent lighting, there's not much you can do with it. You don't need fancy equipment for capturing children, either. I use natural light and although I'm not much more than a beginner, my understanding of lighting has really improved since I started here. I posted these recently and was happy with the way the faces were lit, for the most part. That is overcast afternoon light in my (many windowed) living room.
 

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