Portrait looking enough? C&C needed.

[Sweetsomedays]

I am so bummed there is so much shadow on his flower and face. The whole pose with the ball and flower is very reflective of his personality so I had to take it.
Since I am a total PS know-it-NOTHING I just did some minor editing in Iphoto.

Before edit

After edit

 

[Heck]

I don't know much but I think its more of a candid shot than portrait. If your looking at it wanting a portrait then you may feel "bummed" but its a good candid.

 

[EOS_JD]

To get rid of the shadow try shooting in the shade. Use a flash or a reflector to bounce some light into the shadow area to lighten that.

Shooting in the mid day sun without flash/reflector will normally result in harsh shadows especially around the eye sockets that will look very dark.....

From the shadow it looks like the sun was pretty high and behind the subject so the flower/face are obviously going to be hidden from the light source (the sun)!

Take a second to think what you are shooting and get a decent flash and use it in high speed mode as fill.

 

[sayambhu]

ya, honestly speaking I didnt notice the flower at first sight... I did some touches for you in PS trying to revive the flower and the ball. (btw, the face in shadow is perfectly fine !)

is this looking a bit better ? (you might find the image a bit saturated if your monitor is not calibrated, but thats not a worry at all). oh and great shot by the way !

 

[sayambhu]

PS : I liked the poles of the swing on the background - that complements the portrait nicely. a bluish sky adds life to the picture... that's why I kept it.

 

[EOS_JD]

PS : I liked the poles of the swing on the background - that complements the portrait nicely. a bluish sky adds life to the picture... that's why I kept it.

In a portrait you want the focus of attention generally on the subject. This image doesn't really work for me. There's no real engagement because the subject is facing away too much and although you like the poles, to me they are a distraction as is the dark car in the top right.

My eye is initailly drawn to the ball and that's it.....

 

[sayambhu]

so crop it down.

 

[Sweetsomedays]

I like the swings to...don't like the houses or the car. Thanks for the edit sayambhu his skin looks lots better, not so pale. It was late in the afternoon so the sun was high, thank you for the lighting info.

 

[andrew todd]

if youre shooting natural light use the sun to your best advantage.,. get it behind the subect to create a rim light and expose for the face which will be in the shadows..

 

[Sweetsomedays]

Maybe I should try all this on something that will hold still for more then 2 seconds, cuz my son wont lol

 

[sayambhu]

I like the swings to...don't like the houses or the car. Thanks for the edit sayambhu his skin looks lots better, not so pale. It was late in the afternoon so the sun was high, thank you for the lighting info.

you're most welcome, its always a pleasure.