Would love some CC on these toddler photos

Luth34 · Dec 11, 2017

Hey Everyone,

Thanks in advance for the critique. Please be as honest and harsh as possible so I can continue to get better and look at my shots with a better eye. I am quite new and wanting to keep getting better with this little hobby. While my family feels they are great, I just think they underwhelm and I am not getting the hang of it like I want to.

Sorry if there are glaring beginner errors, but I have read so much information online that seems to contradict itself, so these seem to be all over the place in terms of quality. These are the types of shots I generally take along with a lot of indoor ones that tend to come out a bit worse. I would say most of the time I am taking family shots during the day as much as possible to capture fun memories.

Lastly, none of these have been edited at all. They are JPEGs straight out of the camera. I shoot RAW as well, but have not started any sort of post learning, so any useful links would also be much appreciated. I am using an Olympus O-MD E-M10.

Info: 1/1600 F/6.3 37mm iso 200

Info: 1/4000 F/6.3 26mm ISO 1250

1/4000 f/7.1 31 mm iso 640

Info: 1/1600 f/9 36mm iso 200

These were taken in a covered tunnel. I was wondering what needed to be done to make them less blurry overall, if anything. Thanks!

1/40 f/6.3 24mm iso 1600

1/50 F/6.3 31mm iso 1600

-Cameron

jaomul · Dec 11, 2017

Well they are not numbered but I'll comment on some.

The first one-time no one really wants to see rubbish/garbage bins in a background so try get nicer backgrounds.

The second one is very nice imo

The third one might work better with the people looking at the camera, the 4th needs to lose the shadow.

The only advice I'd give again is watch the frame, backgrounds etc and try get eye contact with your subject. Sometimes it's nice to have a bigger background to tell a story but often it's better to fill the frame more with your subject.

jaomul · Dec 11, 2017

I just noticed also that you are using high grade stop numbers (small apertures). If you specifically want to show the background this is good, but if you want to isolate your subject a little bigger numbers (smaller aperture) might work better for you. I'm assuming you have a 14-42mm lens. I'd keep the focal length as long as possible and the aperture as large as possible

smoke665 · Dec 11, 2017

Technical issues aside the first 4 are snapshots, nice remembrances but that's about it. The 5th one actually is pretty decent. The chalk, the background it all ties in with the toddler. I might try to crop in tighter, or even do a portrait orientation. I would have difficulty hand holding a shot at such a slow shutter speed. I would have opened up the aperture and or raised the ISO to get up to at least 1/125. The last one you didn't pay attention to the background (ugly seam) or framing (cut off his feet)

SquarePeg · Dec 11, 2017

Cute subject. I don't see anything wrong with taking snapshots or posting them for critique. That is 90% of what you're going to be shooting with a toddler anyway. The occasional posed shoot is great too but improving your candid skills so that you can capture these beautiful memories is definitely a step in the right direction.

I agree with jaomul to open up the lens a bit to try to get some background separation and make your subjects pop. Also, the best advice I was ever given was before you hit that shutter - look all around the frame. Make sure you're not cutting off important parts or letting something unwanted into your shot. In that first photo, if you had been at or below f/4 and not cut off his feet, you could have cropped out those trash barrels and had a really cute shot.

Not sure about the options on your specific camera but I've found it helpful when taking candids indoors to set the aperture where I want it, set the shutter speed to at least 1/125 and use Auto ISO - or if you're in good light set it to Aperture priority and ISO 200 and let the camera choose the shutter speed.

For great help and tips taking toddler photos and candids of children, Clickin Moms is a pretty good group to check out.

JonA_CT · Dec 11, 2017

I agree with what many of the other posters have said, and having kids is a great reason to work on improving your photography!

What setting on your camera are you using to take your pictures? Based on the almost random settings for each situation, I'd guess you are probably using AUTO mode. I think that a big step in improving your pictures will be learning about how to get good exposures in other modes so that you can control things like depth of field and shutter speed. Thoughtful decisions in settings like that will go a long ways.

Keep using your camera! You'll only get better along the way.

Braineack · Dec 11, 2017

#1. snapshot. poorly framed, bad background, missed focus.
#2. snapshot. good framing, great expressions, missed focus.
#3. snapshot. subject is the guy's arm.
#4. snapshot. poor exposure, poor framing, poor expression. casting a shadow into the picture. missed focus.
#5. concept is good, execution is poor. way too low of shutter, motion blur introduced. subject isn't plying along. some of the writing on the wall isn't ideal for this.
#6. going back to a snapshot here. odd angle. bad framing (cropped off feet). poor technique again (low shutter speed, missed focus).

jaomul · Dec 11, 2017

Braineack said:
#1. snapshot. poorly framed, bad background, missed focus.
#2. snapshot. good framing, great expressions, missed focus.
#3. snapshot. subject is the guy's arm.
#4. snapshot. poor exposure, poor framing, poor expression. casting a shadow into the picture. missed focus.
#5. concept is good, execution is poor. way too low of shutter, motion blur introduced. subject isn't plying along. some of the writing on the wall isn't ideal for this.
#6. going back to a snapshot here. odd angle. bad framing (cropped off feet). poor technique again (low shutter speed, missed focus).

Bit harsh on the newbies aren't we

Braineack · Dec 11, 2017

no. it's not harsh whatsoever; it's critique.

here's does this help:

ohhh your baby is sooooooooooooo cute. keep at it!

jaomul · Dec 11, 2017

Braineack said:
no. it's not harsh whatsoever; it's critique.

here's does this help:

ohhh your baby is sooooooooooooo cute. keep at it!

No that doesn't help either. It's just when someone is new a blunt putdown on all shots might not encourage them to come back, and the more active members the better the forum will be.

It's your decision how to critique, but if someone handed you six photos in person would you just point out a load of faults or would you talk to them in a more constructive manner?

Braineack · Dec 11, 2017

pointing out faults is constructive.

jaomul · Dec 11, 2017

Ok then

Luth34 · Dec 11, 2017

First of all thanks so much for the tips everyone! This is exactly the types of things I was looking for. This is all much better than my family thinking I am awesome because I have a camera different than my phone.

@jaomul and @SquarePeg with the little guy always moving I have read so many places that say keep it around f/6.3 to make sure you can get the depth of field. Is it better to keep the aperture opened and kind of let them run into focus? I always assumed I would just be able to crop out the unnecessary parts. Thanks for your help!

@JonA_CT I am shooting in Aperture Priority mode, as I have seen a lot of professionals say this is what they shoot in the most. I tend to play around with my aperture as I shoot due to distance changes etc. and that is why is comes out as random looking. Am I better off practicing in a single aperture to get a feel for it and then next time try different aperture setting?

@Braineack thanks for the true critique and honest. Much appreciated coming from someone that is an awesome photographer. Thanks for looking at it with such a close. Definitely helps me to look at the whole shot and try to visualize it before taking it.

When it comes to focus I tend to let it auto focus. With this camera am I better off instead of using the face recognition trying to focus point myself?

While I agree my baby is pretty cute, I thank you all for taking the time to comment. Definitely gives me new things to try and read up on!

SquarePeg · Dec 11, 2017

If you're using single point AF, you should be able to get good focus at wider apertures than 6.3. Focus on the near eye. Kids move a lot but a fast shutter speed can help with freezing motion. Looking at an online DOF calculator can be helpful in knowing what settings to use. I'm not one for super shallow DOF in child's portraits - I like more than just one eye in focus! - but I think you can open it up a little and still get what you're looking for.