3 Month Portraits // A Duck Hunter's Son

JOSHardson

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Got through this session on the second attempt. Mox wasn't having it on the first night. Here's the first I finished editing from today. I had trouble incorporating the mounted duck, but in the end I think it turned out pretty good. Critique, as always, is welcomed.

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Not sure how I feel about the wings coming out of his head. I'm leaning more on the side of feeling that they're a bit awkward and distracting. As well I feel that the super shallow depth of field is making the focus just a little too soft. Great lighting though.
 
I can see that. Maybe I'm just glad that I found a way to incorporate the duck in a... not completely tacky way? Thanks for the critique.
 
Just noticed I had a link fail. It has been corrected. Still looking for C&C.
 
C&C per req: The lighting is fine, but overall, I'm afraid I'm NOT a fan of the image. The DoF is so shallow that it's starting to fall off on his head (It looks like you focused on his right hand) and I don't think the eyes are as sharp as they should be. I agree with Dan on the duck as well; to me it is a very distracting element.

I'm not sure what to offer as suggestions for improvement, but I think I would skip the duck altogether, and just go with the child, duck-calls & camo.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John
 
Thanks for the 2¢. I probably would have ditched the duck if the mother hadn't wanted it so badly. I'll try to open up the depth a bit in the future and see how I like it. I like a pretty soft baby photo. Also, his right eye is probably about a half inch behind the focus. Could have been better.

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Another vote against the duck--it's horribly distracting, and over-the-top cheesy to boot.

Clone the duck out of this and you've got a reasonably decent picture; sure, a little soft, but mommas don't really CARE about that.

Then tell the mother that as soon as the kid can stand up on its own, you'll do another portrait session, and you can put the kid ON the duck, like it's riding it--another duck call in one hand, and a tiny little wooden pop-gun in the other, and voila--Mother Goose Meets The Duck Dynasty! :lmao:
Yeah, because THAT would not be over-the-top cheesy... :D

EDIT: Before I get flamed for that "mommas don't care about that" remark on the sharpness, I'd better expound on that a bit: This would be BETTER if the baby's eyes were more in focus, no doubt. I'm not suggesting it wouldn't be, or that a pro photographer shouldn't care about getting good sharp eyes in a portrait. I'm just saying that THIS is the picture you have to work with--given that, if the duck wasn't there, I think it'd be a photo that most any mom would cherish of their little one. Now, if you had THIS photo AND a photo exactly like it, only with the eyes in sharper focus...I'm guessing the mother would pick the one with the eyes more in focus almost every time.
 
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Thanks for the 2¢. I probably would have ditched the duck if the mother hadn't wanted it so badly.
I think this is one of those cases where as the photographer you have so explain that you understand that it's important, but in this setting, it just really isn't going to work. I like Sharon's idea!
 
Thanks for the 2¢. I probably would have ditched the duck if the mother hadn't wanted it so badly.
I think this is one of those cases where as the photographer you have so explain that you understand that it's important, but in this setting, it just really isn't going to work. I like Sharon's idea!

True. I already made the riding the duck joke during the session. Ha. I did suggest that we get rid of the shotgun...
 
EDIT: Before I get flamed for that "mommas don't care about that" remark on the sharpness, I'd better expound on that a bit: This would be BETTER if the baby's eyes were more in focus, no doubt. I'm not suggesting it wouldn't be, or that a pro photographer shouldn't care about getting good sharp eyes in a portrait. I'm just saying that THIS is the picture you have to work with--given that, if the duck wasn't there, I think it'd be a photo that most any mom would cherish of their little one. Now, if you had THIS photo AND a photo exactly like it, only with the eyes in sharper focus...I'm guessing the mother would pick the one with the eyes more in focus almost every time.

Definitely. A cute smile beats a razor sharp eye every time.
 

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