A little girl...FOR COMMENT AND CRITIQUE PLEASE...

IzzieK · Jun 9, 2014

This is my first person shot -- a little girl who when she saw me, started hiding her face behind a chair she was sitting down on. I just changed lens at the time and wanted to go and shoot some other static airplanes close up, so I did not have time to put my speed lights on and she was situated just below me.

Since I have been critiquing and commenting on so many photos and posts here, I suppose it is my time to be critiqued and commented on my photos, don't you think? It will be nice...if you can tell me what I did wrong, how can I take spontaneous, no planning shots like this...I may not see this little girl again and if I do, it might be next year if her dad brings her back to our event at Athens, Tennessee....

1. shy and hiding...

2. Curious...

3. uncertain...

4. Finally made her smile...

wyogirl · Jun 9, 2014

They are all a little underexposed, the first one is more so. I also think they are a little tight...chin or head cut off, etc. I do like the idea behind the first one. Brighten it up some.

Also it looks like your focus on the first one is on her knee, and not the eyes. Focus on the eyes.

robbins.photo · Jun 9, 2014

Yup.. that looks like a little girl alright. Having been attacked by several over the years I've gotten to the point where I can spot them a mile away.. lol

IzzieK · Jun 9, 2014

Thanks Robbins and Wyogirl...she was just too near me...the head was too cut off because I was using a 50 mm and I was behind that chair. As I said it was unplanned and spontaneous. I was too busy making her get out of her hiding and making her laugh or smile so I can take the shots but how do you put jelly on a wall and not move?

Thank you for your comments. I really appreciate it very much.

TCampbell · Jun 9, 2014

Consider getting the camera lower -- down to her level. Never hesitate to crouch low when necessary. The images are all high with the camera looking down instead of getting the lens down and looking level.

Think about the background. You want an interesting background in the image -- yet this background appears to be gray sidewalk and not very interesting. I'm not sure where you were, but I'm guessing that if the camera was down to the level of her height then it would have captured a hopefully more interesting background.

robbins.photo · Jun 9, 2014

IzzieK said:
Thanks Robbins and Wyogirl...she was just too near me...the head was too cut off because I was using a 50 mm and I was behind that chair. As I said it was unplanned and spontaneous. I was too busy making her get out of her hiding and making her laugh or smile so I can take the shots but how do you put jelly on a wall and not move? Thank you for your comments. I really appreciate it very much.

Shooting little ones is always tough - much like hummingbirds they are almost constantly in motion. I've found my best results are usually candids, where they are distracted and don't really realize that they are having their picture taken. Upside though looks like your focus points were set for the eyes which is really what you want. As TCampbell mentioned camera angle can be important so when possible try to get down to her level.

Also never a bad idea to have a peanut butter and jelly on hand, just in case - if she does go for the jugular you can toss it in the air as a distraction and make a break for it. Lol

Designer · Jun 9, 2014

IzzieK said:
but how do you put jelly on a wall and not move?

Would it help me to understand better if I knew what that means?

O.K., you said this was your first "person shot". If I take that at face value, what could I say that would be of any benefit to you?

O.K., you can see what's in your viewfinder, and it's framed way to tightly, so what's next? I think move around a little so the composition is better (not so tight). And while you're doing that, why not try to make a game of it with the subject? I mean; if you were to talk to her, whatever nonsense that comes into your head, I think it might help the child to want to interact with you. It helps if you are a female, so are you? Anyway, if a parent is nearby, give assurances that you intend no harm, and keep moving to get better views as you check your settings/exposure/etc. If you really want to take more photos of this child, you might have by now been able to have a mini conversation with the parent to find out if: 1. it's o.k., and 2. contact information for a followup.

robbins.photo · Jun 9, 2014

Designer said:
It helps if you are a female, so are you?

If not, are their like special classes you can take for that? Some sort of community college course by chance?

Lol

Designer · Jun 9, 2014

robbins.photo said:
Designer said:

It helps if you are a female, so are you?

Click to expand...

If not, are their like special classes you can take for that? Some sort of community college course by chance?

Lol

Ummm... There might be a way for men to take pictures of small children without causing alarm, but I'd rather just avoid it.

IzzieK · Jun 9, 2014

Tim...I will take your advice to heart but in that case, if I go down to her level her face might hit my lens instead...but I will remember your advice next time I saw another girl I can take pictures of. Her father just smiled .at me and I showed him my shot. It looked good in the camera's jpg actually because at our event I configured my camera to shoot both RAW and JPG so I can review my shots instantly. I worked on blinkies because of the sunny/part cloudy condition...actually good flying condition but harsh lightwise when it comes to portraits or people photography. I try to avoid people photography because I know I suck at it.

Designer...yes, I am female and this is the first time too that I was allowed to take a picture of this girl and another boy actually...

Robbin...I actually enrolled in a certificate course in photography (night classes, gun-free zone on campus

I checked...) but it will not be until July...

My question now is now that I had no more chance to take this shots, what can I do PP-wise? Maybe I should not have cropped the photo too tightly around. I was trying to get rid of her knees. All the shots have cropped hair. Maybe I should upload the original without the crop later so I can learn how close I should or not crop situations like this.

robbins.photo · Jun 9, 2014

IzzieK said:
Tim...I will take your advice to heart but in that case, if I go down to her level her face might hit my lens instead...but I will remember your advice next time I saw another girl I can take pictures of. Her father just smiled .at me and I showed him my shot. It looked good in the camera's jpg actually because at our event I configured my camera to shoot both RAW and JPG so I can review my shots instantly. I worked on blinkies because of the sunny/part cloudy condition...actually good flying condition but harsh lightwise when it comes to portraits or people photography. I try to avoid people photography because I know I suck at it.

Designer...yes, I am female and this is the first time too that I was allowed to take a picture of this girl and another boy actually...

Robbin...I actually enrolled in a certificate course in photography (night classes, gun-free zone on campus I checked...) but it will not be until July...

My question now is now that I had no more chance to take this shots, what can I do PP-wise? Maybe I should not have cropped the photo too tightly around. I was trying to get rid of her knees. All the shots have cropped hair. Maybe I should upload the original without the crop later so I can learn how close I should or not crop situations like this.

Gun free campus?? Ick. Wouldn't catch me at one of those for all the tea in China. If I ever do go back to school again I'm going to find a campus chock full of gun toting rednecks. Believe me, you don't have some psycho nut bag wandering in with a bag full of assault rifle's looking to murder dozens of students at Redneck U - they'd drop his happy keester the minute he walked through the door in his ninja jammies.

As to cropping, in general you want to avoid cropping of the tops of heads/hair - or cropping too close to a subjects joints (wrists, elbows, knees, etc) whenever possible. If you aren't already familiar with it a quick internet search on the "Rule of Thirds" might be very helpful as well.

IzzieK · Jun 10, 2014

Tim, I forgot to say that the situation was that because we were at an airport (Wright Bros Airport at Dayton, Ohio) attending a national convention, the hosts and their assistants brought out all the chairs outside the FBO to prepare the tables for dinner. The ground is asphalt hence the yukky colour BG. I framed tightly to get rid of most of the background.

Anyway, if I go away and chose another angle to shoot, I am afraid she might run away and I won't be able to catch her again. She just jumped on that chair in front of me and started eyeing my camera so I thought I will get the shot or I snooze, I lose.

As for cropping, this is what I have that I thought I was following with regards to cropping portrait shots:
http://cdn-media-1.lifehack.org/wp-...rtrait_photography_crop_guide-cheat-sheet.png

And here are the original shots I started with. I just translate my shots to jpg here. No editing.
1

2

3

4

OK...lessons learned:
1 Go down to little people's level. Do not shoot from the top of the head.
2. Go for the eye nearest the camera
3. Never put jelly on the wall to keep child from moving...inform parents beforehand :lol:

4. transform a bad shot into a good one with PP:

even this one sucks...but I am not giving up...yet. When and if the sun shines I will go down the road to find some kids to photograph...and ask who is in charge of them if I can take some photos of the kids.

Thanks everyone for the comments...I've learned something in this post...

Designer · Jun 10, 2014

IzzieK said:
My question now is now that I had no more chance to take this shots, what can I do PP-wise? Maybe I should not have cropped the photo too tightly around. I was trying to get rid of her knees. All the shots have cropped hair. Maybe I should upload the original without the crop later so I can learn how close I should or not crop situations like this.

You're not going to be able to completely crop out those knees when they are that close to her ear. When children so those contortions (my grandchildren do that and more) you either take the entire child, including improbable leg positions, and just hope that it might work, or as you have done, crop later to just the child's face.

I think the difficulty I have with the latter is that almost invariably someone will crop too close, including lopping off part of the head, chin, one ear, or whatever. Better to let a little knee show than to crop her head.

IzzieK · Jun 10, 2014

Thank you....I will try again until I get it right. But first, I have to find another child...or when I find another child, I will do some research first and remember all that I had learned through the posts here. I have taken notes. Lovely to learn from all of you. I do appreciate it very much.

vintagesnaps · Jun 10, 2014

If you'd flipped the camera into a vertical position and changed your vantage point a little you might have gotten her face and pigtails and not the leg. If I can't take a step one way or the other I sometimes lean to one side or whatever I need to do to get the shot framed the way I want it.

It takes practice in general learning photography and kids on the move could be challenging. Sometimes you capture the moment you want and sometimes not, but I find sometimes I use an idea later in a different way than I first thought.