Advice for this shot please?

rasheemo · Jul 5, 2008

Hey guys, this is day 3 with my camera, i love it so far. advice would be appreciated! be as brutal as you would like, i can handle it =]

tirediron · Jul 5, 2008

I don't think brutality is required; it's certainly not a bad photograph. The composition is good and the child is certainly cute. Since I'm not 100% sure what you want, I'll provide input as if this were a portrait.
Technically the main issue is the uneven lighting. The privacy strips in the foreground are very dark, there are over-bright highlights on her fingers, and some excess shadowing in the face. Additionally, her eyes are flat and dull with no catch-lights.

So, what do we do about this? For the highlights, a diffuser above her would have helped greatly,and to even out the shadows and eye issue, a reflector down and to image left as well as a flash or strobe to put some life and catchlights into her eyes.

Overall, it's' a nice image!

RyanMillerPhoto · Jul 6, 2008

Great picture. I like it. The only advise I would give here is provide the subject room to look. I know this was probably spur of the second, but something to keep in mind.

So, what do I mean by room to look? You will notice the child is looking to the right, but most of the "space" is to the left. Generally, you want to have more room in the direction of the movement or the gaze. Other than that, great and cute image.

rasheemo · Jul 6, 2008

thank you for your advice.

what is a diffuser? i'm just a beginner and don't have anything besides the camera, kit lens, and UV and polarizer filters.

i see that her fingers are a bit overexposed, thanks for pointing that out!

i don't remember if i used flash or not. i will research these lighting methods your talking about, thanks =]

Computer_Generated · Jul 6, 2008

A diffuser is something that will.. well deffuse or flaten the light coming in. Normally it provides a softer light (which would remove the overexposure on her fingers).

I actually like this photo but to me the eyes are really important. I agree that they are a bit dark and it seems as if the fence in front of her is more in focus than her eyes... it could just be my laptop screen though.