Baby C&C

[C_Dubs]

This is my first portrait shot, so I'm not sure if it is good or awful. Let me know what I can do to make it better.

Shot with Olympus E-p1 with 17mm f/2.8 lens.

 

[MTVision]

Not bad. It would've been better IMO if the window wasn't showing at all - maybe get down even lower when shooting.

Eyes are really dark and they are the most important part of a portrait. Also, the lighting should be even - subject is dark but then bright to the sides.

Cute kid though!

 

[C_Dubs]

is this better? i did my best to cut out the window

 

[MTVision]

Not really. I don't think you can fix it by cropping - for one it's crooked and it's more obvious now since only one side of the window is showing. Baby is still too dark - face and eyes. You can't get rid of the window without cutting the top of his head off! The baseboard (?) is also cutting through his head - which I didn't notice before.

Try straightening the picture (so the window/baseboard) is straight. May get rid of some of the window that way. You can fix the dark eyes and face but you can't fix the composition - or I can't think of anyway too.

Is it your kid? If so, it's a good shot of your kid but next time you will know a little more about what to watch for. Backgrounds can make or break a picture.

 

[Tee]

Agree. Choosing a background and what you want your depth of field to be is equally essential.

 

[tirediron]

While it may be a cute capture of your child, I don't believe it constitutes a portrait in that it is not a planned, posed image. As mentioned, the angle and background take away greatly, as does the exposure.

If you want to do a nice child portrait, find a nice plain background, free of distractions, preferably with lots of sunlight (I'm assuming your equipment is limited) and place the child so that he is well in front of the background and the sunlight is illuminating the side of his face. Next find a reflector, white sheet, piece of white foam-core or posterboard, etc and place it on the side opposite the window and out of camera view. Now, get down to his eye level and with your pop-up flash up (unless you have a removable flash) and a diffuser over it (small piece of tupperware, piece of tissue-paper etc), start shooting.

I would go with aperture-priority mode (A / Av) and use flash exposure compensation (refer to your manual if you're not familiar with this) to reduce the flash output and vary your aperture until you get the largest aperture you can (smallest f #) and still have a decent shutter-speed. Set your camera's rear LCD to display blown highlights (commonly called the 'blinkies') and adjust your flash output until you have none or almost no blown highlights and a nice exposure. Your histogram should look somewhat like a Bell curve.

 

[C_Dubs]

no, it is not my kid. i didn't have any time to set up the shot, it was a spur of the moment thing, you know how babies are, one second they are wrinkling up their noses, next, they have a good look on their face. I didn't really think about the background at all, I was just trying to get something. Next time I will set it up better and hopefully get a better result! thanks for your help

 

[C_Dubs]

i fooled around with the pic on lightroom for a little bit, i got the light more even, and leveled out the background. i couldn't change the window or anything, but i think i did a pretty good job but i will definitely take your advice for next time

 

[gsgary]

You should have been the other way round, with your back to the window so the light is on the baby's face