Beginner to photography, first pic and post here!

[mc1979]

Hello all,
I'm new to this forum and to photography in general, although I have always had a passion for it, I am now wanting to take it to the next level, and actually learn everything I can. For the past month I have read, read, read... reading so much that I'm neglecting actually using my camera..LOL.
I am looking for all the advice I can get.
I thought I'd share a pic I took a few weeks ago. I was just shooting outside with my kids. My daughter fell of her bike and after making sure she was ok, I had to get a shot of her face. She was crying, not really from pain but from a bruised ego! She looked beautiful to me standing there with tears streaming, and I just captured it.
I did do some PP in gimp, and actually posted this pic on another website, which got some great advice on what to do..here is the end result.
Any critque welcome

115 by mchatham79, on Flickr

 

[Trever1t]

welcome. The photo is not unpleasant so your doing better than many

 

[mishele]

Welcome to the forum!!!
I do get the sense of sadness from her which is a a good thing but I would love to see her eyes!! Keep shooting and more importantly keep posting!!!

 

[Davor]

This is a good capture and i like it, your daughter is very beautiful and photogenic and i think there is tons of potential in this photo. Something i can't takes my eyes off is that weird block going vertically to the right of her face, it is very grainy on one side and fine on the other, don't know what it is but its defiantly distracting.

 

[reedshots]

very nice shot and the pose sets the mood (eyes not looking at the camera, but almost would have worked i think) and the fuzzy blurred out spot on the left of her cheek (some thing you removed) need nore work on that part of PP.

 

[mc1979]

Thanks for replying. I'm not sure what I did to get that square there, didn't even notice it until you pointed it out. I played around alot in PP, but I didn't remove anything, I don't know how to do that. LOL.

 

[photocist]

I think if she was looking at the camera it could be extremely powerful. not a posed look, but like she was taking a quick glance

 

[mc1979]

and I had an opportunity to get that shot, because she did look up at me right after I took this one, but I didn't take it. The funny thing is she never attempted to wipe her tears. A few posts have said something about seeing her eyes, but I thought this captured the moment..she could be sad for so many reasons and it is genuine emotion. That being said, how is my composition?

 

[Bram]

Try and get on her level.

welcome to the forum!

 

[rambler]

Constructive criticism? You are way ahead of me. I really like this photo. It is nicely composed. It is a good example of not needing the whole head to be effective. It obviously shows emotion. You have caught a wonderful expression along with the tears. I like the way you have a little bit of background to the left. I would guess your daughter did not appreciate you taking her picture at the moment, but in a few years, she will treasure it.