Boys -- would love some critique

[chammer]

for portraits you want the eyes to be the focus point of your subject.

im not familiar with your camera, but for portraits (people or pets) i choose a single focus point (the center one) then focus on the eyes and re-compose. by that i mean half press the shutter while the center focus point is on their eyes, then simply move the camera to reframe the picture how i would like it.

 

[julia4480]

for portraits you want the eyes to be the focus point of your subject.

im not familiar with your camera, but for portraits (people or pets) i choose a single focus point (the center one) then focus on the eyes and re-compose. by that i mean half press the shutter while the center focus point is on their eyes, then simply move the camera to reframe the picture how i would like it.

Sorry for asking so much... so if I have two faces, with two sets of eyes.... do I just choose one of their sets of eyes to focus on?

 

[bazooka]

Specifically, you can only focus on one plane. It's very unlikely that both sets of eyes, let alone both eyes, will be on that plane. Fortunately, there is DOF (Depth of Field). This is the area in front and behind the plane that you focused on that is also in focus. As you decrease your aperture, you increase the DOF, and vice versa. So, if the kids are relative close to the same distance from the camera, you can use a wider aperture then if, for example, one is 10 feet in front of the other and you are 20 feet away.

If you want to get it down to a science (impractical in this case, but might be useful to play around with), look for a DOF calculator online.

But if you find that both of the kids are not in focus (either by taking a shot and reviewing, or using DOF preview button on your camera), just decrease your aperture and shutter speed. If shutter speed is too low for the situation, increase ISO.

 

[jvillaire]

For the first photo I think it would look better in my opion if you had more full length photo of the boys. For some reason I dont like the angle you have for it. Your boys are so cute! Good job!

 

[julia4480]

Thanks again so much guys. Im learning tons! Ive downloaded both GIMP and PhotoScape now and do find the latter easier to use, for now. lol. I am wondering if I can do anything to my sky in the first picture. Is there a feature on either one of those programs that would make the sky more blue? More pop? Im not asking just for this picture but in general, what would I do?

You guys rock!:thumbup: