C&C please! One from the other day :)

ChelsJanePhotography · Jun 1, 2013

This is one of my friends baby girl! She's 3 months old

C&C please. I realize that it is a little noisy. Any tips on how to fix that in PSE? I was accidentally shooting in jpeg mode, so I can't fix too much unfortunately.

Ballistics · Jun 1, 2013

It looks like you missed focus, which is not fixable.

texkam · Jun 2, 2013

You shouldn't have missed focus at f/13. It's soft everywhere. I think there is something else going on. Perhaps too much noise removal. f/13 is unnecessary. It's forcing you to a higher iso. Learn to shoot in manual mode using the 3 elements of the exposure triangle to your advantage.

tirediron · Jun 2, 2013

Sweet mother of Gawd... ISO 12,800???? What???? Rule #1 - Take charge of your settings. Know what they are and ensure that they're appropriate! There is NO reason whatsoever to be shooting at f13 and ISO 12,800! Likewise, 22mm is NOT an ideal focal length for portraiture (go with >50mm). Opening up to f4, you would have been around ISO 1000ish ('though I have to say, I'm very impressed with the quality of the image for that ISO). I'm not sure how come the image is soft since at those settings, your DoF was somewhere around 3'! Were you by any chance manually focusing?

In short, this is one for the bit-bucket and a re-shoot is in order.

amolitor · Jun 2, 2013

The image quality was obliterated by noise reduction, and f/13 etc etc as noted above. I'd apply an "oil painting" effect to it and pretend I meant to do that

The pose is good, I'd get in either a little closer or a little further away, though. This crop feels a little awkward, neither intimate nor open.

The light feels a little flat, possibly a touch of an S-curve adjustment in post would get a bit more pop.

Granddad · Jun 2, 2013

To be blunt; when I was at this stage of the game I didn't put a copyright mark on my photos. No one is going to steal them.
Don't be insulted, stick around, take the stick and learn from your mistakes. If you can take constructive criticism this is a great place to learn.

pixmedic · Jun 2, 2013

amolitor said:
The image quality was obliterated by noise reduction, and f/13 etc etc as noted above. I'd apply an "oil painting" effect to it and pretend I meant to do that

The pose is good, I'd get in either a little closer or a little further away, though. This crop feels a little awkward, neither intimate nor open.

The light feels a little flat, possibly a touch of an S-curve adjustment in post would get a bit more pop.

Oil painting effect?!?
seriously?!?
damn...I wish I had thought of that. It is a brilliant suggestion to possibly salvage this photo, which is otherwise a tosser.
no surprise I missed it though, im kinda lacking in the "artistic" department.

aside from everyone's comments, the only little nugget of wisdom i can offer is that you should never ever ever ever ever be "accidentally" in any camera setting. doubly so if you are shooting for a client. I am also trying to figure out your camera settings. you were in shutter priority at 1/125, yet the camera chose iso 12800 and f/13?
very strange, and another reason to be very aware of what settings your camera is choosing when not shooting in manual. never assume your camera is going to get it right. I learned how to shoot in manual by keeping an eye on the cameras meter, and occasionally looking at the screen after the shot. Your cameras meter (or a handheld one) is one of the greatest learning tools there is for photography.

chalk this one up to a learning experience. Toss this photo and re-shoot. I would not consider this one a keeper.