c&c please! :)

[dyliebug2]

I did some pictures of my boys when I was in my hometown over the holiday weekend, and would love some feedback. I know I know, same subject, but I am practicing!

 

[reznap]

Exposure-wise, 3, 4 and 5 look good. #1 is underexposed (or a bit too dark anyway) and #2 is overexposed.

You're doing lots of things right I think, like getting down nice and low. I like the overall composition of #3, it's my favorite of the set. I like that there's more space to the right side of the photo which is also the direction he's looking in. I also like the sharpness, texture in clothes, depth of field and those big cheeks. #4's a nice moment captured. #2's kind of weak in terms of composition: He's centered, there's a very obvious tilt and one's eyes tend to go to bright areas - which in this case is the lake in the background. #1 might benefit from a crop - I'd take some off the left side and all the way down to the water on top.

The color tones now. #1, #3 and #4 look pretty good. There's a decent amount of warmth, white balance looks natural enough. In the other two, 2 and 5, the skin tones come across overly cool and somewhat pale - because he's in the shade most likely. You can fix that in post but it's a little bit of a PITA. Hard to know when the auto white balance is gonna goof, but in the future experiment with "cloudy" or "shade" if you're taking picture on a sunny day of someone who's under the shade of a tree or something.

I submit all these opinions to you humbly as someone else who's learning.

 

[dyliebug2]

Appreciate your feedback. Yeah, I thought #1 was dark. It was taken in the sunlight in midafternoon. Is there anything that I could have done different to help it not be like that?

 

[robertwsimpson]

hope you don't mind, but I really liked #1, so I tried to help it out a little...

edits were:
1. recrop for composition (rule of thirds)
2. adjust levels (lighten)
3. dodge dark areas around face
4. burn distracting areas (background)
5. USM sharpening to entire photo

hope you like it!

 

[reznap]

^ Good edit

 

[dyliebug2]

Fabulous edit! I love what you did with it. I dont have Photoshop, I really need to invest in it. I do some edits on photoshop.com but it isnt the same.

 

[lunaaa]

2. beautifull but i kind of like the edit better.
3.how cute.
4.i dont like the composition i thought its cut off .

 

[katy625]

something i notice about all of them is your son/sons are centered in the pic. maybe next time u can practice a bit on rule of thirds. Of course you can center subjects and the pic will work but lots of pics will shine when u use the rule of thirds. Also if you can, take another adult with you who can hold a reflector or white foam core board so you can lessen those harsh shadows caused by the strong sunlight.
The boys are absolutely adorable...the pics just need a little tweek in those two things above

 

[dyliebug2]

I have some other pictures from the photoshoot that arent centered. Ill try to add a couple on here later tonight, I have my son sleeping on me right now.