Candid portraits of children...C&C please =)

[Sammie_Lou]

Just some candids from a children's party I attended today. The subjects are 2 years old...in the second pic, they were spying on the neighbor's dogs. lol Taking pics of kids was WAY harder than I thought...they never stop! I'd have them in the viewfinder one second and by the time I take the picture, they're on the other side of the yard. lol Thanks!

#1

DSC_0902 by SHerren88, on Flickr

#2

DSC_0957 by SHerren88, on Flickr

 

[SoonerBJJ]

I like #2 but it appears slightly over-processed. Did you sharpen much in PP?

 

[Sammie_Lou]

No...I didn't do any PP except for cropping. I don't have any software like that on my computer right now so what I can do as far as PP is verrrrrry limited. I did have the sharpness turned up via in camera setting, though. Maybe it's a combo of that and the cropping??

 

[The_Traveler]

First one is absolutely terrific with, IMO, a couple of changes.
Nice pose, composition, great sharpness but his eyes are eery black pools, lighten those enough to see color and a catch light. Then darken and flatten the contrast a bit to give it more impact and make it more lustrous.

In the second, while the action is nice, the perspective distortion hurts and the oversharpening just kills it. Way, way too crunchy.
Go back to the original and fix the distortion in the fence horizontal and verticals and be easier with the sharpening.
If it isn't sharp enough, then use a very, very small watercolor filter to make it more impressionistic.

 

[The_Traveler]

Just saw your post about the software and the PPing.
Get some software. PS Element, PhotoPro, Gimp, something.
PPing is 50% of digital images - or more.
Turn down sharpening, learn to shoot in raw.

 

[Sammie_Lou]

THANK YOU for that fix to his eyes! I don't have software to do that yet. lol I really need to get PS on here and learn it. When my computer crashed and I lost it, getting it back wasn't a priority because I'm clueless as to how to use it. =)

And thanks for the critiques, guys! =)

 

[Sammie_Lou]

Does anyone know if Picasa can do any of the things that you're talking about?? Just something free to use until I can afford to get PS again.

 

[The_Traveler]

A sensor sees and the camera processes; they have no idea what will make the picture better.
That's where PPing comes in.
Get some software,
Learning how to do things isn't such a problem, there are thousands of tutorials on line.
It is crucial to learn to look at the picture and actually see what is wrong, what is keeping it from being better.
Look at as many pictures and critiques as you can and then use the lessons you read there.

Look at this below.
By lowering the contrast and lowering both the skin tone and the background, it looks more saturated. Lips become redder and realer and the face gets more 'sensuous' These aren't tricks so much as knowing why the original wasn't as satisfactory.