Carter C&C

shadow3829 · Oct 14, 2013

I am very new to this. I've been waiting to have one I was brave enough to post. This is a picture I got last night of my grandson. Please give me feedback on what I could have done to improve and just general C&C. I had to correct it a good bit in Lightroom. I had tried my speedlight for the first time and thought it added way to much light. I'm not sure what I had wrong with that. The only way I know to improve is from my mistakes. I just need to figure out what they are.

F2.5
ISO400
200sec
35mm

shadow3829 · Oct 16, 2013

WOW! Did I say something wrong?

hopdaddy · Oct 16, 2013

shadow3829 said:
WOW! Did I say something wrong?

No ,There's not much wrong with it . If there was you would have many replies already ........lol

I like the pose ,and every thing looks great to me except the heavy shadow under the chin ,which you addressed already ....YOU DID GOOD !

play18now · Oct 16, 2013

You didn't say anything wrong by any means. I've had several threads go un-commented on. I've found I tend to get better feedback if I give more information. Ask more specific questions relating to specific things you don't like about the photograph, specific things you do like, things you would change, etc. I'm also curious what you did to it in Lightroom. The more information you give, the better. What camera and lens you were using, as what the lighting conditions were like it helpful too.

As far as general C&C , my major comment is be careful with how you use the flash. It's not that it's necessarily adding too much light, but it is how it adds the light that is important. The light appears (to my eye) to be fairly harsh and pointed directly at his face, which is what caused the sharp shadow underneath his chin. You can try any number of simple diffusers to help soften the light, or try moving the flash off the camera. Check out the Lighting 101 articles on Strobist for excellent advice on using flashes. That particular author is a big fan of off camera flash, but he gives lots of good tips for general lighting too. It's worth a read if you're new to using speedlights.

The_Traveler · Oct 16, 2013

Take many more pictures so he'll get used to you and won't have that fake smile.
Stop down a bit to f 5.6 so your depth of field won't be so shallow.
Don't use direct flash, it is harsh and burns out children's skin.

note the bright areas where there is no detail.

and post LARGER Pictures. (you aren't being charged by the pixel.)

shadow3829 · Oct 18, 2013

Thank y'all so much! That is the kind of feed back I was hoping for! I do have alot to learn about using flash. I had not even seen the shadows under his chin.