Critique and encouragement

Stephaniehrrsn · Jun 17, 2011

I am wanting to take photos for a living but I got a ways to go. I have pick 4 of my favourite pictures of my son that I recently done, and here there are. What do you think? I Didn't really do much editing to them. I did some on picnik and some one i have quickly come to look up to tore them apart with out saying anything and can't wait to see what ya'll have to say.

Kerbouchard · Jun 17, 2011

Well, the first and fourth are a bit difficult to critique because of the grass in the way of the subject.

For the second, I would say you should pay a bit more attention to the background. Anything that doesn't add to the photo and that might be distracting are things you may want to leave out of the frame.

I think your third is the best of the four, but you can tell the sun seems to be bothering your son and he is squinting.

All of these have something in common, and that is that they are taken in full mid day sun. Taking photos when the sun is directly overhead is probably the most challenging lighting condition most photographers will face. It causes harsh shadows and can made the subject squint or be uncomfortable. All 4 of these would have benefited from a different time of the day, or placing the subject in the shade so that the entire sky becomes a large light source.

Generally, taking photos on overcast days, in the shade, or during sunrise/sunset hours is best to show your subject in a flattering way. Mid-day sun is always tough.

Derrel · Jun 17, 2011

A book that talks about lighting, and finding, or making, good portrait lighting, would really help you. John Hedgecoe wrote something like a dozen or more books, each one illustrated with HUNDREDS of photos, showing the reader how to work with different types of lighting conditions. Mid-day in a hayfield is just a really lousy time of day--unless you have some way to diffuse the light that is hitting a small child. Another thing that I like to point out, is that when a person's ears are "lighted up" from back light or side-lighting, that is simply not a good place or pose...in your second shot, you can see how his ear is all lighted up, right? That's quite distracting.

Now, had you moved right up to that old rusty tractor's back tire and wheel, on "this" side of the tractor, it looks like there MIGHT have been some shade, where you could have positioned him, right by the tire....maybe even sitting on the bottom of the rim, and encircled by the big old tire....that might have made a cute "farm boy" type of shot. There would have been some shade underneath the engine area too, where he could have been placed, crawling...that would have created some shade,and given you kind of a cute prop....the hay is simply not enough...

e.rose · Jun 17, 2011

Aside from what I told you at TN...

#1 - Honestly is no good because of the grass as Kerbouchard said. It's completely covering your son, which is the subject and takes away from the image.

#2 - Again I agree with Kerbouchard about the background. You could also stand for some fill flash, but I'm not sure if you can control that on your camera. Look into getting (or making) a couple reflectors that you can use. I'm also not a fan of the framing in this one. He's dead center, which is uninteresting, and the bar your shooting through cuts off his feet from his body which is sort of awkward. If those two front bars weren't there it wouldn't be as bad, but as it stands they're distracting.

#3 - With Kerbouchard again (I should have just quoted you. :lol:

). This is the best of the 3... but his eyes are closed because of the sun. You cut off his shoe, he's dead center again, and those blurry pieces of grass sticking up on the right side of the frame are distracting.

#4 - He's centered again... *and* covered by grass again... *and* too small in the frame, in my opinion.

This is what I meant about composition when I was talking to you at TN. I know you don't have a DSLR right now, but you can keep shooting with the camera you've got and practice the things that Kerbouchard and I have mentioned. Research and learn more about composition. Look up the Rule of Thirds. Look at other people's threads here and critique them (even if it's to yourself) and see what others are saying about it and if you can see the same things they're picking out, or even if some of their critique matched yours.

It's a giant learning process, haha.

I know you had asked about starting a business at TN, and in all honesty... you're not ready for that. I know that you said that people tell you your good, but like I said, family and friends are unintentional liers. Their opinions are not to be trusted, haha.

Does that mean you'll NEVER get there? Absolutely not. It just means that you have get the basics down, work hard, and keep learning.

We all had to start somewhere. :sillysmi:

Stephaniehrrsn · Jun 17, 2011

Kerbouchard said:
Well, the first and fourth are a bit difficult to critique because of the grass in the way of the subject.

For the second, I would say you should pay a bit more attention to the background. Anything that doesn't add to the photo and that might be distracting are things you may want to leave out of the frame.

I think your third is the best of the four, but you can tell the sun seems to be bothering your son and he is squinting.

All of these have something in common, and that is that they are taken in full mid day sun. Taking photos when the sun is directly overhead is probably the most challenging lighting condition most photographers will face. It causes harsh shadows and can made the subject squint or be uncomfortable. All 4 of these would have benefited from a different time of the day, or placing the subject in the shade so that the entire sky becomes a large light source.

Generally, taking photos on overcast days, in the shade, or during sunrise/sunset hours is best to show your subject in a flattering way. Mid-day sun is always tough.

Does it help to know that the first and fourth ones I wanted the grass like that? the four is pretty much for the tractor. My son has a toy tractor that he loves and I wanted to get a picture of him with it and he couldn't sit on it for lack of a sturdy seat. I must say its one of my favourites.

The second one he's not squinting, he just has really chubby checks.

Kerbouchard · Jun 17, 2011

No, I am afraid it doesn't help. Regardless of whether your goal was for the grass to obscure the subject or not, the fact is it makes the photo fail as a whole. I never doubted that it was intentional. I just think it isn't a good idea.

For number four, using a wider lens, with your son closer to the tractor and the tractor filling up a larger part of the frame would have made for a nice shot. But that isn't what happened here. The boy and the tractor are too small in the frame and don't really show a connection other than both of them happen to be in the picture for a viewer to draw the connection that you were going for.

As far as the second one...he may have chubby cheeks, but he is in full sun, and yes, he is squinting. Regardless of the squinting, the shadows are harsh, and a point light source, like the Sun, overhead, is not the most flattering of lighting conditions for anybody.

Next time, try taking some shots in the shade and some shots in the sun. See which ones you like better, because when it comes to pictures of your son, your opinion is the only one that really matters.

e.rose · Jun 17, 2011

Stephaniehrrsn said:
Does it help to know that the first and fourth ones I wanted the grass like that?

Kerbouchard said:
No, I am afraid it doesn't help. Regardless of whether your goal was for the grass to obscure the subject or not, the fact is it makes the photo fail as a whole. I never doubted that it was intentional. I just think it isn't a good idea.

Exactly.

Steph, it may have been your intention to hide him in the grass, but it doesn't work. Don't feel bad though, we've all done things intentionally only to have people come back and tell us it doesn't work. It's all part of the process. As you learn more and your composition skills grow stronger, you'll look back at that one and wonder what you were thinking, haha. You'll get better at spotting things like that and differentiating between a good idea and one that just won't work. It takes forever to master that though... *I'M* definitely still working at it.

None of this is meant to be discouraging either... I just want to throw that out there... it's just meant to discourage you to take a closer, harder look at your images, learn from them and improve! That's all we're trying to do here. :sillysmi:

Stephaniehrrsn · Jun 17, 2011

e.rose said:
Aside from what I told you at TN...

#1 - Honestly is no good because of the grass as Kerbouchard said. It's completely covering your son, which is the subject and takes away from the image.

#2 - Again I agree with Kerbouchard about the background. You could also stand for some fill flash, but I'm not sure if you can control that on your camera. Look into getting (or making) a couple reflectors that you can use. I'm also not a fan of the framing in this one. He's dead center, which is uninteresting, and the bar your shooting through cuts off his feet from his body which is sort of awkward. If those two front bars weren't there it wouldn't be as bad, but as it stands they're distracting.

#3 - With Kerbouchard again (I should have just quoted you. ). This is the best of the 3... but his eyes are closed because of the sun. You cut off his shoe, he's dead center again, and those blurry pieces of grass sticking up on the right side of the frame are distracting.

#4 - He's centered again... *and* covered by grass again... *and* too small in the frame, in my opinion.

This is what I meant about composition when I was talking to you at TN. I know you don't have a DSLR right now, but you can keep shooting with the camera you've got and practice the things that Kerbouchard and I have mentioned. Research and learn more about composition. Look up the Rule of Thirds. Look at other people's threads here and critique them (even if it's to yourself) and see what others are saying about it and if you can see the same things they're picking out, or even if some of their critique matched yours.

It's a giant learning process, haha.

I know you had asked about starting a business at TN, and in all honesty... you're not ready for that. I know that you said that people tell you your good, but like I said, family and friends are unintentional liers. Their opinions are not to be trusted, haha.

Does that mean you'll NEVER get there? Absolutely not. It just means that you have get the basics down, work hard, and keep learning.

We all had to start somewhere. :sillysmi:

Ok after you pointed out those things I completely see it now. I really never noticed the feet being cut off in the second one until you said something. The third one, I can assure you his eyes are not closed because of the sun. that is just his big ol' smile!

Bitter Jeweler · Jun 17, 2011

7 Deadly Sins of the Emerging Pro « PhotoCynic

Please read this, tongue in cheek. There are important things to think about, if you can get past the sarcasm.

Stephaniehrrsn · Jun 17, 2011

I want to thank you all for commenting. you have given me a lot to think about. Now I have a question. In the third picture his big smile makes it look like his eyes are closed because of the sun, now I know his smile from his eyes being closed, but looking at it if I didnt know him i ould probably think the same thing. Should I try to get him from smiling that big?

Kerbouchard · Jun 17, 2011

Stephaniehrrsn said:
I want to thank you all for commenting. you have given me a lot to think about. Now I have a question. In the third picture his big smile makes it look like his eyes are closed because of the sun, now I know his smile from his eyes being closed, but looking at it if I didnt know him i ould probably think the same thing. Should I try to get him from smiling that big?

Definitely, not. If that is his natural expression, than that is what will really connect with anybody viewing the image. My point was more to get him into some diffused, softer light, where the shadows are a bit less harsh and the lighting is a bit more flattering. Like I said, it was definitely the best of the four, I just think it would have been better if you would have been in a little less harsh lighting conditions.