Emma by the Sea (C&C Welcome)

manaheim · Apr 27, 2009

Yeah, I know a picture of my kids, but I thought this one was particularly cool with the ocean as the background, her facial expression, yadda yadda. Feel free to rip it apart if you disagree. I'm not one of those defensive parents... I'm a photographer.

Thanks for looking!

manaheim · Apr 28, 2009

Bumpage?

stsinner · Apr 28, 2009

Chris, I love that photo!! The calm look on her face with the grumpy ocean in the background with just the right amount of bokeh is awesome!! Nice work.

manaheim · Apr 28, 2009

stsinner said:
Chris, I love that photo!! The calm look on her face with the grumpy ocean in the background with just the right amount of bokeh is awesome!! Nice work.

Thanks, man! I appreciate the comments. I hadn't considered the juxtaposition of the sea vs. her face, but I had zeroed in on this particular exposure because of her expression. I'm glad you mentioned that.

Seefutlung · Apr 28, 2009

This is very nice. The horizon cutting through her head is slightly distracting ...but there isn't much you can do about that as this was shot at her eye level. If this was my shot I'd try a sepia for that timeless quality of B&W.

Gary

BrandonS · Apr 28, 2009

I really like the expression on your daughters face in this picture. The lighting looks natural. Is it all natural or did you use a small amount of flash.

manaheim · Apr 28, 2009

Seefutlung said:
This is very nice. The horizon cutting through her head is slightly distracting ...but there isn't much you can do about that as this was shoot at her eye level. If this was my shot I'd try a sepia for that timeless quality of B&W.

You know, I wondered if anyone would key in on the horizon thing... I struggled with it a bit since I really liked the sky and water mix, but "bobbing up and down like an idiot" (as my wife described it

), I couldn't find another way to frame it that I liked better.

Sephia might be neat, particularly with some of the patterns from the water. I'll play with that. I actually want to hit it again and boost saturation and contrast a bit, too... I think in my rush last night to correct so many photos that I wasn't being critical enough on my PP.

Thanks for the comments, glad you liked the shot.

BrandonS said:
I really like the expression on your daughters face in this picture. The lighting looks natural. Is it all natural or did you use a small amount of flash.

Thanks! Yes, natural light coming in from the setting sun to the west with her facing east (this was the Florida east coast). It also wasn't direct light as there is a big "beach wall" consisting of sand and Sea Grape trees.

manaheim · Apr 28, 2009

I redid this because it seemed flat and somewhat colorless... I think I was just too tired last night to be correcting pics.

stsinner · Apr 28, 2009

manaheim said:
I redid this because it seemed flat and somewhat colorless... I think I was just too tired last night to be correcting pics.

Wow, Chris-the vivid color and clarity are gorgeous in this edit!! Forget about the horizon cutting her off-if has to cut off at some point, and it's just a good shot!!

invisible · Apr 28, 2009

Both edits look great, but I'm partial to the first one. The ocean (no, the whole background) looks like painted, and your daughter looks beautiful. My only suggestion would be to try and lighten her face a bit.

manaheim · Apr 28, 2009

stsinner said:
Wow, Chris-the vivid color and clarity are gorgeous in this edit!! Forget about the horizon cutting her off-if has to cut off at some point, and it's just a good shot!!

Thanks again!

I'm a lot happier with the new edit myself. I really don't know what I was smoking last night when I did my first pass on these images.

invisible said:
Both edits look great, but I'm partial to the first one. The ocean (no, the whole background) looks like painted, and your daughter looks beautiful. My only suggestion would be to try and lighten her face a bit.

Thanks, Frederico! I'm surprised you like the first one better- very interesting, though. I'll play with lightening her face a bit... I don't want to go too far as it was actually somewhat dark at the time, but it might be nice to get more of her features.

BTilson · Apr 29, 2009

Hey Chris, this is an EXCELLLLLLLENT shot. Seriously, this is wonderful. In my opinion, the horizon through her head does nothing to detract from the shot whatsoever. As far as your edits go, I like your daughter from the second one, but the background from the first one. In the second one, I feel that the ocean is a bit too blue/saturated looking, but that's just my personal opinion. As I said, GREAT shot. I'm a dad myself (of 2 boys though) so I know how great it is to get an excellent shot of your kids. Congrats!

manaheim · Apr 30, 2009

BTilson said:
Hey Chris, this is an EXCELLLLLLLENT shot. Seriously, this is wonderful. In my opinion, the horizon through her head does nothing to detract from the shot whatsoever. As far as your edits go, I like your daughter from the second one, but the background from the first one. In the second one, I feel that the ocean is a bit too blue/saturated looking, but that's just my personal opinion. As I said, GREAT shot. I'm a dad myself (of 2 boys though) so I know how great it is to get an excellent shot of your kids. Congrats!

Thanks, BTilson! I agree the sea is a bit funky in the second one, but I think I like it.

Yeah, I'm totally jazzed about a great picture of her... definitely a shot that we'll look back on throughout her life and remember as a special moment kind of thing.

Thanks for the comments. I'm very glad people have responded as viscerally (sp?) to this one as I did... makes me think I got not only a nice shot of my daughter, but maybe just a nice shot in general. Yay!