Finally-Some Photos!

[Jen Puleo]

Here are my kids.

 

[manaheim]

Hey Jen. I like the first one, though it is a touch underexposed. Maybe bring it up a touch.

The second one is fine as a snapshot kind of thing but it looks like you used a direct flash so you get some harsh reflections and shadows that are a bit unfortunate. Possibly the third one, too, though it's hard to be sure from the picture. A great thing to add to your photokit would be a good quality external flash that you can bounce off the ceiling or wall. This would help deal with this problem and some of the more basic versions of this can be had for relatively short money.

What focal length did you use on the third one? Was that a wide angle?

What equipment are you using? Camera? Lenses?

 

[Jen Puleo]

I have a Nikon D40. I don't remember which of my lenses I was using for these photos. I have the standard 18-55 mm & the 55-200 mm. I think I was just really close to my daughter in the 3rd photo.

I've never used an external flash. Does that fill in the dark spaces more than a standard flash?

 

[AmberBella]

Ak, find some good natural light and put down that flash!

 

[LaFoto]

The first one's nice, albeit a bit dark, but the natural light and the water helps it. The crop is way close, though, you even "cut" into his lower lip, and I think that's a flaw.

Also I'm not sure I'm too fond of your getting THAT close to your daughter. If you did so with the kit lens, you must have taken a wide angle photo of her, and there is distortion with is quite unflattering. Again, I find the crop too close, too, with half her head cut off, but still so much neck to be seen. Why not go vertical on a face photo?

 

[manaheim]

The first one's nice, albeit a bit dark, but the natural light and the water helps it. The crop is way close, though, you even "cut" into his lower lip, and I think that's a flaw.

Also I'm not sure I'm too fond of your getting THAT close to your daughter. If you did so with the kit lens, you must have taken a wide angle photo of her, and there is distortion with is quite unflattering. Again, I find the crop too close, too, with half her head cut off, but still so much neck to be seen. Why not go vertical on a face photo?

Yeah, that's kind of where I was driving. Shots taken really close to people's faces (especially with wide angle lenses) do really awful things to them.

You should see the pic I took of my mom (who has a rather prodigious nose to begin with) using a 10mm lense, with her dead center in the image. Yeek.

 

[manaheim]

I have a Nikon D40. I don't remember which of my lenses I was using for these photos. I have the standard 18-55 mm & the 55-200 mm. I think I was just really close to my daughter in the 3rd photo.

I've never used an external flash. Does that fill in the dark spaces more than a standard flash?

Whoops, missed this.

An external flash will (USUALLY... make sure you get one that does) have the capability to redirect the light up at the ceiling or sideways or backwards at a wall. This will allow you to avoid the harsh shadows and reflections that you see in some of your pictures. (like the glare on the frontmost portions of your Son's face and the shadow under your daughter's chin.)

Here is an example of a shot I took of my daughter that I use occasionally to demonstrate this...

See the shadows are still there... where there is light, there are shadows. They are less harsh, however. And, btw, this wasn't the best execution either... it just happens to also be one of my favorite pictures of my daughter so I toss it out a lot.