Help me choose for my christmas card

allison_dcp

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I attempted 'twinkle lights' for my christmas card with my son. The first 2 I had trouble getting a good bokeh, so I did layers. The 3rd one worked withougt layering. Opinions? 50mm @ 1.8 1/250 and 200ISO. Also this was my first session with my new speedlight. I LOVE IT:)
1. $1.jpg
2.$2.jpg
3.$3.jpg
 
They all look great! Makes it hard to choose!

If I had to choose, it would be #3...again, great shots!
 
they seem just a tad soft to me.. especially #1. why did you use f/1.8 if you had good lighting and a speedlight? the 50mm tends to be a little soft wide open. if you have good lighting, try it at f/4 or f/5.6, it should be sharper at that aperture.

for me, #3 is the best of the group, baby is looking at camera, great expression, holding the ornament out. #2 is a tosser except as a random snapshot. in #1 the OOF ornaments are distracting, the pics with them in focus are much better.
 
Like the concept but all of them are soft, underexposed and white balance is off. Where were you placing the focus points? 1.8 does not leave much wiggle room.
 
I am a rookie but even I can see that #3 is far better than the other two. #1 is too blurry, #2 has no eyes and a double-chin. #3 is sweet.
 
they seem just a tad soft to me.. especially #1. why did you use f/1.8 if you had good lighting and a speedlight? the 50mm tends to be a little soft wide open. if you have good lighting, try it at f/4 or f/5.6, it should be sharper at that aperture.

for me, #3 is the best of the group, baby is looking at camera, great expression, holding the ornament out. #2 is a tosser except as a random snapshot. in #1 the OOF ornaments are distracting, the pics with them in focus are much better.

My guess is so she could get decent bokeh with the lights. Op I like #3
 
I agree with the C&C from pixmedic and the others, in terms of how to improve these.

That said, unless you are planning to send your cards out to professional photographers (or a bunch of serious hobbyist photographers), your family and friends are gonna absolutely LOVE #3. It's definitely the Christmas card winner!
 
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they seem just a tad soft to me.. especially #1. why did you use f/1.8 if you had good lighting and a speedlight? the 50mm tends to be a little soft wide open. if you have good lighting, try it at f/4 or f/5.6, it should be sharper at that aperture.

for me, #3 is the best of the group, baby is looking at camera, great expression, holding the ornament out. #2 is a tosser except as a random snapshot. in #1 the OOF ornaments are distracting, the pics with them in focus are much better.

My guess is so she could get decent bokeh with the lights. Op I like #3
This
 
If you want bokeh at the expense of sharp pictures, ok. You would still get bokeh a stop or two down, but also get a sharper image. If you and the family are happy with the results than that's all that matters. I dont like the "soft" look so for me, i wouldn't be happy.
 
If you want bokeh at the expense of sharp pictures, ok. You would still get bokeh a stop or two down, but also get a sharper image. If you and the family are happy with the results than that's all that matters. I dont like the "soft" look so for me, i wouldn't be happy.
I will try it. I also dont like the soft look, and I feel like all my photos have it!
 
I will try it. I also dont like the soft look, and I feel like all my photos have it!

I'm sincerely not saying this in a snarky way but do you shoot real wide a lot because often that leads to soft images/ missed focus? Stop that puppy down a little. Are you using single point focus on the eyes? Do you have a UV filter on the lens? Your focus in the 3rd image is on the ornament and given your f/ stop and distance you only have about 1-2 inches of focus.
 
I will try it. I also dont like the soft look, and I feel like all my photos have it!

I'm sincerely not saying this in a snarky way but do you shoot real wide a lot because often that leads to soft images/ missed focus? Stop that puppy down a little. Are you using single point focus on the eyes? Do you have a UV filter on the lens? Your focus in the 3rd image is on the ornament and given your f/ stop and distance you only have about 1-2 inches of focus.
I usually shoot in f/1.8. I photograph my son alot indoors, so I needed that. Now that I have my speedlight I will use a smaller f-stop. I use one focal point then re-composition. Not snarky at all, I'm open to criticism.
 
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the third one! Great Shots!
 

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