How to make these photos more professional

[desertrattm2r12]

Cute photos. Both are not "way out of focus." You do need to nail the focus a bit better though. The hand inside the sleeve adds to her personality. "Perfect" photos are so dull. Don't be afraid to stop down a little. Very, very shallow depth of field is not photography, it is a very tired gimmick. It is "sthick." It is the flavor of the month and tastes like ratty socks the 7 millionth time you have seen it. These days, it is yesterday. So Old Hat. You don't have to stop down much to get a great photo. The subject of the photo is, well, the subject, and the zoomiest, cornball, here-we-go-again oof background is a minor thing.

 

[soufiej]

Thank you all so much! Seriously, very helpful! Do you think I could benefit from purchasing a speedlight? How hard are they to learn? I've been googling info on them, but I'm curious what everyone's thoughts are? Thanks again!

I'll be the contrarian and say you should not buy a Speedlight.

Not now, at least. Maybe in a few year's time. Otherwise, you may - probably will - turn into just another one of those people who buys all kinds of gear, has bags and bags of stuff they carry around, is always trying something new before they've learned how to use the last purchase, who never learns how to actually take a good photo and who never can remember how all the gear works together or why they even bought some of it.

That person eventually stops taking photos all together because they don't achieve decent results. They don't achieve good results because they are depending on all the inanimate gear to pull them through without ever realizing the most important component in good photography is a good photographer.

To paraphrase the NRA slogan; the only way to stop a being bad photographer is a to be a good photographer.

The buy more stuff photographers are confused and bewildered and they are that way because of their own confusion and bewilderment over how everything goes together and why doesn't it already know the rules and, why the hell doesn't all this expensive gear turn out better images than that $49 point and shoot their wife uses?

They are the folks who sell all their gear when they finally become frustrated with not being able to take good photos. They waste a lot of money and a lot of time on forums asking what they did wrong and how to make their photos more "professional". But they never quite catch on because their answer has always been to buy more stuff.



Learn your camera and learn the rules of good photography. There's little in your two images that could not have been compensated for with your present equipment supplemented by more knowledge and more patience.

Software will do the rest.

It's an old adage that far less expensive gear can create superior results when in the hands of the superior user. Superior set up is the first answer you need now, not just buying more stuff.

Speedlights of today aren't any harder to master than is your camera. However, why add one more thing to the mix when you have yet to learn your camera and your software. Those are two rather large hurdles to clear before you should be even thinking of more gear IMO.

There's nothing in your two images that software couldn't resolve that would warrant the use of a Speedlight. True, if you had a suplemental light source which you fully understood how to control and use well, then you wouldn't need the extra work with the software. But you've yet to acquire the better software or the skills to use it to the best of its abilities.

You don't need more confusion at this point.

Learn how to take a better photo with the existing equipment you now own.

Never ever, ever get into the mental mind set that more equipment will pull you out of a fix.

Learn to take the best photos possible with your gear and only buy new or more when there is no other alternative.

With today's cameras and today's software, that need is increasingly smaller and smaller.



Right now, you need to learn photography and you need to spend some time with your post production software choice. The other equipment can wait.

 

[davholla]

Was your camera at the same level as her?