How'r My Composition and PP.. Taken with Remote

[stsinner]

I'd appreciate constructive criticism.. Lay it on me:

 

[Dionysus]

cute pic. you need to fix the red eyes. all of you have it in varying degrees. i, actually am a lover of selective coloring when done right, but i think in this pic it is actually distracting, and sort of out of place/forced. kind of draws your attention away from the whole picture, and you end up just focusing on the pacifier.

 

[stsinner]

cute pic. you need to fix the red eyes. all of you have it in varying degrees. i, actually am a lover of selective coloring when done right, but i think in this pic it is actually distracting, and sort of out of place/forced. kind of draws your attention away from the whole picture, and you end up just focusing on the pacifier.

Um.. It's a binky.


LOL, but seriously, I appreciate your post. I think the binky does detract from the picture, but in total BW, it just looked blah..

Can you really have red eye in a desaturated photo? I'm having trouble seeing it.. This is the original, and I just don't see it:

 

[Dionysus]

lol i have two kids too..binky is a common term here, but wanted to sound "official" LOL.

didnt think redeye would be seen in a desaturated photo, but its as plain as day on my screen, most prominently on the child on the left.

 

[Dionysus]

also since you think its bland, in plain BW...did you play around with the contrast/sharpness/black levels? sometimes that helps things pop out more in a BW photo.

 

[manaheim]

I was like "gee, those kids look familiar..." and then I realized it was stsinner. lol

 

[stsinner]

Damn it, Chris... a critique!!! Give me some c&c, man...

 

[kundalini]

With some forethought I think you would have had a more pleasant image.

Referring to the original (#2)

- The drapes, have them straight. The one on the left is letting in bright outside light through the window that could use a wash. It is distracting and also throws a reflection on the wall. Both are competing for attention and draws my eye. The right drape should have at least covered the window unit.

- The throw over the back of the couch should have been a) smoothed out to remove the wave over Dad's head and crease on the end b) if needed as a coverup, have been slid down to the cushions. As is, it creates a line that is not appealing.

- The pillow on the end.... need I say more?

- Your subjects are compositionally centered and does not appeal to me.

- IMO, if your PoV had been at eye level of the girl on the left, this would have been an improvement. It appears that you were just standing there when you pushed the shutter.

I do see red eye in the B&W.

I hope you find this constructive as it was meant.

 

[stsinner]

I do find it contructive, but I was so excited to have just received my IR remote that I thought I'd take a quick picture... (I wasn't, "standing there" when I depressed the shutter, but sitting front and center to the lens..)

I will admit that I didn't really prepare for the shot, but said, "Hey, let's try this neat little remote.."

Thanks for the critique.

I really am learning a lot form this.. No offense intended, but obviously in pictures like this, all I really expected people to look at is the kids or the people, in general, but what I get in forum after forum from people being critical is the surroundings and the shortcomings of those.. It is weird to me to look at a curtain in a portrait of some people, but I'm learning that this is what pros look at, and it is necessary to address these things before taking the picture. Never in my life have I looked at a family portrait and thought, "that curtain should be closed.." But I guess I need to start thinking that way, or remain a novice.. It is a difficult choice, when I just love looking at pictures and thinking, "boy, that's really neat," without commenting that the horizon is crooked. I've looked at this picture a hundred times and noticed only my babies and never once the curtain, but apparently strangers to whom my kids mean nothing notice the professional aspects of the image. I don't know why I'm still caught off guard by this candidness.

 

[kundalini]

My bad....... Lower the tripod then.

Congrats on the remote.

 

[stsinner]

My bad....... Lower the tripod then.

Congrats on the remote.

Thanks for your comments, really. I'm not really offended, but more enlightened. I have to be aware that people aren't going to be looking at my kids, but at the background, and I need to prepare for that. That's why we ask for critique, right?

So, kundalini, do you like the PP, or not? Just curious.

 

[manaheim]

Damn it, Chris... a critique!!! Give me some c&c, man...

hahaha... well, I'm a bit too late to the party. Everything that needs to be said has been said. Scoooooooooooby dooby dooooooooooooooo!!! :lmao:

Touching shot aside from the various issues, though.

 

[stsinner]

hahaha... well, I'm a bit too late to the party. Everything that needs to be said has been said. Scoooooooooooby dooby dooooooooooooooo!!! :lmao:

Touching shot aside from the various issues, though.

That damn pillow!!!

 

[kundalini]

I'm afraid you are correct sir. I assume you are here to learn along with me. Your top sentence was

I'd appreciate constructive criticism.. Lay it on me:

This could easily have been dismissed as just another family photo and passed on by. Again I assumed that you are striving to have family treasures or at least knock the socks off your family and friends when you show off your shots. This is why we're here. I've read some of your posts and you seem to care. The best medicine is to keep shooting and keep posting.

One final thought. Even if you do not feel comfortable giving critique, be one of the first viewers to look at photo that is posted (outside of beginners forum). In your mind really look at and study the photo. Try to figure out what they did to make it. What is right, what can be improved on and what is a disaster, how they used light, composition, PoV yadda, yadda, yadda. Go back later when several critiques have been posted and see if you picked up on the same things others did. This will help train your eye. Good luck.

 

[stsinner]

Very sound advice. Thank you.


Chris eats monkeys, and that's just not right.