I hate (love) this forum

[Raos]

I really hate this forum. Every time I think I have improved my photography I come here and see everyone elses shots that make mine look like they were taken by a blind infant. Well at least I can learn from all of you!

I have been away from this forum for a while, but have recently started to get more serious about my photography and have upped my skill a little bit so I am kind of excited about some of my recent images. i took this one at our memorial day parade. The boys right arm should not be out of focus like that and I will be trying to fix that at some point, but don't have the time to do that right now. Any comments, criticism, and advice is welcome. Thanks!

 

[cgipson1]

I would stay away from fake Photoshop BLUR... it looks terrible! Cute shot, though!

 

[Raos]

It was done with Bokeh 2. Thanks for the advice.

 

[pgriz]

Soooo... The image of the boy is excellent - good focus, good light, excellent dof. Now, you just need to choose your background better. That is easy to say, often hard to do, so the next best thing is anticipation, looking for the photographic opportunities and projecting in your mind what will be where. If what's in your line of sight is not going to be good, use the tools at your disposal (focal length, depth-of-field, change of location, etc.) to get you a better shot. The thing is, it takes time to learn to pay attention to four things: The main subject, the foreground, the background, and the frame perimeter stuff. We all focus on the main subject. The really good photographers manage to control all four.

 

[Ernicus]

I really like that picture. I too think the fake blur takes away instead of adds. but that is a nice capture.

 

[Raos]

Thank you for your comments everyone. I guess the fake blur is a loser. Good to know (and you saved me some cash as I will not be buying that software now)

pgriz, I hear ya. This particular shot I did not have time to take anything into consideration at all. I had a fraction of a second between when I saw the possibility of a shot to when I would lose the chance to take it. I had no time to compose or even look at the background, let alone rearrange the shot. that is actually why I user Bokeh 2. I knew the background was crap so I was hoping to blur it to take some focus away and redirect the eye to the boy..http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/members/68030.html

 

[Joel_W]

Not thrilled with your choice of composition. The young boy is the subject, the only subject. The out of focus feet to the left are still noticable and very distracting. I would have cropped your image much differently.

 

[Robin Usagani]

Yeah, instead of spending money on that software, get a long fast lens. Like 85mm 1.4 or something. Get a real out of focus blur!

 

[Raos]

I do have other lenses that would have been more suited to this shot Schetty, but since I have less than a second to recognize and take the shot I was not able to have the luxory of picking the right lens at that time.

 

[luvmyfamily]

I love the expression on his his face, nice and sharp image! I agree to stay away from fake blur. You can even get a shallow DOF with a 50mm f.1.8, no need to go all college

 

[unpopular]

I offer free ego boosts at my flickr. It's really a win-win kind of thing. You get to think you're a better photographer, I get to think I'm an intellectual elitist.

 

[Raos]

LOL :thumbup:

 

[pgriz]

Raos, I think Joel is onto something. Crop the picture tight, and you've eliminated most of the distractions.

 

[Skhigh]

i have to say, the expression that you caught is amazing. Almost makes me want to cry...children have such real emotion and to capture it is amazing. Great shot (minus the fake blur...which everyone has stated)

 

[Raos]

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate all the comments. They are very helpful. I am going to try to crop it to see if I can make that work. I love the hat over his heart though, but that is because I was there and know the story behind it (that it was memorial day and the boy was showing his respect to the soldiers by putting his hat there) and when I crop it I do not see how I will do that without either cutting out the hat or keeping it in, but then there is still the distracting blur. I guess I will have to play with it and see what I can do.