Lookin for some brutal honesty

thelittlewhimsy · Jan 17, 2012

Greetings All!

I'm new to this forum, but not to photography. I put the camera down for a long time, but I've recently gotten my love of the camera back! I took these photos during a rare moment of peace with my little one, and I was hoping for some brutal honest feedback- I can handle it! What can I do better? I appreciate any and all feedback!

dxqcanada · Jan 17, 2012

Hmm, I do not have much to say to improve the images ... except the brown tone, as I prefer a more B&W tonality.
The background on the last image is interfering, especially on the left.
You did very well in capturing the moment.

thelittlewhimsy · Jan 17, 2012

dxqcanada said:
Hmm, I do not have much to say to improve the images ... except the brown tone, as I prefer a more B&W tonality.
The background on the last image is interfering, especially on the left.
You did very well in capturing the moment.

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated! Totally agree with the background interference- probably could have composed it differently- something to work on

I was also having doubts about the brightness, are the pictures too dark? Are they bright enough?

I connect to them, but I find myself doubting whether they are done well from a technical perspective.

dxqcanada · Jan 17, 2012

The exposure is good.
You have both the darks and the lights ... with details in both.

Derrel · Jan 17, 2012

I think the contrast is a bit too high in the top photo; his cheek on the window side is blown out and his shirt front is really inky and dark. The upper right quadrant on the second one is quite "hot" as well...it just fades to white. The bottom picture could benefit from a bit of lightening on his face and eyes...I would probably do it by using the Dodge tool, maybe a 20 pixel diameter, soft-edged brush, and just dodge his face and eyes a bit.

The sepia tone--I like it, quite a bit. I love that tone! I like these types of quiet, unposed kid pictures,and when my son was his age, I shot quite a few images of times like this. THey might not mean much to "other people", but as family photos, these types of shots grow more and more valuable with each passing year.

manaheim · Jan 17, 2012

I saw them each and thought "Nice moment, nice emotion, nice exposure, nice treatment". Given that these aren't of MY kid and I still "felt" them, I can only imagine how special they are to you. Very nice, if you ask me.

thelittlewhimsy · Jan 17, 2012

Derrel said:
I think the contrast is a bit too high in the top photo; his cheek on the window side is blown out and his shirt front is really inky and dark. The upper right quadrant on the second one is quite "hot" as well...it just fades to white. The bottom picture could benefit from a bit of lightening on his face and eyes...I would probably do it by using the Dodge tool, maybe a 20 pixel diameter, soft-edged brush, and just dodge his face and eyes a bit.

The sepia tone--I like it, quite a bit. I love that tone! I like these types of quiet, unposed kid pictures,and when my son was his age, I shot quite a few images of times like this. THey might not mean much to "other people", but as family photos, these types of shots grow more and more valuable with each passing year.

Good call on the dodge tool, I think I'll give that a shot tomorrow, thanks! I might also tinker with the brightness as well! I completely agree with your thoughts on the sentiment of the photos- these seem much more endearing that the usual snapshot I get of him

thelittlewhimsy · Jan 17, 2012

manaheim said:
I saw them each and thought "Nice moment, nice emotion, nice exposure, nice treatment". Given that these aren't of MY kid and I still "felt" them, I can only imagine how special they are to you. Very nice, if you ask me.

Thanks! My goal in this shoot, was just to capture shots that connects with the viewer, and it's really nice to know you felt it!

Frequency · Jan 18, 2012

How beautiful these images are, especially the last one!!!
The second image is very artistically composed; the beauty of this image is the placing him in one corner from where one's attention is drawn towards his quarter hidden eye. If you want me to say something negative too, that is the non-inclusion of his head fully within the frame in the last image

Regards and much love for the kid

thelittlewhimsy · Jan 20, 2012

Frequency said:
How beautiful these images are, especially the last one!!!
The second image is very artistically composed; the beauty of this image is the placing him in one corner from where one's attention is drawn towards his quarter hidden eye. If you want me to say something negative too, that is the non-inclusion of his head fully within the frame in the last image

Regards and much love for the kid

Wow! Thanks Frequency! This just made my day

Joey_Ricard · Jan 20, 2012

Really nice series. Excellent eye for capturing emotion.
The first one if the only one to me that might draw any mention and that is obviously what someone already pointed out - the unbalanced contrast between cheeks, but that is an easy fix in editing with a mask layer.

Again, really nice series.

PapaMatt · Jan 20, 2012

You captured a very special moment in a childs life in a way that moves the heart and soul of all who view these. I am not a PRO but I do know what makes me feel an emotion, you have done well.

jwbryson1 · Jan 20, 2012

Love these images. Great emotion. Well done.

Postman158 · Jan 24, 2012

Great pictures! I love them all, but number 1 especially.

thelittlewhimsy · Jan 24, 2012

Thanks everyone! I got these on my canon rebel xti with a 50mm @ 1.8- right off window light. I shot in AV priority mode. After reading through posts on this forum, I'm second guessing my abilities- did I just get lucky? Did I intuitively know what to do? It's been so long since I shot, who knows, but I'm getting back into the re-learning the technicals again- but these pics are definitely what I needed to find my love for taking pictures again