My Niece's Second Birthday Party - constructive critisism is welcome =D

[Keena]

I'm not sure why they wont let me post the pictures on here it says "undefined" so I have to put links up again - sorry!
(if you know how to fix this please let me know =D)

I haven't gotten around to editing them much but I like these!

#1 - The Birthday Girl 12-6-2011 (218) | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
F-stop : f/16
Exposure time: 1/200sec
Focal length: 60mm
(flash, auto, strobe return)
It would've been on portrait mode or child mode

I really like this photo - I think it is because she actually smiled! I think with a little editing this one will be really good.

#2 - My Little Man 12-6-2011 (520) | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
F-stop: f/6.3
Exposure Time: 1/500sec
Focal length: 220mm
(no flash,auto)
It is on portrait or child mode again

Obviously I'm going to be bias about this photo because its my baby and its the first time he's seen seagulls up close! But I would still love to have your technical opinions.


#3 - Birthday Girl's Mummy and My Brother (definitely edited! =D) 12-6-2011 (620)edt | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
F-stop: f/5.3
Exposure Time: 1/500sec
Focal length: 85mm
(no flash, auto)
This was on portrait.

The Mummy asked specifically to be black and white. I like leaving in some colour - I know some people think it's cheap and that's fine =D

There are more photos on flickr if you wish to view them.
They are all taken with my new camera - Nikon D5000 and a 18-270mm lens

 

[The_Traveler]

why do you like them?
Pick one or two and tell us, using some of what you've learned by reading about photography or looking at other pictures here on line.

I also suggest you read at least the beginning of both of these two threads.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...hoto-gallery/192755-giving-receiving-c-c.html

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...e-your-posts-get-critiques-your-work-c-c.html

 

[Keena]

Thanks =D I saw you post those on someone else's thread but I couldn't find it.

 

[Keena]

ok here's what i like about each of the three pictures:

Picture one - Birthday girl: I like how she connects with the audience, the colours are normal looking - not too dark and not too bright (especially the skin tone), I like how her eyes are the focal point of the photo and are focused. What I don't like is the chair in the background, but I do like how its blurry.

Picture 2 - My little man: I do like how he is the main focus and is surrounded by birds. Its a bit dark because the sun is coming from the other side of him so maybe use of a reflector or a flash might have made it better? I think it would've looked better if the seagull in front of him was a bit more focused.

Picture 3 - Mummy and my little bro (edited): I like how oblivious they seem and how cute they are. I'm a big fan of black and white photos but when the whole picture was black and white it was pretty dull which is why I added the coloured background. I dont know what I could have used to get rid of the shadow on their faces because the flash was too harsh.

 

[The_Traveler]

OK.
Your comments were about the subject, not the picture. No one else cares about the subject only the picture.
To get better you need to divorce yourself from subject and look at the pictures as pictures.


#1 & #2- These are 'mommy pictures. You love the subject and so the worth of the picture as a picture is irrelevant.

#1 - the color is way too blue, why is it taken in landscape, why do you need all that space on the L&R? The on-camera flash has blasted all the micro-shadows out of her face and she has a shadow 'beard' from the flash.
Get at her level, shoot at the better f stop for your lens (if you don't know find out) and don't use fill flash yet.

#2 - he is badly underexposed, the picture is too blue, you've clipped off the top of his head and his fingers and what part does the seagull play in this?

#3. selective color is ill-used 99.999% of the time - and this falls in that group. The color draws the eye so why do you want viewers' eyes to be attracted to the useless crap in the background when your subjects are in the foreground?

 

[Keena]

It is definitely good to hear that kind of comment =D makes you actually think from another perspective.

number one is on landscape because that's for some reason how I naturally hold the camera, and because this was a super quick shot I didn't think about how it was being held, I have no idea what f-stop is I just put down the details because you and others would know if there was something wrong with it, but i will definitely look it up =) also I dont know how to take the blue out while shooting but it does change once edited.

number 2 i know is definitely underexposed and i definitely have to concentrate on what i accidentally crop out. I really just wanted to capture him surrounded by the seagulls but they turned out a lot blurrier than I was expecting.

number 3 I didn't think this would be a favourite of anyones because of the selective colouring. I know that it directs attention to the background - it was just one of my "trying-things-out" pictures.

Thank you for the constructive comments though, I'm glad you tell it like it is. I definitely have some things to find out about.