New to photography, maternity photo

[rmr1923]

I picked up a Canon 600D back in November, took the wife out for a photo shoot and this was one of my favorites. I had a few shots where she posed, then snapped this one when the baby started kicking. Still seems to be lacking something though, so critiques are definitely welcome.

Edited to add: Photo was shot with a 50mm/1.8 lens

 

[cwcaesar]

Just a tad overexposed to my eye, but still a great shot. Congratulations on the new addition to the family!

 

[rmr1923]

Just a tad overexposed to my eye

I was just thinking the same thing after looking at it again. I didn't do too much post-processing, probably need to get it into LR and tweak it a bit. Thanks for the reply!

 

[jowensphoto]

Here's a quick run through photo shop with some basics done: Exposure, curves (for contrast) and color balance (for just a bit of warmth) were all adjusted.



The original was nice, I just gave it some fine tuning. I think the composition could use some work; the chop at the knee is kind of awkward and the leading line of the tracks pull your eye away from the lady. With leading lines like these, it works best to place you subject at the vanishing point.

 

[Granddad]

Has she popped yet? In the photo it looks like it could have been any time.
Nice shot, nice use of depth of field. I'd say you didn't waste your money on the camera. :thumbup:

 

[tirediron]

Leaving aside the whole cliche aspect of railroad tracks... If you are going to use leading lines, then you need to use them correctly. In this case the vanishing point is in the far background, directly underneath a bright, white area of sky. The human eye naturally follows lines, just as it is naturally attracted to bright over dark, so you've got a double-whammy here; the viewer's eye is going to skip right past the subject and be drawn to the bright, empty space at the end of the railroad tracks in the background.

In future, place the subject/compose such that the tracks appear to converge on/at the subject, even if this means shooting off to one side of the track.

 

[rmr1923]

Thanks everyone for the pointers, I knew at the time that the composition wasn't perfect, but it was a case of me trying to get the shot before it was "too late". She definitely didn't pose for this one, the baby started kicking and she was holding her stomach in pain for a second, then got a little grin on her face that I didn't want to miss.

 

[rmr1923]

Has she popped yet? In the photo it looks like it could have been any time.
Nice shot, nice use of depth of field. I'd say you didn't waste your money on the camera. :thumbup:

Yep, this was taken the day before she went into labor

 

[rmr1923]

Leaving aside the whole cliche aspect of railroad tracks... If you are going to use leading lines, then you need to use them correctly.

thanks for the pointers, i'm still experimenting/learning. this photo was taken just a few days after i purchased the camera, we just went out and started shooting... i probably hadn't even heard the terms "composition" and "leading lines" at that point.

 

[tirediron]

...thanks for the pointers, i'm still experimenting/learning. this photo was taken just a few days after i purchased the camera, we just went out and started shooting... i probably hadn't even heard the terms "composition" and "leading lines" at that point.

Fair enough... In your spare time (after you finished reading the camera's manual for the second time ) I would suggest searching and reading up on terms such as "Photographic composition", "portrait composition", "rule of thirds", "golden mean" and "leading lines". While there's LOTS of debate about composition, the basics haven't really changed since the days of the Renissance and the Old Masters...

 

[Mully]

Hope your bags are packed

 

[Granddad]

Has she popped yet? In the photo it looks like it could have been any time.
Nice shot, nice use of depth of field. I'd say you didn't waste your money on the camera. :thumbup:

Yep, this was taken the day before she went into labor

Congratulations. No sleep for you for the next few years! - Been there, done that, got the grandkids. Welcome to the forum.

 

[rmr1923]

...thanks for the pointers, i'm still experimenting/learning. this photo was taken just a few days after i purchased the camera, we just went out and started shooting... i probably hadn't even heard the terms "composition" and "leading lines" at that point.

Fair enough... In your spare time (after you finished reading the camera's manual for the second time ) I would suggest searching and reading up on terms such as "Photographic composition", "portrait composition", "rule of thirds", "golden mean" and "leading lines". While there's LOTS of debate about composition, the basics haven't really changed since the days of the Renissance and the Old Masters...

I've read up on some of the basics but hope to get time to do some more reading here in the coming weeks. I was home with the wife and baby for 3 weeks and expected to get a chance to do some reading then, but those 3 weeks flew by and I didn't get anything done

Looking back on some of my early photos, at the time I thought they were pretty good, and now they're starting to look like junk. I guess that's what brought me here, I see photos from time to time that just really take your breath away and started wondering what gives them that "wow" factor, and how I can learn to do that with my photos. An unintended side effect is that I'm now starting to see everyday things from a photography perspective... or maybe that's a good thing? I'm also starting to see faces in inanimate objects, probably doesn't have anything to do with the camera though.