Would love some feedback on this photo!

lanizzl · Jul 10, 2014

Hi everyone! I'm an amateur photographer just starting to get a handle on the basics. Exposure triangle, lighting, composition, etc. I shot this photo with a 50mm 1.8 lens on a D5100 in Aperture priority with no post-processing yet.

Other than possibly closing down a few stops to make his whole face more in focus rather than just his eyes, what other things would you change? How is my WB? Composition? My exposure? Cropping? I know there are things I can fix in post but I would like to get it as close as possible SOOC.

Thanks in advance!!

fooby · Jul 10, 2014

I honestly really like this. Composition is good and the focus on the eyes is just right for me. Although not necessarily required for this photo, learn to use post production software such as Photoshop and Lightroom. It will open up a whole WORLD of opportunities to you, and white balance certainly shouldn't be an issue if you shoot RAW.

hombredelmar · Jul 10, 2014

wow, that is a good start!!! good composition, light...

manaheim · Jul 10, 2014

Errr.... I'm going to have to disagree.

You have the shot taken in landscape, but it really wants to be portrait. As a side effect you have a lot of dead space on the right that doesn't contribute to the picture. Also, the boy is turned to the left of the frame, which implies movement or focus in that direction, but that is where the frame is cut short, which leaves the viewer feeling like we're hitting a wall. The hat thing (or whatever that is) is confusing. I can't figure it out, so it winds up distracting me. The expression is a little peculiar with the mouth hanging open. It's not exactly attractive. The thing he's chewing on takes me a second to figure out what it is and why he's chewing on it.

There's a lot of work that can be done to improve this. Cute kid, though... could shoot him all day and practice.

lanizzl · Jul 11, 2014

Thanks for the critique everyone and the positive comments!

Manaheim: Would you suggest then making this picture portrait rather than landscape? Would that take care of a lot of the composition issues? Also you are saying if I wanted a landscape photo, I should have moved him to the right of the frame and then it would have worked, correct?

manaheim · Jul 11, 2014

Well, right or left, it's not ideal to have this particular composition as a landscape. However, if you insisted on it, I'd move him to the right... or turn him to the right.

Making this a portrait orientation would help, but wouldn't fix everything.

Oh, btw... better to take pictures of kids from their level. Get down on your knees and shoot.

Designer · Jul 11, 2014

Well, Hi yourself!

I think you can see that the frame is not right, and his skin color is off.

vintagesnaps · Jul 11, 2014

I think too it would have worked better to be able to see his hand and arm instead of so much space behind him - so either having the camera in a vertical position or getting him framed differently could have worked. Try to think about the background when you're framing the photo, is everything in the viewfinder the way you want it to be in your picture?

You can try taking a step or two one way or the other to change your vantage point, you don't necessarily have to have him move (especially if he's playing and you don't want to interrupt a fun moment). And as mentioned try being lower and more at his level.

I like seeing those two front teeth! Have fun taking more pictures of him and keep practicing.