lots to learn...help?!?

[hapa mamma]

I am Brand new to this forum as well as photography...so be gentle but honest! Here is a shot of my 3 month old son. Personally, I love this look...it's the same inquisitive look his father has, but how can I improve the shot and my photography in general? TIA
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y69/sbmarkham/IMG_4075a.jpg

[ibdb]

Cute picture. I might like it a little more if your son wasn't centered in the frame. There's something called the rule of thirds you can search for and read up on for composition.

What else to improve and how to do it? Keep reading these boards. Look at the pictures others post and the comments they get. Keep shooting. If you're a book person, Bryan Peterson has some very popular books -- Understanding Exposure is a great one, he's got another on learning to see creatively (forget the exact title) that I've also enjoyed.

What to do first? Get your camera out of the icon modes and into the creative modes (P to start, then AV and TV next, M later). You'll have more control over your photos and you'll learn more about how aperture and shutter speed impact your images. You'll also be able to select your ISO, instead of having the camera choose it for you. Basically, the creative modes put you in control of your images, instead of relying on the camera to make all the right creative decisions for you.

Enjoy, and Welcome! :D

[beachgirl]

Great advice from ibdb, Another good book is Perfect Digital Photography by Jay Kinghorn & Jay Dickman. Also worth looking at is the National Geographic, Photography Field guide. Has a secton about rule of thirds. BTW, very cute baby, love his look.
GOOD LUCK & WELCOME:)

[Benji]

While it would be nice to have a little more room at the bottom of this image it is VERY NICE. The rule of thirds, while used in portraiture, is used more in landscape photography. In portraiture you usually center the subject left to right and place the eyes about 1/3rd of the way down from the top of the image as I have shown in one of my images below.

Benji

[kster]

I really like the picture, it's a nice shot. If I had to be VERY picky, I'd say the contrast could be improved (due to the blue top being similar to the background).

[Scorper]

I agree with others, change the background to some other color for more contrast. And please dont crop his head/hair :)

[RianFlynn]

Beautiful kid you have. :) I think is a few months for of having a fantastic afro! :)

I am inspired.

Rian

[carbonXevo8]

heres a link to basics and the rule of thirds...happy shooting

http://asp.photo.free.fr/Composition/photoProgramCompMainClass.shtml

[breezeart]

the kid is cute, but the cropping wrong, about the other portrait, I would suggest a different background, and worki little more with the lighting :)

[NovCJ]

95814
Quite a nice pic but I think a BW version might be an option - this was done using MonoHighKey action from http://www.1clickactions.com

[grego]

Here's more of an off center look, you might to try for.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v357/greg9683/Photo%20Examples/IMG_4075a.jpg

I actually cropped off more from the top and the left, but then this works pretty well too.