Lighting?

[fundabug]

This is a shot of my other niece I took out in my backyard a couple of hours ago. She was facing into the late afternoon sun. All I've done is crop the pic a bit, but I've done nothing to the lighting on this. I like this shot, but I'm not sure about the light. What do you think?
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t276/fundabug/WoofMadison.jpg

[fundabug]

Just another B&W that I liked and cropped really tight. Is it too grainy? I know....I cut the top of her poor little head off. I'm still trying to get the hang of fast shots with no prep because I'm a super noob.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t276/fundabug/MadisonBW.jpg

[strmrdr]

the first shot is sweet, harsh lighting but it works.
improvments would be to get the rest of the hands and foot into the shot and maybe zoom out and get the whole dog.
2nd is a little low contrast for me, would look better printed than on a monitor.

[Sweedishcarrot01]

The first is fine, whats wrong with the lighting? Perhaps under by 1/2 a stop to 1 stop, otherwise it's nice IMO

[fundabug]

the first shot is sweet, harsh lighting but it works.
improvments would be to get the rest of the hands and foot into the shot and maybe zoom out and get the whole dog.
2nd is a little low contrast for me, would look better printed than on a monitor.
The 2nd shot hasn't had anything other than a crop done to it. I thought it looked a bit off too, but my GF loved it. I was afraid that if I tinkered with the contrast of that shot that it would get a little too grainy. I'm still kind of a noob to digital photo processing and that's exactly why I posted it here. Thanks for the advice.

[fundabug]

The first is fine, whats wrong with the lighting? Perhaps under by 1/2 a stop to 1 stop, otherwise it's nice IMO

I thought the contrast on the dog was good, but my niece was a little bright in the face and arms. I'm still a noob, please forgive.

[strmrdr]

I thought the contrast on the dog was good, but my niece was a little bright in the face and arms. I'm still a noob, please forgive.

still have nice skin tone so it isnt too bright.
You can tell the light was harsh, good job getting the image in that lighting.

[Hellashot]

the first shot is sweet, harsh lighting but it works.


LIghting is only harsh when it has an adverse effect on your image. Harsh lighting usually gives dark eyes and shadows on the face. This image has non of that. The lighting is great for the given subject and pose. If only the girl was looking more at the camera and had some expression on her face.

[Meaty0]

I don't mind the lighting or the expression on her face...in fact it's kinda cute. Are her eyes just a little out of focus? I can't tell on this laptop. While I don't think her face looks too bright, if you shot a RAW image, you can use that to soften the brightness of her face using layers and masks in Photoshop CS2. If you're not familiar with that technique..it's well worth learning.

You were very lucky to catch the pooch sniffing the back of her head and not her bottom:-D :-D