Portraits of 2.5 yr Daughter - First Portrait Posting

[TSORoanoke]

I shot these with a D60, 70-200 f2.8 IS, 420EX (some w/flash, some not).
All shot in Large/Fine JPEG. Probably should have shot in RAW.

I like them, but feel there's something missing in them. Cropping, lighting, depth of field...

Other than resizing and cropping, no adjustments have been made.

Any advice you could provide would be much appreciated.

(I don't know why, but the site is resizing them to 500 px wide - most are 800 wide as suggested. The resising makes them look terrible. Any advice?)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/TSORoanoke/Miscellaneous%20Jenna%20Portraits/_IMG_6101.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/TSORoanoke/Miscellaneous%20Jenna%20Portraits/_IMG_6096.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/TSORoanoke/Miscellaneous%20Jenna%20Portraits/_IMG_6091.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/TSORoanoke/Miscellaneous%20Jenna%20Portraits/_IMG_6078.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/TSORoanoke/Miscellaneous%20Jenna%20Portraits/_IMG_6013.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/TSORoanoke/Miscellaneous%20Jenna%20Portraits/_IMG_5984.jpg

[jim jam]

The 4th picture is really good.She is not posing but having laughing and having fun also the lighting and the movement of her hair makes this picture stand out from the rest. :)

[ajax]

What a charmer! I like the first one the best; then the second. The "out in nature" aspect appeals to me.

I like photos of little girls like these where they look natural--hair a bit mussy, wearing normal play clothes, probably how she looks every day. She's a cutie for sure! :D

I would try cropping the second one a bit tighter--maybe get rid of some of the railings on the left side of the photo? Just a thought.

[PhotosGuy]

(I don't know why, but the site is resizing them to 500 px wide - most are 800 wide as suggested. The resising makes them look terrible. Any advice?)

Yes. Stop using Fotopic. I did, went to photobucket, & couldn't be happier!

As for your daughter, she's so cute! But I usually dislike moody lighting on kids. I think you need to get more light into her face.
You have calibrated your monitor, haven't you?

[Big_B]

Lovely poses an facial expressions. It looks like the two of you had lots of fun making these! :) However as Rad said her face is pretty dark and thats a shame because I'm having to strain to make out her expressions.

[TSORoanoke]

Thank you for your help and comments. I have taken PhotosGuy's advice and moved these to photobucket - what a great difference. These actually look pretty good posted here compared to photopic.

I'll work on the lighting some. Thanks for the tip.

I don't have monitor/printer calibration equipment, but have used Adobe Gamma on my system. Should I do more?

Thanks again!

[PhotosGuy]

Adobe Gamma should get you pretty close, but the faces on these pics are really dark on my monitor - (Hmmm, I havent calibrated mine yet this month. Maybe that's it. Then again, other peoples pics seem OK, so I don't know.)

Here's some links anyway:

MONITOR CALIBRATION - a good place to start
Monitor Calibration and Characterisation + Photoshop CS Colour Settings
http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps8-colour/ps8_1.htm
http://www.ltlimagery.com/monitor_calibration.html
Then: Colour settings in Photoshop
http://www.dcmag.co.uk/news/article.asp?UAN=247&SP=336525370515510295520&v=2
Part 1 - Monitor Calibration and Characterisation
http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps7-colour/ps7_2.htm

Monitor (or System) Calibration with Adobe Gamma
http://www.aim-dtp.net/aim/photoshop/v6/adobe_gamma.htm
Continue to Photoshop v 6.0 calibration
http://www.aim-dtp.net/aim/photoshop/v6/color-settings.htm
Accurate Image Manipulation for Desktop Publishing - GREAT VISUAL DEMO!
http://www.aim-dtp.net/aim/evaluation/gamma_error/index.htm

[Daytripper]

Very nice captures :)

As others have said, the face is a little dark in all but the last pic - my suggestion would be to use more fill lighting - either crank up the flash or use a reflector...

I generally like the compositions and use of DOF - with a little more light I think these would respond well to some softening in PS as well (light gaussian blur on the highlights) to maximise the mood.

Cheers,
Pete

[OviV]

I love the last 2. They are all great. First few could use some levels adjustment but they are very nice.

[Muffin Princess]

Yeah, I'd agree with improving the lighting. I love the shallow DOF on the top ones, really forces your eye to focus on her face. My favourite pic is the one of her standing on the bridge, looks so natural and has so much feeling in it. :)

[Molydood]

the one on the bridge is my favourite, thats a fantastic picture.
but agree with the comments about the light on face being inadequate, and its a shame, because there is a lot of potential in these shots in my opinion.

[dsze]

...agree with all the above, except I really like #5 & #6. #5 if my favorite...great composition and non-posed. This one might look really nice in a B&W conversion with a lot of contrast IMO.

I agree that your shots need some more fill-flash in the face... My monitor here at work is terrible, but even still her lovely face seems a bit too shadowed to me. I love the effect of my fairly new pocket-bouncer on my 420EX for this purpose. It was certainly the best $20 I've ever spent for outdoor portraits.

-daniel

[Hellashot]

I found all to be on the too dark side, and the last one is slightly out of focus or too long a shutter speed

Hellashot