Fall Pictures Of My Son

[DavidSR]

Hey guys,

Just posting these up for C&C. I used fill flash in all if not most of them, but I'm not sure if I should have got in a little closer.

Thanks!

All shots were taken with my 55-250mm IS and all have had a contrast and saturation adjustment. I also sharpened after resizing them.

#1
http://dandl.smugmug.com/photos/410945992_KnkDT-L.jpg

#2
http://dandl.smugmug.com/photos/410944583_YnDTM-L.jpg

#3
http://dandl.smugmug.com/photos/410944677_EUqsG-L.jpg

#4
http://dandl.smugmug.com/photos/410945506_jKmMC-L.jpg

#5
http://dandl.smugmug.com/photos/410945704_iQSJG-L.jpg

#6 There's some paint on the back of his tricycle, but I can edit that out later :)
http://dandl.smugmug.com/photos/410943771_aKWFk-L.jpg

[solarismontkiara]

cute kid and nice picture

[DavidSR]

Thanks for the comment! The pictures look fine on my laptop, but on this monitor they look over saturated. Is anyone else seeing this?

Thanks!

[DavidSR]

I was thinking of turning my photography into a little more than just a hobby..Would any of you purchase these if they were of your child? You can be honest..I just want to know what others think.

Thanks!

[DavidSR]

Bump..someone has to think something about them...love em or hate em..:)

[jgrussell]

David, they're not quite sale-worthy, not just yet. Close, and with a little tweaking in future shots, no problem. Here's what I see (and every one of these is so often true of my own shots -- which is why I wouldn't dream of trying to sell mine!!):

Image 1: Highlights on his face are a little bright; background is really unattractive (a wire fence behind his head??).

Image 2: Love the pose and the pensive look, but again the background is unattractive and part of one foot is cropped off.

Image 3: Lovely expression, blown highlights on the face, very busy background (and a tree partly growing out of his head).

Image 4: I'm not fond of the crop, and the trike behind him (I assume that's the trike) is totally out of place.

Image 5: A lovely sweet shot and would have been a definite winner if you could see his eyes.

Image 6: Background again is unattractive, and it looks like the focus is on the trike and not on his head.

[KayakPhotos]

I think you are off to a great start. As previously mentioned, be careful of your backgrounds. I really liked #3, 5, & 6. Be sure to focus on the back of the head though on shots like #6... As far as how far away to be when shooting, the closer you are the more detail you will get. Just some food for thought. Sometimes it pays off to have a zoom when you don't want people to see you taking pictures of them etc., but when doing a portrait type setting you are probably best off being close when possible. With that particular lens, 55-60mm would provide a decent portrait perspective on a crop camera. Maybe pick up a Canon 50mm f/1.8 Mark II for around $80. This is a great little portrait lens for the money.

[DavidSR]

Thank you very much for the comments! I know the fence was unattractive, but that is the only place that would shade us from the sunlight. This was also impromptu..we went for a walk..I glanced over to my left and saw a field that I have never seen right around the corner of my house!!! I will try to go back again and this time move away from the fence ;)..but most likely I'll return with a better time of day so I don't have to look for shade. Oh, and the only reason I used my 55-250 was because I have heard and noticed that the optics and bokeh are both better with that lens. I will need to purchase a 50mm 1.8, but that'll have to wait until I purchase all my off camera strobist equipment :).

Thanks again for all the comments and encouragement!

[Darvon]

With your 55-250, to get the nice bokeh, use the longest focal length that you can that the setting will let you and open the aperture up as much as possible. The closer you are to your subject and the further your subject is from the background is where you'll see the bokeh you are hoping for when using the longer focal lengths. I think a blurred background would really have helped these.

[DavidSR]

Thanks!! I try to keep my aperture at F8 because I heard that is the sharpest of most lenses. I guess it can't hurt to open it up a little :)

[KayakPhotos]

Yeah, I would open it up to atleast f/5.6. If you are shooting at a shorter focal length I would go as wide open as possible. You can always sharpen in PP.

[DavidSR]

That would work :) I just always try to get the sharpest picture out of the camera so I don't have to sharpen too much. A little sharpening won't hurt though ;)