Keeper?

it's okay, I think there is a little too much headroom, so a crop to 8x10 would be good and that would take care of the bright green area in the top middle as well.The tree branch in the top left should go as well..The dandelion at the bottom bugs me, but that might be because of the war on dandelions I am having in my yard
The kids are cute, the boys expression is fine. really don't need a smile in every photo..
If you put a light vignette around the image i think that would force your eyes more on to the kids and stop my eyes wandering.
I just noticed you have image editing on.....I'll be back in a moment..

just my opinion though, the parents liked it...

maybe f 2.2 was not the best choice, the little girls eyes are soft.. maybe 5.6 would have got them both sharp and still keep the background out of focus..tough to say as I wasn't there

Thanks for the critique! I agree about some slight vignetting on the original. I don't know about the tighter crop, maybe the softness ruins it. I hate the dandelion too! And the girl wasn't obnoxiously dressed on purpose lol, she is his cousin who just dropped in after his mini session.

I'm still doing this for free for people but would like to eventually earn a 12-pack or something

chubbyone wrote in post #16229154
Thanks for the critique! I agree about some slight vignetting on the original. I don't know about the tighter crop, maybe the softness ruins it. I hate the dandelion too! And the girl wasn't obnoxiously dressed on purpose lol, she is his cousin who just dropped in after his mini session.

I'm still doing this for free for people but would like to eventually earn a 12-pack or something

Take a look at the full size image on flickr, look for a razor sharp focus point. The 50mm lens is certainly capable of providing one..
composition and exposure are very good, you are definitely on the right track
It's easily worth a 12 pack, maybe even 24

08photog wrote in post #16229194
Take a look at the full size image on flickr, look for a razor sharp focus point. The 50mm lens is certainly capable of providing one..
composition and exposure are very good, you are definitely on the right track
It's easily worth a 12 pack, maybe even 24

I think I get what your saying. The original image is soft. I thought so too. I need to work on shutter speed vs aperture balance, and steady hand technique.

Thanks again for the help!

Wow there's no reason to be using such a wide aperture here. Appears to have been plenty of light. They seem to be a fair distance from the background. And you've got two subject to keep in focus. I know blurry backgrounds are a cool effect to talk about online, but concentrate on your subjects and composing them. Keep your portraits around f8 while you're learning. There will be plenty of time to get fancy later on.

These kids are adorable. If you make them look good, they will make you look good Not sure how much time you had to get acquainted. Visit with them first, before you even bring out the camera. If you can play with them that's the best.

it's not a bad picture, I just think It so close to the next level it was worth commenting on.. I used to always shoot wide open, i thought it was best for portraits, then i started noticing how many people shoot at f8, so i tried, it made a big difference, i also started using higher iso, i think nothing of going to 400 now. If exposure is right, it will print an 8x10 no problem at all..
ttyl

CactusJuice wrote in post #16229237
Wow there's no reason to be using such a wide aperture here. Appears to have been plenty of light. They seem to be a fair distance from the background. And you've got two subject to keep in focus. I know blurry backgrounds are a cool effect to talk about online, but concentrate on your subjects and composing them. Keep your portraits around f8 while you're learning. There will be plenty of time to get fancy later on.

These kids are adorable. If you make them look good, they will make you look good Not sure how much time you had to get acquainted. Visit with them first, before you even bring out the camera. If you can play with them that's the best.

I know these two,they are children of friends. They know me without the camera, but your right they do shy up a bit.

F8?? I wouldn't have guessed that, in my experience there is considerably less subject isolation at that aperture. I agree my focus is off.

Anything wrong with the colors or processing?

Skin looks green-ish.

Let me ask you this OP, can you step back and look at these shots and find them acceptable?

My first opinion is that the colors in the image just don't work. There are too many of them with no cohesion for a portrait. That, along with a very busy setting just adds more for me that doesn't work. You have managed to isolate the kids quite well with exposure and focus although the focus may be a bit thin.

The kids are cute for sure and worth more attempts. That little boy looks to be quite a character.

Like Dave and osh, I was abit overwhelmed by colour and a tint esp. on the boy. This little guy is so cute, I had to try to tone it down and isolate them more.....

I would check if the lens is front focusing, seems odd that the foreground detail is in such good focus when it is nowhere near where the autofocus should be hunting.

Spike44 wrote in post #16230188
Like Dave and osh, I was abit overwhelmed by colour and a tint esp. on the boy. This little guy is so cute, I had to try to tone it down and isolate them more.....

Bingo! Sometimes color can overwhelm an image. The original version is a perfect example. Lots of the previous comments focused on technical points that really have little or no bearing on this image. The focus and the depth of field are reasonable. Having everything in the image in razor sharp focus is not nearly as important as capturing a "moment".

This is clearly a "moment" image. The looks on the kid's faces are priceless. By cropping the image in this fashion, the attention is clearly placed on the children and not the setting. Converting to black and white removes the questionable colors and makes the image pop. This particular edit would do very well in a photographic competition and I suspect the parents would be thrilled too.

I'm sure this will leave the gearheads foaming, but a razor sharp image of nothing is still just an image of nothing.