Unedited (need your opinions)

It was 9 in the morning when I took this shot, my family and I joined a marathon... When I saw the infrastructure behind him, its white paint caught my attention and asked my kid to have a pose on it... And this what I got...

Im looking for your overall opinion for this photo... Its unedited actually...

70D / 24-105 l

Thanks...

The glasses over his eyes doesn't work. Quite like the rest though I'd crop some of the space or have tried include the legs.

I assume oxygen45 means the frames over his eyes.....my 1st observation....not good.
I don't think the pose is appropriate given the occasion and the attire and I agree the cropping is awkward.
Good expression, lighting, exposure and choice of background.

If anything it should be cropped tighter to eliminate his legs. Would make for a stronger composition. Would be nice if the background wasn't so over exposed.

It looks like you successfully controlled the light from all that white. Unfortunately the crop is a killer here. I could even live with the eye glasses cutting through the eye in a shot like this but not the awkward crop of the legs at the knees. Crop tighter at this point. Open up the frame if you re-shoot.

Your advices really sink into me and its helping me a lot guys... One common comment is mentioned and that is the way I framed the photo, another worthy lesson that I should include in my daily shoot. Do you guys take time in making a shot like this or is it instinct in you when looking thru the viewfinder in making a composition? I was once told, "Imagine with a squared eye first before peeping into the viewfinder when making a shot.", this is what I dont actually have right now and leads me into trial and error photo shoot most of the time... Hope you can put some inputs on how to develop this.... Thanks.

I must admit, I probably would have made the same mistake as you with the framing. Just wouldn't have thought his knee as being relevant because I would be too focused on the face.
I'm thinking maybe I should get over my fear of "not fitting enough in the frame" because it makes the focal point smaller.
You can't do anything with the picture if some vital thing (like a knee ) has been cut off.
(just some musing going on here.)

How about a different crop and some WB, contrast adjustments?

IMAGE LINK: http://s1259.photobuck​et.com …63_b_zps3c5b098​c.png.html

Not a bad crop from tmoore. Not sure what the building elements add to the photo... at this point, I'd just clone out the building element and turn the entire background all white.

Unless those cowlicks are part of his charm, I'd give him a slight haircut, too... those 3 strands pointing straight up.

tmoore323 wrote in post #16662325
How about a different crop and some WB, contrast adjustments?

Better composition, but too much space above his head and too much shadow contrast added.

Love the lighting over the skin but it simply looks too posed, right down to the eyeglasses blocking his eyeballs. Good looking kid!

Shadow7 wrote in post #16661443
I must admit, I probably would have made the same mistake as you with the framing. Just wouldn't have thought his knee as being relevant because I would be too focused on the face.
I'm thinking maybe I should get over my fear of "not fitting enough in the frame" because it makes the focal point smaller.
You can't do anything with the picture if some vital thing (like a knee ) has been cut off.
(just some musing going on here.)

You are right shadow, I basically concentrated too much on his face to get the sharpness I wanted which led me to forget the composition... A lesson to learn...

NBEast wrote in post #16670063
Love the lighting over the skin but it simply looks too posed, right down to the eyeglasses blocking his eyeballs. Good looking kid!

Thanks... He made that pose all by himself actually, he was feeling great that day...