Wildflowers

After many technical difficulties, I finally went out and did a shoot just to see what I could do. CC welcome! TIA.

Compositions in all pretty good. I feel some out of focus (soft) issues here - but it is possible this is caused by the image compression.

1/ eyes/face seem a bit dark/soft to me.
2/ ditto - perhaps a reflector on to her face could of helped here.
3/ a bit soft on the girl's head, but perhaps this works here - delightful image, lovely colours
4/ a fun photo - I like it. flowers in front of the face probably breaking a rule - but it doesn't bother me here.

Definitely seems to be a general problem with Focus. Without being able to see any of the specifics it is hard to judge. I am very sure that the families of the subjects would to have any of them though. Cute kids not matter how OOF the images are.

Thank you both for your input! Yes, focus was my biggest issue... but I think I have it figured out. I'll have to take her back out and see what I get. The first one is my daughter, and the other girl my best friends daughter, so luckily I have cute subjects always on hand!

I kinda like the softness of the second one as-is... but it was super frustrating to see it perfectly in focus through the viewfinder and then not have it show up on the picture. I'll keep practicing!

If you don't mind my asking, what camera and lens are you using. I am by no means a gear snob, but it might help to understand the tools you are working with to help you get the most out of what you have in the bag.
If you want a bit more focus, try using a more portrait oriented F stop. I usually am in the 5.6 to 7.1 range on single person portraits. If you are looking for a bit more creative shot, that is when you will want to drop down to the lower F ranges. You would be amazed at the small amount of stuff in focus at 1.2 to 1.8.
As with anything, the more you do it, the better you will get. I have been shooting digital for about a year and a half and when I look back to what I was producing even 6 months ago, I am shocked at the difference in the technical as well as creative skills. I am much more technical than I am creative at this point. It fits since I am a recovering IT guy. But your shots have a natural creative nature to them, so once your technical skills catch up, you are gonna be awesome. (Not that you aren't already!) LOL

sirquack wrote in post #16793290
If you don't mind my asking, what camera and lens are you using. I am by no means a gear snob, but it might help to understand the tools you are working with to help you get the most out of what you have in the bag.
If you want a bit more focus, try using a more portrait oriented F stop. I usually am in the 5.6 to 7.1 range on single person portraits. If you are looking for a bit more creative shot, that is when you will want to drop down to the lower F ranges. You would be amazed at the small amount of stuff in focus at 1.2 to 1.8.
As with anything, the more you do it, the better you will get. I have been shooting digital for about a year and a half and when I look back to what I was producing even 6 months ago, I am shocked at the difference in the technical as well as creative skills. I am much more technical than I am creative at this point. It fits since I am a recovering IT guy. But your shots have a natural creative nature to them, so once your technical skills catch up, you are gonna be awesome. (Not that you aren't already!) LOL

Not at all... I'm using a 50D with a Sigma 70-300. My kit lens stopped communicating with my body and I actually had to send it in to cannon for repair because it wouldn't communicate with anything. The kit lens did it one more time after repair, so I dumped it! No issues with the sigma, but I do need to save up for a more versatile lens. It was the lens for my old Rebel, so I have been considering getting the lens that actually comes with the 50D (I bought it body only from a friend).

My F-stop was at 9 in these, which I started thinking was part of the problem... along with the fact that my ISO was WAY too high... I kept wondering why I had to be up in the 1000's for shutter speed to not blow out the picture and didn't even think to look at the ISO. Newbie, much? Can you tell I just recently swore off Auto mode?? Haha..

Yes, my technical skills have a long way to go... I took photography back in high school and college and it's always been a passion. Just haven't had the $$$ to seriously pursue it until recently.

These images are beautiful. Yes, some out of focus issues but the setting and the children are so wonderful, I don't think it takes away from the photo too much. I especially love no. 3.

Cute child but....these are much too warm (and I like warm images). And yes, I just calibrated my monitor. Other than that they seem very nicely done. Good subject, good posing/composition, good environment for the shoot.

Welshgirl wrote in post #16793847
These images are beautiful. Yes, some out of focus issues but the setting and the children are so wonderful, I don't think it takes away from the photo too much. I especially love no. 3.

It's funny that everyone likes #3. I agree the moment is perfect, but I feel the focus issue was worst with that one and I almost didn't post it because I thought it really wasn't all that good, technically.

She was such a good little model, though! I have a whole series of her holding the flower behind her back while walking away from me. Her mom was like, "why would it even occur to her to do that!"

Titus213 wrote in post #16793862
Cute child but....these are much too warm (and I like warm images). And yes, I just calibrated my monitor. Other than that they seem very nicely done. Good subject, good posing/composition, good environment for the shoot.

Thank you!

I can see how #3 is a bit warm, the grass almost looks yellow... but I thought the others were pretty spot on. I may mess with them a bit and see what I get. What's weird is that when I look at #3 on my camera the color looks great... the grass is green and you can clearly see the orange flower against it. On the computer they kinda blend together though. Thank you again for the input!

The white balance looks off - too warm.