Little man

I took these for my friend, I do not charge just do it for a hobby but would love feedback on how I can get better. Thanks!

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/NCzR​i1

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/MR1F​oj

The first thing I would do is lessen the impact of the background. Get closer to your subject and open up the aperture more.

You could also use a flash to isolate the background. Set the exposure so the background looks like twilight and then properly expose the kid by the flash.

He's so pale and kind of purplish. You might want to change the white balance for a little less blue, to make a healthier look.

I don't mind the background showing as it does. (Sorry, Nogo. A matter of taste.)

The second pose has the advantage of getting the baby's arms off his chest. In the first shot, the arms make a dark, shadowy area.

First, the child is cute and I would suspect the parents like the shots. One never can tell when the child has had enough and decides that something else is more interesting than posing for you.

You will be getting a variety of responses on what could be done. But as OhLook stated, much is a matter of preference.

Now, since you asked for input, what I would consider:
1. Although I prefer the first shot of the two, the reflection off the water is pretty hot. It somewhat draws my eyes over to it subconsciously. A couple things that could help here are to get lower than you did which would then have the tall grass/weeds block the reflection coming off the water.
2. Have you tried/considered flash? A little fill would help to take the grayness(?) look out of the skin on his face. It wouldn't take much and the picture would look wonderful with the highlights in his hair that the sun is producing.
3. Another option, but takes some practice, is to dial back the ambient light (off of Auto mode) and use flash to properly expose Little Man.

If the idea of using flash outdoors is new to you or you are unfamiliar with the concept, here are a few YouTube videos that explain it in a fairly, easy to understand fashion
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4

Good luck.

Gart

Oh look, Gart said it better than I did. The brightness of the lake draws the attention away from the kid. That is why I would try to lessen the background. The background would be OK if it was not for that.

Nogo wrote in post #18173396
Oh look, Gart said it better than I did. The brightness of the lake draws the attention away from the kid. That is why I would try to lessen the background. The background would be OK if it was not for that.

I agree that the water area is too bright. The trouble is, I don't see how blurring it out more would help. Everything that far back is already blurred, and defocusing won't reduce overexposure. You recommended opening the aperture, which would enlarge the overexposed area, if anything. I think your other suggestion, using flash, has a higher chance of success. Even better, perhaps, would be to choose a different spot for the bench, so that the background won't have so much contrast. The sun on the water is hard to deal with.

Basically I was responding on my smartphone as a waiter was placing my food on the table. My suggestions may have been a little rushed, I will admit that. But, the point I was trying to make, that I probably did not state well enough, that the background draws the eyes away from the subject matter is valid. My suggestions were just some of the standard things I would try to correct that type of problem.

Looking at the photos on a decent screen now, I can say the best solution to that problem would probably be to add some fill flash as suggested in the second paragraph. Other than that, without doing a reshoot, simply cropping out some of that over exposed area might help.

Thank you all for the responses it helps me a lot. I do not own an off camera flash (it is on my long list of wants). So I am trying to make the best picture I can with the equipment I have now. I do have a reflector, but I couldn't get it to catch enough light. My bad for setting him by that glare in the water..kick myself for doing that. Thanks again for taking the time to help me out!

A reflector or a little fill flash would help with even skin tone and reduce competition with brightness of the background. More light to the eyes would help hold attention along with added highlights to buttons etc.

That said, you captured the emotion brilliantly and parents wouldn't find their attention drifting.

Warmed them up a little..to much?

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/NMnG​AA

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/NMnD​j5

Especially when shooting RAW we can often somewhat compensate for less than ideal lighting by using layers and masking. This quick example could be much improved with the RAW and some care.

AZGeorge wrote in post #18174692
Especially when shooting RAW we can often somewhat compensate for less than ideal lighting by using layers and masking. This quick example could be much improved with the RAW and some care.

Hosted photo: posted by AZGeorge in
./showthread.php?p=181​74692&i=i6114819
forum: Critique Corner

Much better...like the face lighter...back to work I go