I''m trying to improve, please CC me.

I'm trying to improve my photography and so would like some CC on these. I did some curves and USM in PP and of course resize.
Thanks for looking.

I think they are pretty good pictures. Your white balance and focus seem correct. The exposure is probably a bit off as the background is blown out but I tend not to mind that too much and sometimes actually like it when you have a blown out BG (in some cases). That's jsut my opinion though.

The last one is definitely my favourite of the three, but they are all nice. The label on the back of her top is a bit distracting, but otherwise great shots!

that last one is great, except the tag

Not bad. I don't mind the overexposed BG at all on these. I prefer the 2nd one because is gives a little more room for the eye to move around the frame.

I like the last two a lot. The crop of the first one doesn't do much for me. The third is my favorite because I like that she's looking right into the camera.

I love what you've done with the second (an third crop). Great shot!

The first looks like a snap shot. Nothing wrong with that, they trigger great memories.

The second and third look very nice to me and I think the blown out BG suits them. I wish both of her eyes were visible completely. That would really take the last two over the top. I have kids and know you take what you can get!

Great job.

Brice

I like the second one. I have to agree with Brice. I wish that I could see both eyes. It is still a good photo. Kids are hard to photograph sometimes.

Art

Well, thanksyou for all your thoughtful replies and giving me tips and opinions. I'm glad you like them. I really liked them too and I'm finding it difficult not to expect a P & S A610 to have DSLR qualities. the second two photos were not cropped at all, they are the size I shot them at. Only the first one was cropped.
These are the originals, SOOC , only resized to post here. Feel free to play with them if one wishes

These are very nice shots. I like the 3rd one the best. Many years ago a pro photographer gave me some good advise that I never forgot, and it has been extremely helpful to me. One has the tendency to look only at the subject, and be so preoccupied that other things in the shot are only visible at a later date. These other things in the photo can degrade the photo. A garbage can, a pile of junk would be obvious, but sometimes other things like, a busy background or unusal things on or about the subject can be detrimental. Soooo, remembering what this pro told me, I try to look thru the viewfinder like this: I scan all the way around the edge first, then closer and closer to the subject. If there is anything that I don't want in the picture, I remove it or change my position so that I can no longer see it. Finally I look at the subject, is there something amiss, hair out of place, something on their clothing, and so forth. After you practice this procedure, it becomes second nature. The photo is like a recipe, only put in what makes it better, and leave out anything that makes it bad. Keep up the good work.

elise1030 wrote:
I'm trying to improve my photography and so would like some CC on these. I did some curves and USM in PP and of course resize.
Thanks for looking.

FIrst off, the images are quite too to begin with. Very nicely well done. If you were to edit any of the curves, make sure its not compressing the dynamic range that the camera captured. Best thing to do, ifyou plan to play around with the exposer and range of lighting/color, shoot in raw, IT is a great way to change the brightness, contrast of the image with out loosing too much detail.

Henry