Little Tawna's portraits - critique my first time

I usually do automotive event photos and other non-human objects.... but my co-worker asked me to do some shots of her daughter. I said I wasn't good with little kids, but I said yes as I thought it would be a good experience.

First off, Tawna is 3 yrs old and very shy. I really had to smile alot and be nice and introduce her to my SLR. She did warm up a little after alot of shots (about 120) and I did get some smiles out of her. But wow, it is very difficult to get her looking into the camera or to sit still for a second! Alot of coaxing from her parents with promises of candy and stuffed animals! LOL. But i guess a pretty and cute face will result in some cute pictures. I wish I had a long telephoto, so i could really stand back and let her do her thing without looking at me all suspicious. lol

But here they are, my FIRST time ever taking portraits of a person. Photoshop was kept to a minimum. Highlighted a little, with some softening. Not much color correction. Lens was Canon 17-55mm, no filters. I hope you guys/gals can give me some straight up critiques on them:

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I like 2 and 3. Her cheeks give her such character. The first one is a bit soft plus her right eye got lost (blended) into her hair. Not sure what can be done for that. I bet her parents like it regardless.

Young children really are a challenge but when you do get a great pose then it's well worth the effort. I have to bribe my 11 year old to get her cooperation. New clothes and jewelry are her preferred payment

Beautiful shots! If it were me, I might back off on the softening just a bit.

Number 2 is just adorable. I like the soft look of it.

They are beautiful, however very soft... Do you know what your shutter speed was at? With little people, its wise to try and keep your shutter above 160 because they move and can cause the focus to become oof... she is beautiful and perhaps you can pass them off as a soft effect.... So sweet. she is.

Kristy wrote in post #2028796
They are beautiful, however very soft... Do you know what your shutter speed was at? With little people, its wise to try and keep your shutter above 160 because they move and can cause the focus to become oof... she is beautiful and perhaps you can pass them off as a soft effect.... So sweet. she is.

I added a gaussian blur of the original layer with about a 30% transparency. I guess i will back off the softening a bit.

yeah, it was really hard to get some good shots of her. she was usually running away from the camera. i have about 6 more good shots of her, so i'm hoping to add those to these 3. maybe i'll squeeze out 1 more to get an even 10 shots that her parents can choose from.

thanks for the comments.

OK, here's version 2. backed off the softening. actually sharpened just very slightly.

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First off, I LOVE these shots, number three works best for me without the softening but the other two I'd be proud to hang on my wall if I'd taken them either with or without the softening.

As for not being used to working with kids you've done a damn good job here working WITH her shyness instead of trying to fight it (which would be a mistake IMO).

Well done!!

Much better... You can also try erasing the blur from your softening layer to reveal key parts of her face.. eyes, eyebrows, lips and maybe a few sweeps of her hair.... Sometimes I erase a bit off of the noses too, makes them look more real..

really nice work you have here.

I love number three of the unsoftened versions!! Great work

Great shots!

I like the composition of the first shot, but not the bright shoulder/arm.
the 2nd and 3rd image look as if you were shooting "down". I think you should have gotten lower ( on her level). JMO. and and I need help w/my portrait skills.

Mike R wrote in post #2031559
I like the composition of the first shot, but not the bright shoulder/arm.
the 2nd and 3rd image look as if you were shooting "down". I think you should have gotten lower ( on her level). JMO. and and I need help w/my portrait skills.

thanks, yeah, the bright shoulder/arm is a slight problem. i can try to make it not so bright?

the 2nd one, i was almost down to her eye level. and yeah, 3rd pic, i was shooting a little from above.

Great, thanks for the positive comments!

Kristy wrote:
Much better... You can also try erasing the blur from your softening layer to reveal key parts of her face.. eyes, eyebrows, lips and maybe a few sweeps of her hair.... Sometimes I erase a bit off of the noses too, makes them look more real..

really nice work you have here.

I'll try erasing some of the blur and see if that can help. I was trying to do "selective" softening and didn't figure out how. but it seems like your suggestion will work.

Nice pics thanks for sharing