First attempts at "portrate" with my kid

My daughter.

Any suggestions for improvement would be welcom. The first required a fair amount of PP as the colours were washed out. The shirt is blown out more then I wanted, but I was not sure how to correct and keep white.

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Ok so what PP have you done to it if you don't mind me asking?
The first image looks a bit flat to me, but increasing contrast on it is just gonna make the shirt worse of course, but its still flat looking. Secondly you could increase the saturation a bit to warm up her face. I'd dodge the eyes just a bit to bring them out. Other than that not much you could do I think...its worth trying again tho. I do like the crop and the smile on her face.
The second don't do much for me. The conversion is a bit greyscaled and you chopped off her elbow/arm. The arm holding the necklace seem a bit blurry as well.
Personally, since she's looking out of the frame, I'd like to see her more towards the left hand side of the frame.

How was your set up when you took the picture? Flash, sunlight, etc?

choose a good location. I think you had the right idea with some green, as it'll make her eyes pop, however it just looks like she's on your deck or something, which makes a good informal snapshot but not really a staged "portrait", per se. strictly from her coloring, I'd say get her ina top that isn't white, and put her on a background thats plain, not so busy, so she will be the main focus.

if you're stuck with the deck, try to get her lower to maybe use the blanks as a more plain background, maybe with a yellow or green shirt. also, make sure you dont have anything distracting right behind her,in that first shot the horizontal of the deck railing comes right behind her eyes.

all in all good start, i'd just say keep practicing.

Thank guyes!

as for
Q: " How was your set up when you took the picture? Flash, sunlight, etc?"
A: Sunlight, late afternoon, I was facing the sun. I tried flash, at various levels, but got worse results.

Q: "Ok so what PP have you done to it if you don't mind me asking?"
A: Brought mid levels down, lowered saturation and color of dominate red (despite white balance) and adjusted contrast lower as was hash after level adjustment.

The background was all I could do in a pinch... but I know what your saying, it is not complementing and is distracting.

Thanks again!

Aside from what others have noted, it is often best aesthetically to shoot a persons 'dominant' side as it often more flattering. If you look, most everyone's right body parts are slightly larger than their left, e.g. nostril, eye, arm and so on. In the first picture it is noticeable while in the second it is not; thus the second being a slightly better pose IMO (though technically and aesthetically it is lacking).

Lovely daughter though – mine always grumbles when I pull out the camera.

nice model!

You should take more avantage of her nice skin and green eyes in your next try.
(sorry for my bad english)
You may want to try a vertical framing a bit larger of her head with a 40mm lens . Do you shooting betwin 6h00 and 7h00pm, you will have a better warm sun light . This will bring up the eyes and skin colors and contrast. When you have found the best temp. color of the sun, you and your model should do a 360 rotation while you take the pictures, you will see how the light bring up the eyes color. don't forget to adjust the exposure while you do the 360.

good luck and have fun!

I actually like the first one - I've taken a few seconds to put a little detail in her shirt but anything else would need some time.

Have you ever tried shooting in RAW? There's more processing involved but it does give a lot more latitude for adjustment and is ideal for this type of picture.

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I just wanted to play with it too
I used lightroom
keep up the nice work!

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Watch your background...lovely daughter you have, background is distracting

don't put your subject in the centre of the frame unless you are going to completely fill it...adds tension generally...

keep shooting...

Cheers,

Thanks again all!

DeluxeMan, I like those. Makes the eyes pop.

Lovely girl.
How far away were you in the first shot? I think it would help if you backed up some.