background too busy?

I have this shot of my son, which I do like, but cannot decide if the background is too busy. I blurred it a bit, but didn't do a fantastic job since I want to get some input first. I don't want to spend the time doing it correctly if it isn't going to work in the end anyway. Oh yea, and does the sky look fake? I had to change the color since it was cloud covered before...wanted to give the impression of a nice clear day. Opinions, advice and CC appreciated. Thanks for looking!

The background gives a sense of place if you're okay with that. But it does give it the feel of a snapshot. Is this pond surrounded in on every side by houses? If not, perhaps you could position him with a different background. Or find another pond.

The small size really makes it difficult for me to appreciate the craftsmanship, but you've definitely captured a darling moment. It merits a place in any family album.

joedlh wrote in post #5732623
The background gives a sense of place if you're okay with that. But it does give it the feel of a snapshot. Is this pond surrounded in on every side by houses? If not, perhaps you could position him with a different background. Or find another pond.

Unfortunately, the pond is surrounded by houses. It irks me everytime we visit and I snap a picture! Gorgeous, but not as a backdrop.

midnitejam wrote in post #5732655
The small size really makes it difficult for me to appreciate the craftsmanship, but you've definitely captured a darling moment. It merits a place in any family album.

Thank you! I guess in the end, that is where it is going. Time to stop hemming and hawing and just print the darn thing.

Oh man it's really too bad that the background is what it is with those houses in the back. Otherwise it's a pretty spectacular picture, and it looks really sharp, too. The sky doesn't look fake, except around the tree on the right side.

If you have a longer lens available, you could try that - the smaller field of view will drastically cut down on the amount of background visible. It would be easier to find an angle where there aren't any houses in the background if the field of view were smaller. Of course then you lose the wide angle perspective and it becomes more of a portrait...

I like this shot, so i'm not sure i'd change it much! The only things i might, (which is rich coming from an amateur like me) are that there's been some detail burn out in the sky, so although you've changed it slightly, it might actually benefit from a new sky being shot and inserted. Secondly, it's a nice idea to use gaussian blur on the background, but i'd make sure the stones your son is sitting on blur out slightly toward the right of the shot too so the picture doesn't look like it's two pieces.

Whatever the background, I'd be proud of this shot----you've done a hard thing, and that is to capture a personality in picture format.
Nicely done!

The picture shows you spend time with your son, and he obviously enjoys it, so you must enjoy it too. It's a great natural capture that belongs in a family album.

I think it looks good, if anything, you could try darkening the background to help lose attention to it. But if it's for a photo album, maybe you want to remember what that place looks like too.