New to forum

Hi Everyone!

I am new to this forum and in just the hour or so that I have spent so far have realized two things:
1- I am going to be spending way too much time in the kids and family section and
2- I am way out of my league here

I was only introduced to photography a couple of years ago through my desire for the perfect pictures for scrapbooking. I found that I am a photographer at heart. I have spent a lot of time on the net learning as much as I can about photography and am very excited about learning a great deal from such an obviously talented group of people. I am truly inspired by the work that I have seen here. So here are my first photographs for your critiquing. Critique Away!!

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Okay, first thing I need to learn is how to make my images smaller for the web! LOL!

Hi Teresa and welcome to POTN...

Cute little guy there! Your image size is fine per POTN Posting Rules which is 1024 on the longest side.

Hi Teresa! I, too, got the photo-bug as a result of needing fodder for scrapbooking. I am about a year into learning now, and still feel like a total newb! I really like your pics, cute little model, and composition is good.

A few points of CC: Both photos have a lot of JPEG artifacts in them, I don't know if this is from over sharpening in post, or just saving the JPEG at too low a quality or too many times. Also, the digital border is a little distracting.

#1 - Aside from the artifact issue, it is a good photo: in focus, good composition. My only nitpick would be that the big leaf in the middle of the forehead is casting a harsh shadow, presumably, from the fill flash that you used.

#2 - Killer composition, I really like the natural framing and the fact that he is interacting with his surroundings. The whole thing seems soft and out of focus, and judging by the blur on the leaves I'd guess it was just a shutter speed issue.

The only other thing is eye contact would be nice, but I soooooo understand how impossible that can be with kids.

Winter Ivy,

Thanks so much for the reply.

I did save the jpeg at a lower quality. I struggled trying to get it to fit posting regulations. Still working on getting the hang of that. Otherwise both pics are right out of the camera with no pp except for the framing.

As for the border, I thought I was really drawing attention to the baby with it. I'm glad to learn I didn't need to. Thanks for the tip.

And most important, the focus!! I can't figure out what I am doing wrong. But most of my pictures are turning out that way. I have even bought a trigger and use a tripod most of the time but it still doesn't seem to help. I would give my right arm to be able to figure out what I am doing and how to fix it. I have been doing a lot of senior pictures for some area teens. Out of 200 pictures i snap, on average only about 50 are in sharp focus!

Thank you both for the nice comments about the model. He is very special to me!

Darling photos....we hope you do spend lot's of time here

Love both of them, but especially the second one, great job on framing with the leaves! And look at those adorable eyelashes! We hope to see plenty more from you.