Monkey on a tree branch

Hi Folks

Took this of my son when he was playing on a tree branch. I think it is slightly blurred; not quite sure how to sharpen it. Tried the sharpen function in PS but the photo becomes more grainy.

Please critique this and help me improve my photography. Thanks.

http://www.pbase.com/i​mage/14979305

Grisly

Grisly

I'm no expert - but here are my thoughts.

The shape and form of the tree are great - but if the picture is to show your son then the branch in the foreground distracts from him. He also is a bit too far away for my liking and so becomes 'lost' in the picture.

The shape of the branch also makes it look as if it is passing right through your son!

If you have the chance - and this is just a suggestion - what about brining your son into the foreground by having him rest against the branch in the foreground close to the camera?

Again - I'm just a beginner and am probably wrong on all these issues - but I hope it may help a little.

PS - Your son has that 'cheeky' face that only kids can have! I bet he's full of energy too!!

Hi Damian

Thanks for your comments. I too am a learning, and I totally believe in honest exchange of feedback and sharing of knowledge and experience. You comments are useful - I am not a photographer and donot have an eye of a photographer - so your suggestions make sense to me, and will definetely try it out next time we are that park.

You know what: I believe all kids are full of energy. I love them all - all kids around the world.

Grisly

I agree with Damian's comments - the shape of the branch is fantastic and leads the eye into the photo very nicely. It's a nice, imaginative portrait - keep it up.

The reason that your son is slightly blurred is probably either that the focus wasn't on him (hard to tell at that size, but it might be focused on the front of the branch, not the boy) or your son was bouncing on the branch, thus blurring himself. The former seems more likely.

When sharpening in Photoshop, it's usually best to use 'unsharp mask' as you have more control over how much sharpening is applied. In this case, I'm not sure that any kind of Photoshop sharpening is going to bring him completely into focus - there's only so much that Photoshop can do.

You might like to have a look at this, the first in a series of articles at Planet Photoshop on sharpening: http://www.planetphoto​shop.com/PeteBauer23.h​tml

GRISLEY

You son looks like a fun filled guy.

Part of what is being said seems to me to relate to the purpose of your picture.

ACTIVITY KEEPSAKE:
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If the idea is to have a keepsake of this tree climbing activity at a young age, then this is fine composition -- although weather and time of day might have been chosen to give you more dramatic lighting....at the risk of complicating sun/camera direction and the possible need for fill in flash to avoid facial shadows.

OUTDOOR PORTRAIT
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If the idea was to have more of an outdoor portrait of your son, then you must get closer -- with or without the tree as a prop. To explore this portrait approach , simply search for child/son/portrait on this site. You will see many fine posts by Mitch, onehotrx7, and many others of kids in a closer portrait setting. As well, experts such as Eland offer insight on the realted photos.

Along the above lines my best (I thought) early portrait was a lot like yours although it only included about 1/4 of your frame. It was reviewed by my camera club years ago. I got slammed! The universal advice was for me to move in on the face. But note that once you move in, you will have to shoot with the zoom fairly full. Otherwise you will be too close to your son and the facial "geometry" will be distorted!

He looks like a typical, wonderful and happy guy.Close-up please.

HOWIE

Hi Folks

Thank you both for your suggestions and the article.

Here are couple of photos I had taken of him. One is a close up.

http://www.pbase.com/i​mage/15037162
http://www.pbase.com/i​mage/15037167

Grisly

Both are great - the tricycle shot is simply great fun. The hard day shot reminds me of how I feel most nights!