Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Photography
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-15-2011, 08:48 AM
 
Location: Somewhere
4,190 posts, read 4,691,323 times
Reputation: 3164

Advertisements

Feel free to critique. This was my first time shooting with a Canon. Can't wait to get one.

I'm posting the link only because I don't think they want me uploading the individual pics:

Cam - a set on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62122574@N02/sets/72157628131354340/ - broken link)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-15-2011, 09:21 AM
Status: "MAGA - Mental Ability Gone Awry" (set 28 days ago)
 
13,152 posts, read 21,686,930 times
Reputation: 14027
Exposures and poses are generally good, but your camera angle needs work. Almost all of your shots are looking down at the kid which makes him look even smaller than he is. A good rule of thumb for shooting people is that you want to shoot them at eye level. With kids that means spending a lot of time on your knees, or even lying on the ground. Alternatively, you can place them on higher ground and shoot from a lower point if you surroundings can support that.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-15-2011, 09:30 AM
 
Location: Somewhere
4,190 posts, read 4,691,323 times
Reputation: 3164
^Thanks for the insight!

I'm only 5 feet tall so 'getting on their level' shouldn't be too hard
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-15-2011, 09:32 AM
 
Location: Deep in the heart of Texas
1,914 posts, read 7,127,475 times
Reputation: 1987
I like the one of him laying on the ground and it seems you are laying on the ground taking the shot too.
Also the one of him up close with his arms crossed and the bridge behind him. You'll have to lighten his face a bit on the right side because it's a little dark and I don't know if it'll come out right on print.
I don't like the ones of him too far away, you can barely see him. Don't like the one of him with the house in the background. I love the ones with the leaves all around. Cute kid! Nice job
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-15-2011, 09:38 AM
 
Location: Somewhere
4,190 posts, read 4,691,323 times
Reputation: 3164
Quote:
Originally Posted by CTR36 View Post
I like the one of him laying on the ground and it seems you are laying on the ground taking the shot too.
Also the one of him up close with his arms crossed and the bridge behind him. You'll have to lighten his face a bit on the right side because it's a little dark and I don't know if it'll come out right on print.
I don't like the ones of him too far away, you can barely see him. Don't like the one of him with the house in the background. I love the ones with the leaves all around. Cute kid! Nice job
Thanks

Yes, I was lying on the ground for that particular shot.

Do you mind being a little more specific about what you didn't like about the shot with the house? It's not one of my favorites either but I think it's because I had about 1 minute to get at least one decent shot of him there before he jumped up and ran back to his parents (couldn't get him to sit still for long at all lol)...so anyways, I wasn't sure whether to try to get more of him in the shot or more the house?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-15-2011, 01:39 PM
 
Location: New Zealand
1,872 posts, read 6,472,811 times
Reputation: 5607
One thing I noticed is the grain/noise in most of the shots. EXIF shows that you shot many/most of them at ISO6400 (and ~f/8-f/10). You could open up the aperture, lower the ISO, and still get a high enough shutter speed to get cleaner shots.
This (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62122574@N02/6345759017/in/set-72157628131354340 - broken link) is my favorite.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-15-2011, 04:00 PM
 
Location: North Carolina
10,194 posts, read 17,733,049 times
Reputation: 13903
Some of the photos look a little cool to me - it looks like you shot on auto white balance which is fine but when the camera doesn't get it right, you need to fix it in post processing, which I don't think you've done.

I agree with getting down at eye level with kids. I also agree many of them are very grainy and you could have opened up to lower your ISO - a shallower DOF is often desirable with portraits anyway. The shots with lower ISOs are noticeably sharper and better looking.

I also think you could do with purging the gallery a little bit, 156 photos is a lot for even the proudest of parents to go through and I think some of the photos aren't worth keeping. This one, for example:
IMG_2735 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62122574@N02/6346488574/in/set-72157628131354340 - broken link) - the lighting isn't great, the kid looks awkward... combined with the skewed camera angle, it actually looks like you accidentally hit the shutter button.
This one as well: IMG_2794 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62122574@N02/6345748963/in/set-72157628131354340/ - broken link) - it looks like you caught him in the middle of talking and that's not flattering. You've also lost the catchlights in his eyes.
This one too: IMG_2751 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62122574@N02/6345740529/in/set-72157628131354340/ - broken link) - with the sky so blown out and the kid once again in an awkward position like you caught him mid-movement, I don't think it's worth displaying. You have plenty of other good pictures so these are just not worth keeping. Part of being a good photographer means picking out only your best shots to display.

I know some people like the tilted camera look but there is such thing as overdoing it... try to scale it back a bit.

Some of the images are very backlit - I can see you used a fill flash sometimes to compensate which is better but sometimes the flash is a bit strong.

Lastly, most of the images appear to have been shot at wide angle. This is generally unflattering in portraiture... sometimes, it does work and indeed, several of your shots are very good. These are my favorites:
IMG_2772 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62122574@N02/6346494504/in/set-72157628131354340/ - broken link) - great expression and lighting, also, shooting from above really works in this one, as does the tilt.
IMG_2822 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62122574@N02/6345759017/in/set-72157628131354340/ - broken link) - good composition and lighting, another great smile
IMG_2918 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62122574@N02/6346545070/in/set-72157628131354340/ - broken link) - this one also looks like you may have caught him talking but it works because it's a cute and humorous expression and again, shooting from above works in this case, as does the wide angle (just a shame about the noise from the high ISO).
IMG_3002 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62122574@N02/6345815883/in/set-72157628131354340/ - broken link) - good composition and lighting, my only complaint is that I would have cropped the bottom lower or higher - where you've cut it off right at the end of his shirt makes him look legless.
IMG_3015 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62122574@N02/6345818639/in/set-72157628131354340/ - broken link) - flash is a bit strong and there's a lot of negative space but great expression - also, although you've worked with a lot of great backgrounds, see how a blurred background really draws the eyes to the face?
IMG_3025 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62122574@N02/6346571266/in/set-72157628131354340/ - broken link) - good composition and lighting - again, just a shame about the noise.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-16-2011, 08:56 AM
 
Location: Somewhere
4,190 posts, read 4,691,323 times
Reputation: 3164
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuzz View Post
One thing I noticed is the grain/noise in most of the shots. EXIF shows that you shot many/most of them at ISO6400 (and ~f/8-f/10). You could open up the aperture, lower the ISO, and still get a high enough shutter speed to get cleaner shots.
This (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62122574@N02/6345759017/in/set-72157628131354340 - broken link) is my favorite.

I noticed this too. Thanks for the insight; this is an area I have virtually no experience in (aperture, ISO). My biggest goal right now is getting cleaner shots.

Thanks
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-16-2011, 09:12 AM
 
Location: Somewhere
4,190 posts, read 4,691,323 times
Reputation: 3164
Quote:
Originally Posted by PA2UK View Post
I also think you could do with purging the gallery a little bit, 156 photos is a lot for even the proudest of parents to go through and I think some of the photos aren't worth keeping. This one, for example:
IMG_2735 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62122574@N02/6346488574/in/set-72157628131354340 - broken link) - the lighting isn't great, the kid looks awkward... combined with the skewed camera angle, it actually looks like you accidentally hit the shutter button.
This one as well: IMG_2794 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62122574@N02/6345748963/in/set-72157628131354340/ - broken link) - it looks like you caught him in the middle of talking and that's not flattering. You've also lost the catchlights in his eyes.
This one too: IMG_2751 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62122574@N02/6345740529/in/set-72157628131354340/ - broken link) - with the sky so blown out and the kid once again in an awkward position like you caught him mid-movement, I don't think it's worth displaying. You have plenty of other good pictures so these are just not worth keeping. Part of being a good photographer means picking out only your best shots to display.
I think you're right and I'm actually going to remove those 3 (maybe a few more). I actually boiled it down from 350 photos There were soooo many shots where he was talking that didn't come out right. And also, whatever I told him to do he would do the opposite lol As soon as I said sit, he would jump up and vice versa lol...he thought everything was a game

Quote:
Originally Posted by PA2UK View Post
I know some people like the tilted camera look but there is such thing as overdoing it... try to scale it back a bit.
Will definitely keep this in mind.


Quote:
Originally Posted by PA2UK View Post
IMG_3002 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! - good composition and lighting, my only complaint is that I would have cropped the bottom lower or higher - where you've cut it off right at the end of his shirt makes him look legless.
IMG_3015 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! - flash is a bit strong and there's a lot of negative space but great expression - also, although you've worked with a lot of great backgrounds, see how a blurred background really draws the eyes to the face?
In regards to the first pic, I may go and try cropping it higher. His shirt had half way fallen out the front of his vest during this shot so it looked kinda awkward.

In regards to the second, yes, I agree, I like the blurred background too.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-16-2011, 09:17 AM
 
Location: Somewhere
4,190 posts, read 4,691,323 times
Reputation: 3164
This was my first time shooting a child and boy did it wear me out. Just thought I'd share a few things I learned from this shoot:

-Keep it moving. If we hadn't done so we wouldn't have had so many different background types.
-Keep the child engaged. Ie use the parents. Whenever we 'asked' him to smile, it turned out HORRIBLE LOL. The parents had to ask him questions, joke/play around and get him talking for me to get a decent shot of him smiling.
-Try to shoot more at eye level; tone down the 'shooting from above' and 'tilted angle' shots
-Delete pics as I go if possible; remember 'quality' over 'quantity'
-For portraits, shoot at a shallower DOF and lower ISO (do I have that right?)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Photography
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top