My Precious.

[Chow Yun Fatt]

A Beginner's Attempt.

1. in what area is critique to be sought?

Advise on the improvements I can do to my work.

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?

Just for keepsakes.

3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)

Candies Shot. Indoor.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture

Feel free to give some constructive criticisms.

 

[LifeInMacro]

If this is a candid shot, then I think you did fine. Eyes and face are sufficiently sharp, and this is important for children portraiture. You shot at bb's eye level, so this is again good work.

If I want to nick-pick, then these would be my thoughts:
1. The blurness of the foreground object that bb is holding is distracting. Either omit, or have in focus with a smaller aperture.
2. Not sure why you shot this in B&W, but for B&W I prefer more constrast as I feel that it is rather flat? Alternatively, a high-key post-processing will also do wonders.
3. Composition wise can be better improved by having more space on the right, meaning moving the bb to the left. Reason being that bb is looking to the right. In this way, the photo can be more intriguing.

Cheers!

 

[Ian]

Lets look at the various aspects of this shot one at a time and give you a proper critique of the shot.

Exposure: Nothing wrong with the exposure at all. It runs the correct and full gamut from black to white and while not a high contrast image it doesn't need to be. This level of B&W tonality was normal when the majority of imagery was shot on B&W film.

Composition: There are a few fundamental flaws in the composition, namely the depth of field (of focus) is too shallow which has led to the distracting left hand holding the object. You can't omit it as LifeInMacro suggests otherwise the childs shoulder will look mighty funny with the arm missing. Rather you need to increase the depth of field by stopping down the lens until it is in focus, this will also snap the entire head region in to focus and that will dispose of the excessively narrow zone of focus across the entire image. Note however when you do stop the lens down you'll really need to pay attention to what's happening in the background.

Lighting: Lighting is acceptable for your level of skill.

Focus: see composition.

Recommendations: Really think before you press the shutter release, take note of what's going on in the background and if necessary change position to get a clearer background. Overall not a bad effort at a baby candid shot from a novice. Keep working at it and you'll get some really good shots in time.

 

[pokiemon]

there's nothing wrong with your photo.

my guess is you are prob shooting at F1.4 or F1.8. that gives you a very shallow DOF. if you know what you are doing it's fine. if not, like what the guys have been saying, play around with the aperture to fully appreciate it.

just 2 comments:
1. if you are going for portrait shot, try not to crop off the head. in this case, makes the subject look bald.
2. i know this is a candid shot, but try to get eye contact i.e. looking at the camera. there will be more connection.

 

[Chow Yun Fatt]

Thanks for your input...After staring at the photo again, I got a little giddy looking at the blurred toy...I now understand.

 

[Chow Yun Fatt]

Thank you for your invaluable advise on the aspects of Composition, now I will have a guide line before I go trigger happy.

I always had the impression that since it was going to be a close up Portrait, I didn't have to worry so much about Composition,
but now I see your point.

 

[Chow Yun Fatt]

Thank you for your feed back, the example of the eye looking at the camera point makes good sense, will try harder next time.

 

[night86mare]

Composition: There are a few fundamental flaws in the composition, namely the depth of field (of focus) is too shallow which has led to the distracting left hand holding the object. You can't omit it as LifeInMacro suggests otherwise the childs shoulder will look mighty funny with the arm missing. Rather you need to increase the depth of field by stopping down the lens until it is in focus, this will also snap the entire head region in to focus and that will dispose of the excessively narrow zone of focus across the entire image. Note however when you do stop the lens down you'll really need to pay attention to what's happening in the background.

yes, this makes a lot of sense.

nothing much more to add on, actually.

 

[Chow Yun Fatt]

I think I cropped it a little tight, if it were a little wider, there would be many many more flaws.

 

[LifeInMacro]

Thank you for your feed back, the example of the eye looking at the camera point makes good sense, will try harder next time.

I don't think this should be a rule that you should always stick by. For candids it may not always be possible, and esp. with kids they then to wander around with their eyes a lot. Always be ready to shoot. What I usually do is to fire in salvo, and then pick the best looking ones.

 

[Chow Yun Fatt]

I don't think this should be a rule that you should always stick by. For candids it may not always be possible, and esp. with kids they then to wander around with their eyes a lot. Always be ready to shoot. What I usually do is to fire in salvo, and then pick the best looking ones.

You have a point there...I feel I'm becoming too technical...Now I have habit to evaluate too many things before I shot...:bsmilie: