Daughter playing at water fountain

[lilduckling]

First of all, I should say hello to everyone. I'm a newbie here. I recently bought a Sony DSC H7 and took it with me to the Botanic Garden during a family trip. I took this photo of my daughter while she was playing at the water fountain in the kids' area. She was starting to feel uncomfortable at the point I took it. In fact she tried to run out after that and ended up sitting on her tush when she was hit by the water.

Anyway, there seems to be something wrong with this photo. In your opinion, is it anything that can be improved by cropping? Thanks in advance!

 

[spazzer]

hey hi our new fellow cser firstly welcome to clubsnap
regarding your picture i think there was a little expression and if u were to squat down and be at almost the same level as your daughter the result would be totally different
happy shooting with your new camera

 

[lastboltnut]

I don't know if its the limit of the camera, but shallower DOF will be able to isolate your gal and water from the background better.

 

[Zac03]

together with 2 the comments above, try looking up photos of subjects in a similiar environment (esp those bugis fountain shots) and take note of framing, depth of field and the exposure. and your daughter is adorable!

have fun shooting

 

[lilduckling]

Hi,

Thanks for comments. Really appreciate it. I also dunno why I didn't just squat.
I've been reading up but it doesn't just all come to me when I'm taking a picture. Also I'm not so good at producing the right dof, etc yet. And as someone pointed out, my camera is not pro. I wanted to pick up the basics first. Thanks again.

 

[lastboltnut]

If you really really want to have nice DOF for this pic (eg to print out and keep or frame) you can always PP the DOF. Just live with the constraints you have and slowly upgrade if you find that you are really keen.

Hi,

Thanks for comments. Really appreciate it. I also dunno why I didn't just squat.
I've been reading up but it doesn't just all come to me when I'm taking a picture. Also I'm not so good at producing the right dof, etc yet. And as someone pointed out, my camera is not pro. I wanted to pick up the basics first. Thanks again.

 

[daydreamz]

hmmm...v interesting solution! and how would you recommend to do that...? reason being that I too have many such pics where i could have done better with a nice DOF but thought it was too late once the pic was taken. your comment can improve my collection too, so do elaborate.

(btw, hope your solution will not require PS etc...some of us only work with basic software like Photoelements 5 etc...anycase love to hear your solution though)

thanks in advance mate! :thumbsup:

If you really really want to have nice DOF for this pic (eg to print out and keep or frame) you can always PP the DOF. Just live with the constraints you have and slowly upgrade if you find that you are really keen.

 

[grumpy]

Try something different, ask yr daugther to sit in the middle and u shoot from the top of the fountain.

 

[lastboltnut]

Hi daydreamz....I am so sorry, but I do use CS2.....I am not sure about Photoelements 5...may be you can google for some tutorials? Sorry I can't help.:embrass:

hmmm...v interesting solution! and how would you recommend to do that...? reason being that I too have many such pics where i could have done better with a nice DOF but thought it was too late once the pic was taken. your comment can improve my collection too, so do elaborate.

(btw, hope your solution will not require PS etc...some of us only work with basic software like Photoelements 5 etc...anycase love to hear your solution though)

thanks in advance mate! :thumbsup:

 

[daydreamz]

no worries, will do. btw, how do u do it in CS2? maybe the same principles will apply...i can try! cheers.

Hi daydreamz....I am so sorry, but I do use CS2.....I am not sure about Photoelements 5...may be you can google for some tutorials? Sorry I can't help.:embrass:

 

[lastboltnut]

There are many ways to do it....my way:

1. Duplicate the layer.
2. Apply "lens blur" to the new layer.
3. Mask the new layer for area you want to be sharp.

Thats about all.

 

[lilduckling]

Thanks, lastboltnut. I also do not have PS. Time to download gimp.

grumpy, that's a good suggestion but I didn't even dare to get too close to that spray of water with my new camera.

 

[grumpy]

grumpy, that's a good suggestion but I didn't even dare to get too close to that spray of water with my new camera.

Must time your run, I think I got my feet a little wet, was wearing sandals. I managed a couple of shot of my son in it. He didnt want to stay too long, so I only managed a couple of snapshots, would want to reshoot the next time we visit. Water on camera.... think a couple of tiny droplet here and there, nothing a piece of tissue can't fix.

 

[daydreamz]

thanks bro...tried to do this. there are many options under lensblur in PhotoElements....which one to use? Normal, more, gaussian, radial, etc etc?!!

tried a few but still not getting it. it does blur the entire new layer. so then do i have to merge the new blur layer with the original layer wherein my subject matter is in sharp focus!? how do u get the final result where background etc is blur like in a bokeh?

thanks mate again in advance for your help. :thumbsup:

There are many ways to do it....my way:

1. Duplicate the layer.
2. Apply "lens blur" to the new layer.
3. Mask the new layer for area you want to be sharp.

Thats about all.

 

[catchlights]

at most of the case, shooting kids, you have to get down to their eye level,

however, for this shot, you can go higher angle to eliminate the unwanted background,

and also, water shoot out behind her head does not look nice, try to avoid that in future.

btw, a photo should be good at it is, adding any PP to a photo is like adding spices to a dish, just a little to bring out the favor, if you adding to much pepper to black pepper crab, you will spoil the crab.

 

[lilduckling]

Water shooting out of the head... you're right i didn't notice that. :embrass: