The Bruneian Girl

[ahmadtankfbz]

Hi, this i my first post, and I took this picture in the river taxi with my Pentax kx

1. in what area is critique to be sought?
Just starting out. Any opinions and critique would be greatly appreciated.

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
A child's innocent smile using natural light from the windows.

3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
I took this picture at f8.0, 1/200 sec at ISO400 with my Pentax 55-300mm lens. The lighting comes from the afternoon sun seeping through the window. I had to crop her mother and a passenger out to remove distraction. Other than that, no other post processing.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture
Her smile was the bonus for me. She was frightened by the large crowd but warmed up to me as I make funny faces at her. I told my friend to do the same as I took a shot of her.

Please, don't hold back your criticism and comments. Thanks!

 

[ed9119]

Aiyooo..... composition so nice and the girl SO cute !!!! You really killed the pic with the overexposed arms and nose areas

How did you meter this shot ?
Any EXIF info to share?

Good job spotting the opportunity tho' better luck next time !

 

[motionstills]

sparking eyes, sweet innocent smile...you have chosen one very adorable subject, but light is tooo harsh, highlighting wrong place and overpowering her expression, esp the eyes.

hope u have chance to go back and try again.

 

[msscaredycat]

The girl is adorable! Great job capturing her expression. Enough has been said about the lighting, I think a closer crop getting rid of the pink flower and her mom's (??) clothes would be neater.

 

[ahmadtankfbz]

Thanks guys. I agree the lighting is horrible and cropping could have been better. The rivertaxi was bumpy and there was no other lighting except the afternoon sunlight seeping through the window which she was sitting directly under. Thanks for the advice. Keep it coming.

 

[aprilmoon92]

I think the light was so harsh because the shadow-light contrast was just too large.. perhaps some fill flash to even it out? though that might have upset the parents or the girl.

 

[ed9119]

I think the light was so harsh because the shadow-light contrast was just too large.. perhaps some fill flash to even it out? though that might have upset the parents or the girl.

bingo !! :thumbsup:

flash in this situation is best and is not very noticeable because there is already strong ambient light outside the shades..... meter for the highlights and dial down the flash a little to fill in the shadows

 

[ahmadtankfbz]

Okay, thanks guys, will try to find her again... lol...

 

[Lekech]

Hi there,

Did you shoot this in jpeg or raw? If it is in raw, maybe the pic can still be salvaged from the harsh lighting problem...

1. Decrease the contrast amap, without impairing tonal integrity.
2. Adjust the brightness thereafter.
3. Create a lightened vignette to 'brighten' surrounding dark area.
Main idea is to use to tone down impact of the harsh lighting with the use of vignetting borders.

Another issue you might wanna address, the focal point is not on the child's eyes...

Cheers

 

[ahmadtankfbz]

Hi there,

Did you shoot this in jpeg or raw? If it is in raw, maybe the pic can still be salvaged from the harsh lighting problem...

1. Decrease the contrast amap, without impairing tonal integrity.
2. Adjust the brightness thereafter.
3. Create a lightened vignette to 'brighten' surrounding dark area.
Main idea is to use to tone down impact of the harsh lighting with the use of vignetting borders.

Another issue you might wanna address, the focal point is not on the child's eyes...

Cheers

Sadly, its in jpeg cause I was low in memory and I thought I had no post-processing software. Thanks for the tip though...