i dressed the kids in their finery and took them to the bech at sunset to get some nice shots of them, the lighting was brilliant to say the least! I've really been trying to use more manual settings on my canon 50d, but i tend to favour aperture priority. Unfortunaly AV mode didnt work too well, i wanted a shallow DOF and when ever i used a lower Fstop the camera decided it needed a long exposure. The children (my turd of a 2.5 year old!) and light were nearly over and i didnt have time to stuff around with manual settings, so i shoved it in to flash off and just went crazy in the hopes that 1 or 2 would turn out. i was pleased with the results considering the boy wasnt overly helpful and the baby just wanted to eat the sand, but i know i can improve. how can i improve? critiques?
@mjkthorpe thankyou thats also what i thought, i have lightened it slightly... the little rat bag wouldnt look in the direction i wanted him though so consequenlty his face is a bit darker then i wanted. Do you know if there is a way of just lightning him wiht out the back ground, ive tried in Piknic and the background becomes even way more over exposed. do you know if its a feature in photoshop, i have photshop but rarely have the time to have a fiddle around in it!
you could try the dodge tool in photoshop, i think it looks like a pin?? lightens the area of the tool only, i think i you tubed how to do it, search dodge and burn tool. they are gorgeous photos
The first photo, the boy's left arm is cut off. the crop is a little bit awkward. the POV from behind doesn't offer much interest. My mind is fixated on the mystery of the adult's hand rather than the boy.
Second photo, the baby is rule-of-third-ized for the sake of it. i don't see why you need the empty space to the left. I would prefer to see a close up instead. The baby looks like a paperweight :D
Third photo, awwwwwwwww :P you got a cheeky grin out of him. I like the way the pattern of the grass and the boy's head accent one another.
Final two shots are your strongest IMO. the fourth shot is the type i would expect to see from a professional (with a bit more fill light to the face). In both shots, you've captured the personality of the boy.
@scatochef yup you got me! rule of 3rds for the sake of it! i do have a close up of her, but was hoping to match the one of her bro! LOL! i was hoping to make the 4 of them a series on my wall :-) not the one from behind that was just me trying to be arty, i didnt want him sropped but the little rat moved! and i also wanted one of him and his dad in silhouette but didnt catch it.
thankyou for your kind comments!!
@megsy thankyou :-) they are good subjects when they oblige!
I think @scatochef Is spot on, I would add a few more comments to the last two. I would watch the background as there might of been better me around.
The blown out sky is ok on screen but world look really bad if printed and the kat one is there a reason why you ave a house in the shot and. Pole growing out of the poor boys head?:)
@agima not my best composition, it was a very quick capture, there is one with out the house and the pole but he isnt smiling.... the little shit! Unfortunalty there are houses over looking the whole beach so it was impossible to get from this angle in the water with out the houses, i really wanted to just see the dunes... bot those rich buggers had to build their houses in my shot ;-) im thinking of trying to PS out hte pole
They all look good, I agree lighting on a few could be better but overall good job...I use to use picnic to edit photos and now use picmonkey.com it's not photoshop but I do photoshoots for friends and people who I don't know but have seen some of my work and use this to edit especially with lighting and it's super user friendly and I get great results....and it's FREE so can't go wrong there...try it out you might like effects it gives and it also has some cool features where you can overlay another pic on to another sort of what PS does anyway good job and good luck...:)
Well, here's my 2 cents for what it's worth:
1) was a nice idea, but I think you should have taken the full shot with both of you. It seems strange to have this adult hand just sticking in there. Yes, it's a tried and true typical beach shot- but the parent/child bond is better in full view.
2) looks sad to me- poor baby just plopped in the water!
3) (o: I love this one! Golden hour magic.
4) this is nice too- if you'd used a fill flash it would have been perfect but you can still save it I think. Picnik is gone today, but Picmonkey.com is a great replacement and it has many of the same capabilities. You can adjust the brush size in the dodging effect to only cover his face and that will allow to brighten him without over brightening the background. I think that will work if you don't overdo it.
5) I would first crop this picture. I like that he's off center, but I feel there is just a little too much space on the left side. You could go a couple ways with this. You could take just a little off and keep the layout horizontal, or you could take even more off and make the shot appear vertical. That's subjective. Thankfully with digital you can play with it to see which you like better if you choose to go that route. Yes, definitely clone out that pole! I don't find the houses too distracting but if you really dislike them it is possible to clone them out as well, but it's a long and laborious process (I once cloned out the entire cluttered wall in a living room shot- my profile pic as a matter of fact- but it took an hour to do it!!). But I think I like your son's facial expression in this one the best.
Overall- I don't think you need to do a series of this. Instead I'd choose the best 2 which for me is #3 and #5 (with adjustments). Of course, this too is subjective. But I like the idea that the shots are in the same setting, but because they're also different they bring out the individual personality of the child- especially the impish grin of your son in #5.
So, take it for what it's worth! And I hope it's helpful to you. The setting is beautiful and your children are adorable!
I assume you meant that when "lowered" the fstop, that you mean you lowered the number of the fstop, thus opening up the aperture to more light. So it doesn't make sense that if you kept opening up that it wanted a longer shutter speed. Could be just the wording of your description, but if you're changing your aperture and the shutter speed is getting longer, that's the wrong direction for the aperture change to get shallow depth of field / blurred background.
I only looked at the EXIF info on the first image, but that one says you were at ISO 100. If you'd bumped up your ISO to a higher number (good to do an ISO test so you know how high you can go without noise), in that light, you should have been able to open up your aperture (lowest number possible) and gotten a usable shutter speed. You might still need a little fill light in post-production, but I think it would have given you the effect you had in mind. :)
A quick edit where I upped the exposure, clarity and contrast a bit, and lowered the saturation. I know I lost the beautiful colors in the sunset though. I used Lightroom 4. Whatever you decide to do, with one, you will want to do something similar with the other so they look nice together.
Here is my advice. Keep playing. Your concepts are good and if you learn the tweakings in a post processing program the images can be saved for you to enjoy. Eventually you might want to shoot in RAW so you can control more, but I have the feeling you are in the playing stage. Stay true to the photo a day thing, take photos for memories, keep asking questions, you will be surprised at what you learn.
@cfitzgerald You also made it so sharp that it can now cut through the flesh of a dragon, and still be used afterward to shave a beard of diamonds off a block of cement dipped in lava.
@gurry I agree that it looks like that on here. I didn't think I played with the sharpness that much and it did not look like this on my screen. I tried.
I like the series... the 3rd and 5th are my favorite shots. The expression on the baby's face with the sunlight highlighting all that beautiful soft baby hair is wonderful! And I love the little guy's expression, the lighting and composition in the 5th one!
Lovely shots, the last one in my humble opinion has background clutter, the pole looks like it is coming out of the little boys head. The baby one's adorable.
the third photo is lovely. Do you use your cameras light meter? You should meter off of their faces to get the proper exposure in manual . I takes practice but is worth it bc you wont just Hope to get good pictures.
most of my issues have been mentioned already... all in all i think you should be happy with these images... children are very hard to shoot and you cant really pose them like adults, its very much shoot for the expression... my comments :
1. Agree about the crop. I would have liked to see a tiny bit more rim lighting on the right of the head so just turning him to the left a tiny bit may have opened that up. The lighting on the adult's arm doesnt show the same light characteristics (probably because the body is blocking it) but it does throw the image off. Angle of the camera feels a little indecisive for me... its neither low enough for a powerful feeling (Jerry Bruckheimer esque) or high enough to give the viewer the same PoV as the boy
2. I'm actually more distracted by the shadows of the sand behind the baby cutting across her head in 2 places
4. Has so much potential. A reflector in here would have made this a great image + cropping
5. As mentioned, the antenna is pretty distracting but the first thing i noticed here was that his feet look to be missing because the water is at his ankles. I would have liked to see this either fully out of the water or get him to walk slightly further in so the water comes up mid calf. Alternatively wait for the tide to go out and shoot.
I think for #3 & #4 particularly, a reflector could've been used to bounce light back onto their faces, as they're both quite dark in comparison to the background. I can't afford a reflector at the moment, so I just have an A1 white piece of paper and it works perfectly (though I do look a little mad carrying it around)!
I personally prefer to get the lighting right in-camera, so I wouldn't suggest lightening the image overall as you'll just blow out the sky and lose all the lovely golden colour you've captured! Overly dodging someone's face can also lead to a degradation in the image, so again, I'd steer away from it.
I think this series is really lovely! The light is beautiful.
@oblique you should be able to get a hold of a reasonable reflector for a cheapish amount (In the UK it was about £10). It wont be one of the best, but it'll be ok
@toast I went to my local camera shop recently and the cheapest they had was AU $120. I should try and see if I can get a cheaper one online, one around £10 would be great! Thanks!
@oblique aahhh, you're aussie like me. ok dont get them from the shops.. look online at amazon and go for the chinese ones... this is one that i got in the UK
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110cm-43-5-in-1-collapsible-Photo-Studio-outdoor-disc-light-Multi-Reflector-/320989233282?pt=UK_Light_Controls_Light_Reflectors&hash=item4abc730082
@oblique there's different reflectors.. gold will give you a warm glow, silver is more harsh and sometimes glaring.. the white is very subtle and you may not see the difference at first.
The best way to sort this out is to get someone to hold the reflector for you (as opposed to a stand). Dont try to do fine movement to get the reflection right, you wont be able to tell the difference. Instead, if you're not sure of the effect, turn the reflector completely away from the subject, then turn it back and you'll see the impact immediately. Wash / rinse / repeat until you're happy with the light impact. Also, most of the time, you'll probably want this reflector a little further away from the subject than you'd have thought.
Lastly, based ont the size / shape of your subject, you may actually want to bend the reflector (outward) so the convex side faces the subject.. this will give you a greater spread of light :)
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the 2nd to last could so with lightening a bit.
@michellina thankyou :-)
Second photo, the baby is rule-of-third-ized for the sake of it. i don't see why you need the empty space to the left. I would prefer to see a close up instead. The baby looks like a paperweight :D
Third photo, awwwwwwwww :P you got a cheeky grin out of him. I like the way the pattern of the grass and the boy's head accent one another.
Final two shots are your strongest IMO. the fourth shot is the type i would expect to see from a professional (with a bit more fill light to the face). In both shots, you've captured the personality of the boy.
well done!
thankyou for your kind comments!!
@megsy thankyou :-) they are good subjects when they oblige!
@emjay8 ill check it out thankyou :-)
The blown out sky is ok on screen but world look really bad if printed and the kat one is there a reason why you ave a house in the shot and. Pole growing out of the poor boys head?:)
1) was a nice idea, but I think you should have taken the full shot with both of you. It seems strange to have this adult hand just sticking in there. Yes, it's a tried and true typical beach shot- but the parent/child bond is better in full view.
2) looks sad to me- poor baby just plopped in the water!
3) (o: I love this one! Golden hour magic.
4) this is nice too- if you'd used a fill flash it would have been perfect but you can still save it I think. Picnik is gone today, but Picmonkey.com is a great replacement and it has many of the same capabilities. You can adjust the brush size in the dodging effect to only cover his face and that will allow to brighten him without over brightening the background. I think that will work if you don't overdo it.
5) I would first crop this picture. I like that he's off center, but I feel there is just a little too much space on the left side. You could go a couple ways with this. You could take just a little off and keep the layout horizontal, or you could take even more off and make the shot appear vertical. That's subjective. Thankfully with digital you can play with it to see which you like better if you choose to go that route. Yes, definitely clone out that pole! I don't find the houses too distracting but if you really dislike them it is possible to clone them out as well, but it's a long and laborious process (I once cloned out the entire cluttered wall in a living room shot- my profile pic as a matter of fact- but it took an hour to do it!!). But I think I like your son's facial expression in this one the best.
Overall- I don't think you need to do a series of this. Instead I'd choose the best 2 which for me is #3 and #5 (with adjustments). Of course, this too is subjective. But I like the idea that the shots are in the same setting, but because they're also different they bring out the individual personality of the child- especially the impish grin of your son in #5.
So, take it for what it's worth! And I hope it's helpful to you. The setting is beautiful and your children are adorable!
I only looked at the EXIF info on the first image, but that one says you were at ISO 100. If you'd bumped up your ISO to a higher number (good to do an ISO test so you know how high you can go without noise), in that light, you should have been able to open up your aperture (lowest number possible) and gotten a usable shutter speed. You might still need a little fill light in post-production, but I think it would have given you the effect you had in mind. :)
A quick edit where I upped the exposure, clarity and contrast a bit, and lowered the saturation. I know I lost the beautiful colors in the sunset though. I used Lightroom 4. Whatever you decide to do, with one, you will want to do something similar with the other so they look nice together.
Here is my advice. Keep playing. Your concepts are good and if you learn the tweakings in a post processing program the images can be saved for you to enjoy. Eventually you might want to shoot in RAW so you can control more, but I have the feeling you are in the playing stage. Stay true to the photo a day thing, take photos for memories, keep asking questions, you will be surprised at what you learn.
THIS ONE I
Upped the exposure
shifted the shadows
and desatured
I hope it looks less sharp at this low res.
If you are doing shoots for others you will really want to look into an editing software that will make you life easier once you learn it.
1. Agree about the crop. I would have liked to see a tiny bit more rim lighting on the right of the head so just turning him to the left a tiny bit may have opened that up. The lighting on the adult's arm doesnt show the same light characteristics (probably because the body is blocking it) but it does throw the image off. Angle of the camera feels a little indecisive for me... its neither low enough for a powerful feeling (Jerry Bruckheimer esque) or high enough to give the viewer the same PoV as the boy
2. I'm actually more distracted by the shadows of the sand behind the baby cutting across her head in 2 places
4. Has so much potential. A reflector in here would have made this a great image + cropping
5. As mentioned, the antenna is pretty distracting but the first thing i noticed here was that his feet look to be missing because the water is at his ankles. I would have liked to see this either fully out of the water or get him to walk slightly further in so the water comes up mid calf. Alternatively wait for the tide to go out and shoot.
I personally prefer to get the lighting right in-camera, so I wouldn't suggest lightening the image overall as you'll just blow out the sky and lose all the lovely golden colour you've captured! Overly dodging someone's face can also lead to a degradation in the image, so again, I'd steer away from it.
I think this series is really lovely! The light is beautiful.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110cm-43-5-in-1-collapsible-Photo-Studio-outdoor-disc-light-Multi-Reflector-/320989233282?pt=UK_Light_Controls_Light_Reflectors&hash=item4abc730082
I shot these in ibiza with that reflector
Argh, I totally need to get myself one! I love how the light from the reflector is mimicking the warm sunset light. Looks great.
Thanks again!
The best way to sort this out is to get someone to hold the reflector for you (as opposed to a stand). Dont try to do fine movement to get the reflection right, you wont be able to tell the difference. Instead, if you're not sure of the effect, turn the reflector completely away from the subject, then turn it back and you'll see the impact immediately. Wash / rinse / repeat until you're happy with the light impact. Also, most of the time, you'll probably want this reflector a little further away from the subject than you'd have thought.
Lastly, based ont the size / shape of your subject, you may actually want to bend the reflector (outward) so the convex side faces the subject.. this will give you a greater spread of light :)