I took this shot of my son today, and it just doesnt seem right to me. what do you think?
My subject wasnt being very helpful, wouldnt sit still, wouldnt smile and chucked the odd temper tantrum, this was the best shot i got.
i wanted to use manual settings but he wasnt behaving so shoved it into auto mode, what do you think of the settings that the camera picked? what settings would you have used?
what about the lighting? it was very very bright and i didnt have my lens which has the 'shade thingy' on it (love my terminology?) i tried to shoot with the light behind him, is this right?
what about editing? all ive done is slightly cropped it, what else would you do?
He is sucha cutie! It is hard to capture children when they are moving around alot isn't it... My advice would be to take LOTS of photos! I photographed a friends children yesterday and I found it helped to ask them questions and talk to them about different things as I snapped away, this got them looking at me and kept them more focused and settled.
Also I don't think it is important to get them smiling at all, they have so many wonderful expressions and not posing is better IMO as they look more natural. When I ask my boys to smile they come up with lots of strange expressions lol
When you shoot with the light behind the subject, it makes the light on their faces dark as all the brightness is behind them, On really sunny days I try and get them in a shady spot instead or not have the light coming from behind them (unless I am deliberately trying to get a sunflare or something like that).
Anyway, hope that helps a bit :)
@bluebell I totally agree with Bluebell about getting the child to just talk to you. I did not realize this for a long time, but I teach school and often have to take the students' photos for a bulletin board or in a small group to put on a slideshow they made or for a photo for the school website. Well, I used to line them up and tell them to smile. Horrible results. One day, I took that smiling pic, but then I just talked to them, cracked some jokes, and kept the camera shooting. Those alway come out so much better. This one above is good,and it caught an interesting expression on his face that I like. I agree with taking exposure down a bit.
@sallycheese thanks we think he's cute but we are biassed!
@bluebell@espyetta Thanks guys, i do that with him as well (i was getting him to say bum today!) but he just wasnt in the mood, he kept running away from the camera! if i ask him to smile or say 'cheese' he looks shocking!
so we all think its a little over exposed?
we are going to the park again tomorrow, a little earlier so im hoping that he is in a better mood, today he came home and slept for 3.5 hrs aftre the park so i think he was very tired, explains the temper tantrums anyway!
@mmmchoc I figured you tried to talk to him/crack jokes...he is much younger than the kids I work with too! I am sure he will have his good days and not so good days! Just keep trying. He is adorable! :0)
What I'd do (and I don't really have a lot of experience with portraits, and none at all with babies) is I'd give it some warmer colours and maybe make the entire picture "softer". I'm sure you can find filters for that in whatever editing program you're using. Another possibility would be to use only one colour in the picture. A slightly desaturated orange/red would be fitting in my opinion. But that's just me and like I said, I don't know much about pictures of babies. :) I think the photo itself is very well done, all I'd do now has to do with editing. :)
very cute shot...i agree to take the exposure down a bit...might look more striking as a black and white:) with kids it is so hard- they move like lightning! i find that patience and good stalking skills= amazing kid photos, lol
Aw, he's really cute! It's s lovely pic! I think I would try B&W or sepia. I actually love sepia. To get my kids (11 months and and 7yr old) to smile or even giggle, I have one of their toys ready and place it on my head at the last minute! It doesn't always work but I've managed to capture some good ones doing this! Or I might suddenly blow a raspberry.... Gotta try everything!
The main thing would be to not shoot during high sun. Going off of your exif data, it looks like you shot this close to the noon hour. High sun is the worst time to shoot outside...it just washes out the photo. Throw a filter on if possible, or wait until later in the day.
aww he's adorable :) i think the main problem is the angle of the camera to his face, and the harshness of the shadows - it seems a bit of a juxtaposition to use strong light lines on a soft child's face, which is where you could use that lower-light lens, or avoid bright sunlight.
and the angle, i dont know, theres nothing wrong with it per se it's just that it feels a bit odd to have as much of the side of his face, as the features. maybe make a more decisive decision about whether to shoot profile or front? the dof works really well. its a lovely pic and he is a lovely looking boy! agree with everybody else, this would look wonderful in black&white. good luck with it :)
So cute!!
If it's a bright sunny day you can put the shutter time way up (let say to 2000), and that will decrease the lighting/enhance the contrast and you'll be able to get a clear shot in the same time :-) (That's what I tend to do when taking pics of my "never sitting still" 2 year old son) O and keep the aperture low so you'll keep the DOF
I hope you don't mind... I've saved your photo and made a few edits... not sure if you'll like the edited version better than your own, but this is what I would do to the photo w/o doing a re-shoot.
If you DO want to re-shoot, the others have given you some great tips - stay out of the direct light and you won't have to worry about the harsh lines on his adorable little face! :)
I loved the look on his face. On a bright day you could find a shade tree to shoot under, I noticed the right side of his face is darker than the right , the sun is brighter on his right side. Find a spot that is even lit. I like to just play and take pictures along the way , make a deal with the child. say "crack me a smile once in a while and I'll buy ice cream"
I am a beginner so I don't know how useful this will be-- but I love this pic except for the somewhat harsh line between shadow/light down the middle of his face. I think the angle and expression are great (it's very un-posed, which, in my opinion, is the best way to capture kids). I struggle with shadows with my kids too, and the only thing I try to do is either try to get them to turn toward me so the face is in more even light, or move myself and the camera so we find more even light. Even if it's too dark or washed out, I find I usually have a chance of editing it into something pretty good as long as there are no extreme differences between the light and shadow.
Well here is todays effort, im a little bit happier with the result. I took the shot at about 4pm when the sun was lower but it was still very bright and he wouldnt stay in the shade, the only editing ive done is to crop it. again i used auto settings as i had to hold my daughter at the same time, it was a tad tricky.
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
Also I don't think it is important to get them smiling at all, they have so many wonderful expressions and not posing is better IMO as they look more natural. When I ask my boys to smile they come up with lots of strange expressions lol
When you shoot with the light behind the subject, it makes the light on their faces dark as all the brightness is behind them, On really sunny days I try and get them in a shady spot instead or not have the light coming from behind them (unless I am deliberately trying to get a sunflare or something like that).
Anyway, hope that helps a bit :)
@bluebell @espyetta Thanks guys, i do that with him as well (i was getting him to say bum today!) but he just wasnt in the mood, he kept running away from the camera! if i ask him to smile or say 'cheese' he looks shocking!
so we all think its a little over exposed?
we are going to the park again tomorrow, a little earlier so im hoping that he is in a better mood, today he came home and slept for 3.5 hrs aftre the park so i think he was very tired, explains the temper tantrums anyway!
and the angle, i dont know, theres nothing wrong with it per se it's just that it feels a bit odd to have as much of the side of his face, as the features. maybe make a more decisive decision about whether to shoot profile or front? the dof works really well. its a lovely pic and he is a lovely looking boy! agree with everybody else, this would look wonderful in black&white. good luck with it :)
If it's a bright sunny day you can put the shutter time way up (let say to 2000), and that will decrease the lighting/enhance the contrast and you'll be able to get a clear shot in the same time :-) (That's what I tend to do when taking pics of my "never sitting still" 2 year old son) O and keep the aperture low so you'll keep the DOF
If you DO want to re-shoot, the others have given you some great tips - stay out of the direct light and you won't have to worry about the harsh lines on his adorable little face! :)
Well here is todays effort, im a little bit happier with the result. I took the shot at about 4pm when the sun was lower but it was still very bright and he wouldnt stay in the shade, the only editing ive done is to crop it. again i used auto settings as i had to hold my daughter at the same time, it was a tad tricky.
@dawnetta dont mind at all, thank you for helping, i didnt even think about playing with the colours.
@kiwichick thanks heaps for the link