My eldest when he got home from his last day of school. First afternoon of the hols ahead of him.... My hubby doesn't like this at all. Was trying to go low key...Honest thoughts welcome please, struggle with the whole portrait thing...
I actually like this, the little one in the far distance coming, the shine in the eyes of your eldest and him in the right of the image, the radiator as a leading line to the light in the back. It's a very natural portrait.
It's a great, natural portrait - if you're going for low key I'd suggest less light, certainly in the background - if I'm doing low key I generally try and have only one light source from one side of the subject otherwise processing/editing to make it look low key is a right nightmare. Having said that I think this is a fantastic shot, love the cheeky look and the glint in the eye!
I agree with both @overalvandaan and @graemestevens for different reasons. If you're going for a low-key natural portrait, this is awesome! If you're going to stage something with more intent, you'd want to have a more consistent dark (not nec'ly black) background with a single (side or back) light source.
Using manual settings on your camera would accomplish the latter in this setting with no added light required. Boost the f-stop just a tad, from 3.5 to 8 or so, and control the shutter speed to maximize the front light source and eliminate the one from behind. I would start at 1/100th and work from there. If you use bracketing, you will find the sweet spot more quickly.
Your eldest looks delightfully impish in this photo! I like that a great deal!
This is a gorgeous shot and what a cheeky face, but not quite low key for me. I would crop out the radiator and the light coming in from the left and focus on the little boy. I agree with Graeme that low key only needs one light source and usually from one side rather than straight on so that perhaps his left eye is in shadow.
I am no expert on low key though and have only just managed one photo in low key a few days ago and that was with natural sunlight against a dark background.
He looks as though he is really pleased it is the holidays.
I really like this portrait Ruth, The composition works for me. I rarely use low-key, but I think the folks who mentioned single light source are on the money.
Using manual settings on your camera would accomplish the latter in this setting with no added light required. Boost the f-stop just a tad, from 3.5 to 8 or so, and control the shutter speed to maximize the front light source and eliminate the one from behind. I would start at 1/100th and work from there. If you use bracketing, you will find the sweet spot more quickly.
Your eldest looks delightfully impish in this photo! I like that a great deal!
I am no expert on low key though and have only just managed one photo in low key a few days ago and that was with natural sunlight against a dark background.
He looks as though he is really pleased it is the holidays.