First critique shot - photo of friends daughter

[zillygal]

I took these back in May and other than a few random shots here and there of my grandkids this set (the others are on flickr) are my favorites.

I know that it should be cropped more down the centerline of her face, but I wanted to post it straight out, without any cropping or editing.

What I want to know other than the shot, is did I get extremely lucky? I was shooting near dusk, the sun was directly to our west and behind me in this photo. (the house faces south and we were out front). She kept posing and making faces, so that did help rather than an unwilling child who keeps hiding and doesn't want their photo taken.

The set is under maddy on flickr.

PS - is it ok to also show the set or refer to it?

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ethannorah/2220524873/" title="Maddy 4 by zillygal_photos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2172/2220524873_fd04bbed8a.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Maddy 4" /></a>

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/2
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/2 EV

[peeperita]

i believe you are welcome to post a link to your set.....

it is a nice exposure and you're right to feel gifted with decent light.....but, from here on out, don't look at it as luck.....not when you can reproduce those same conditions almost daily.....i believe this time of day is called a "golden hour"....

remember this time of day and sun direction and use it to your full advantage....

thanks for sharing

peeper

[xxpinballxx]

Hi and welcome.
I wouldnt go too centered on the crop...I moved my window over to the edge of the screen to see what it would look like. A little trick for cropping suggestions I give here.
I think just enough to get the nostrils entirely in frame without the bit of the left eye.
I think the eye looks great and like the DOF....may be a touch shallow but still nice.
I might take a bit off the bottom too
Lighting looks nice not too flat.

[Sandie]

hi,
I agree with xxpinballxx about the cropping, just enough to get rid of that little bit of eye and a tiny bit off the bottom for balance. The skintones are beautiful and her eyes is engaging. Keeping shooting in the late afternoon and the early morning and you will keep getting nice shots!

[photofun]

I just looked at you set of Maddy on Flicker. They really turned out well. I never really thought about the golden hour so much in portraits but the lighting was very effective and natural. These shots not only show us what Maddy looks like but the show us her personality which is probably the most difficult part of portrait photography. Well done!

[zillygal]

i believe you are welcome to post a link to your set.....

it is a nice exposure and you're right to feel gifted with decent light.....but, from here on out, don't look at it as luck.....not when you can reproduce those same conditions almost daily.....i believe this time of day is called a "golden hour"....

remember this time of day and sun direction and use it to your full advantage....

thanks for sharing

peeper

Thank you for idea of remembering the time frame. As soon as it warms up a bit I am going to get brave enough to try it again.

[zillygal]

I was going to do a post to each one of you who had some advice, but didn't want to take up 4 posts on that (and haven't figured out how to do multiple quotes).


xxpinballxx : Thank you for the tips on cropping. Since these were taken awhile back, I had already printed one, but I did it how I said in my first post and cut it down the nose. I am going to try it like you said and see how it turns out.


Sandie : thank you :)

photofun : Thank you! This girl is quite the character and so much fun when I take my camera over there. She is a great one to have around when you want to practice something.

Now I just have to figure out how to consistently do this!