Playing around with composition

[Dan Rowe]

Looking for some feedback on this image and tips on images like this. I know what I think could have been better. For instance some of the distractions in the background might have been removed from the shot, but she doesn't exactly hold still for me to set up a shot. I'm wondering what tips or suggestions others that have had success in this setting might have to offer.

[Saralonde]

Do you know what your exif info is on this?

[jiminyClickit]

Dan Rowe,

As long as subject has light colors on, a shot from above would create such an unusual frame. Same with a shot from ground up, so subject is "flying." And the "top" of a bounce is most likely to be sharp. The posted photo is well shot, and in a grouping of others would convey a moment of excitement and fun.

[wulf]

I think the background would be better with the viewpoint shifted about 5% to the right. Was the shot handheld or on a tripod? If the latter, you could get the background framed first and then invite the kid (your daughter?) out to play.

There is still an element of chance (and room to capture something spontaneous) but you know that the background will be spot on.

Wulf

[Dan Rowe]

Sara, I'll have to look it up this was shot in RAW and I use Picasa for editing. Strangely it strips exif data from RAW files. I'm in my truck now so I don't have access to the orig.

jiminy, I like your suggestion of a grouping of shots. This is something I have wanted to try for a while now I just never felt I had shots that would work well. I guess you never know until you try right?

wulf, I think I can get some really great shots by using you vantage point suggestion. The only tough part will be getting around the safety net of the trampoline. This shot was taken through the opening.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Man I really dig this forum!

[wulf]

Originally Posted by Dan Rowe

wulf, I think I can get some really great shots by using you vantage point suggestion. The only tough part will be getting around the safety net of the trampoline. This shot was taken through the opening.

Just a small nudge to one side is often enough to make a world of difference to the framing. Alternatively, just shoot at a nice high resolution and then crop down to get a tighter composition. Even shooting at medium format on my Nikon D40 (6MP), I've often got some leeway for cropping down and, although I am trying to improve my ability to get better pictures straight to camera, I think you could hardly call it cheating when you are working in a thoroughly artificial medium to begin with!

Wulf

[Dan Rowe]

Sara the shot was taken as: ISO 400 18mm f/3.5 1/3200sec with my kit lens.

[Saralonde]

Originally Posted by Dan Rowe

Sara the shot was taken as: ISO 400 18mm f/3.5 1/3200sec with my kit lens.

The reason I asked was because of the dof. I thought if you opened up the aperture the background would be more blurred, but at 3.5 that's as open as you can get with the kit lens.

I like the shot, but I agree with the above posters.

Haven't tried RAW with picasa. Didn't realize it stripped exif info.

[Dan Rowe]

Originally Posted by jiminyClickit

Dan Rowe,

As long as subject has light colors on, a shot from above would create such an unusual frame. Same with a shot from ground up, so subject is "flying." And the "top" of a bounce is most likely to be sharp. The posted photo is well shot, and in a grouping of others would convey a moment of excitement and fun.

Here is the grouping I decided on. I really like how it turned out.

[jiminyClickit]

Dan Rowe,

You got it. Minor issues, just with outer photos: on left, the cutoff UR corner could be "smudged" (blend brush?) to match rest of edges. On the right photo, if the upper light area were selected and darkened, it would match more closely the left, and would pass the "squint" test. If you were planning to make another, it looks better if the larger subject of three photos is in the middle, for balance. This version is good. (Maybe a more "playful" type style?)