Garden Statue

[loopylobo]

I am an amateur that is trying to develop ( sorry for the pun) my photographic skills. I took this photo this week with my Canon A630 and feel that it is one of the best shots I have taken.

[oriolhdz]

Hello loopylobo:
We all try to develop our skills hehe. Nice shot you made. IMHO I think you can get a more stunning photo if you blur the background a little because it distracts the eye from the little boy on the horse. Also cropping it a little maybe may help or take again the photo using the rule of thirds. Here is the link:
http://digital-photography-school.co...ule-of-thirds/
As I'm new in photography that's all I can say.
Keep shooting and thanks for sharing your photo!

[thingy]

Or alternatively if you cropped this, maybe you can open it up a bit as it looks a little too tight at the moment.

G

[clockdoc]

Hi Loopylobo and welcome to the group. I think you are off to a good start in developing your eye for a picture. One of the most difficult things to teach someone new to photography is to move in close. You certainly don't have that problem. As others have suggested, allowinging a little more breathing space around your subject would make for a stronger image. Keep shooting and posting. We'll help where we can. Again, welcome to the group.

[jdepould]

I think one thing to consider compositionally may be placing your subject(s) more off center. I think in this case the photo is slightly unbalanced by the planter in the immediate background. The right side of the photo is "heavier" so to speak. Perhaps a shift in perspective would put the two items farther apart in the frame. Alternatively, you might try repositioning (if possible) the statue and/or planter to get the effect.

[Joe Hoetzl]

I'd also suggest that it may be a little to tightly cropped, but another tip, since you have a perfect model to use - try placing a piece of foam-core in front of the setup to reflect some of the natural lighting back under the "chin" of your model.
You can also experiment with other positions to play with the lighting at hand, without using strobes/flash.

Furthering jdepould's remarks (I think), when you have a model, or something with "eyes", I like to leave a bit more space in the direction they are looking, in this case, more space to the right of the shot.

But most of all, keep shooting! You have some nice contrasting colors there...

[schencksshots]

Nice shot. I agree with other posts. Crop in on the image to eliminate some of the distracting background. And in general, don't put your focus of interest directily in the middle of your photo. Maybe in cropping you could change the composition somewhat.

good job.