Beginner looking for feedback on toddler photos

[sir8148va]

I am new to photography but love shooting pictures of my 18 month old. I am still learning the hang of my Pentax K2000 but I am having a lot of fun playing around with it. Any feedback of the two photos below would be greatly appreciated! I am trying to achieve that crisp and clear shot of my busy toddler, but he is so mobile that I find it hard to get the sharp images I am looking for. Any tips on changing certain settings to achieve the look I'm after?

IMG7972 Boy on steps
ISO 800
50mm
1/180
f/3.5

IMG8033 Boy on truck
ISO 800
50mm
1/4000
f/3.5

[scootermcq]

Couple things come to mind. First being shooting at ISO 800. In the boy on truck you are maintaining a shutter speed of 1/4000 so you do not need that high of an ISO, so lower it to 100 to get less noise. Secondly, an aperture of 3.5 will give you a softer image than a stop or two smaller and again you have the room to play with, so try around a 5.6 to see if you get a sharper image.

[tbarabash]

I like the first photo. I would have gotten a little closer on his face cause there's a nice bit of space above him still that you don't really need. I would crop just above his hair and on the side of his left ear, trying to leave some space on the side of the image he's looking into. Also I would have probably made sure to lower my exposure a bit.. children for the most part have very nice skin so I'd want to try not blow it out and let us see it

As for the second shot, you can tell that you're focused a few inches back from where you should be. The seat behind him and the stitching on his overalls are nice and sharp but unfortunately that's not what we care about, yea? And as scooter said make sure you're watching your camera settings with your ISO. Otherwise just remember the rule of 1/3rds for the 2nd picture, there is too much empty space to his sides and I just feel like there isn't much grabbing at me to look at.

Excellent starts though and keep shooting

[sir8148va]

Thanks so much for your comments, I really appreciate it!!