My 8 month old Daughter

[8ounty]

My daughter Aimee and I were playing on the floor when she started climbing up me and looking up at me with the most beautiful expression ever, so I just had to grab my camera!

I've done a few PP tweeks in PS, and I really wanted to create a bright 'angelic' looking picture, and think I've managed to capture that quite well, but would love your feedback and critique.

EXIF:
Camera: Canon EOS 20D
Exposure 1/160 sec
Aperture f/7.1
Focal Length 80 mm
ISO Speed 1600
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off

The original image and PP method is on my blog.

Many thanks for looking

[Lightwriter]

First off, your daughter is super cute

I like the framing, though it might be even better in a tighter square crop. My main complant is the softness of the shot. You were shooting inside and on the fly with out flash so it's not surprising. I would do some sharpening and a little contrast and color boost (mostly for her eyes). There is so little color I thought this was a black and white at first. Black and white might be a good option, too.

[8ounty]

I never thought about the black and white option, I will give your tips a try. Many thanks

[Lightwriter]

You're welcome

[8ounty]

Ok, so I had a little play, taking some of your advice.

Adjusted levels, colour balance, exposure, curves, applied a photo filter, sharpened, cropped, then desaturated to nearly B&W - then 'cut some eye holes'!

Let me know what you think:

[Lightwriter]

Much nicer! I might go with pure black and white but I like your selective color, too.

[BigFuzzy]

First off, gorgeous kid.

As for the photo, the first thing I noticed is that nothing seems to be in focus. Yes, I recognize that she was probably moving, but to me, all portraits should have the eyes in focus, and considering you had 160th of a second and f/7.1 it seems as if a lot more should be in focus. Maybe it's because the central focal point was on her nose? Take advantage of changing the focal points or use "focus lock" on the eyes.

As for the second version, I am very biased against these types of shots. The whole "selective coloring of eyes" feels very gimmicky and screams "I'm just learning PP"... don't get me wrong, I did the same thing when i was first doing PP. It's not a judgement, just thought you might want to know how it's perceived by those with a bit more experience.

Thanks!
Al

[8ounty]

Ok, ok, I was being a little gimmicky - this I've adjusted and it does look better! I've been tweaking this and another photo and have noticed that the focus is poor on both, and there is a lot of noise. Yes I know I'm shooting at a fairly high ISO on a 20D so noise will be an issue unless I use a flash, but as for the focus issue I think my main issue is that I'm using some very old lenses (these came with my NEW EOS 500 - mid 90s, remember those?!) which are not that quick at auto-focussing on a very mobile baby girl! Maybe it's time to get a newer, faster lens?!

But that aside, maybe I'll concentrate on subjects that are less mobile whilst I get to grips on my kit.

Thanks for the help, here's the re-tweeked image, and my other very noisy shot!

[Lightwriter]

Very sweet shots, though. Don't be afraid of flash. It can be your friend

[8ounty]

Originally Posted by Lightwriter

Don't be afraid of flash. It can be your friend

LMAO - I'm not afraid, just haven't got one (other than pop-up which isn't great)