centering question

[Wishing4]

I took a bunch of pictures of my kids eating popsicles after playing in the sprinkler. I got a couple I liked and was playing with this one. Should I center the kids? Should I have more negative space? or should I just crop it close around them? does this work for black and white?

[MrJones]

NO! I think the positioning is perfect as it is.
but the play with the levels... it's too grayish...
and try straighten it a bit.

[BigFuzzy]

No, I definitely think you shouldn't center it. I like the extra space. The only thing I wonder is since the kid on the left is looking right if it might not be nicer to have more space to the right, ie the direction the (or a) subject is looking. But that's minor, I think it's fine the way it is.

I also agree with MrJones in that the b&w conversion is what needs a bit of work, it's definitely more of a black&grey than a black&white.

[sican]

No, it's fine like that. But the B&W conversion is not very good. Try to add more contrast to the photo. By that I mean increase the white areas and decrease the shadows. To do that, in Photoshop go to Image>Adjustments>Levels and move the left triange on the right (around 30 points) and the left (not center) triangle to the left (around 190).

This should fix the greyish look your photo has.

Lastly, I'd straighten the photo because it's slightly tilted on the right. Check out this article if you don't know how.

Regards,
Alex Cican

[Wishing4]

Thank you all very much. I haven't done much with B&W so I will play with it some more. I'm using Picasa if you have any tips for that.

[Wishing4]

Is this one better? (ETA: There is an ugly window to the right is why I left the empty space to the left. And I think our siding might be warped up by the oldest boy's head. I've straightened it as best I could.)

[ricklumpas]

This is a nice candid shot of kids having fun. In my opinion, it needs cropping so that the subjects are at the center: the negative space on the left serves no purpose. The different eye levels of the subjects is enough to make the portrait shot become "off' balance in a nice way. The subjects already suffice for the visual triangle that should be in many images. Just observe a straight horizon as pointed out by sican.

It doesn't look like b/w to my eyes. i see shades of grey but I know this can be pp in picnic.

[swilliams61]

Really like your edited version better; and like the negative space. Great capture of a great moment!!!