Putting this up for input

[Wicked-Vengence]

Shot of my son at the park

EF50MM F1.8 II
1/3200 at F1.8
ISO320

[Wicked-Vengence]

Up for C&C.

Mainly interested in the DOF critique.

[aribabybug]

Personally, I think I would like to see his legs in focus. Because there are still bright colors in the parts of the picture that are out of focus, our eyes are still drawn there, and it's a little disconcerting to want to look at something that's out of focus.

I'm loving the colors, though!

[bbtom10]

I agree and disagree with Aribabybug - the photo and colours are great, but I would like to see whatever it is in his hands in focus - he's clearly focussing on it, so why can't we?

I think the level of DoF is fine, but the DoF plane needs moving forward in the photo such that his eyes and the object are at the two ends of the in-focus range and the rest is out - I know it can be tempting to bokeh out the foreground as well as the background (that is the first time I have used that term so please correct me if I have used it incorrectly!) but in this case it is a key part of the image.

Good job though.

Regards,
Tom

[dakwegmo]

When I first saw this I thought it was a lensbaby. Seeing that you shot it with a nifty fifty, I'm wondering fi you didn't help blur the image a little in post. The plane of focus seems unnatural for a normal lens. Either way, I agree with Tom, whatever is in his hands needs to be in focus.

Originally Posted by bbtom10

I know it can be tempting to bokeh out the foreground as well as the background (that is the first time I have used that term so please correct me if I have used it incorrectly!) but in this case it is a key part of the image.

It's fairly common practice to turn nouns into verbs, so I wouldn't say it's wrong.

[Henry Wilt]

I would agree with bbtom10 regarding the focus on what is in his hand, I found myself trying to work it out.

To bbtom10: I think bokeh is more of an adjective than a verb, nice try though

[IABoomer]

I agree with the others on the hand focus issue. I can sense that I'm standing over this child looking down. He's wanting to show me something. My brain keeps trying to see what's in his hand, which is in the foreground, and I can't focus on it.

[bbtom10]

Unless of course its a booger (or bogey as we say in the UK - not a golf reference) in which case I understand why it's out of focus!

Knowing little boys, there's a good chance it is something that needs blurring!

Tom

[Wicked-Vengence]

Thank you for the input.

It's actually a small leaf in his had (for those wondering). I think it happened that way because I was focused on his eyes at the time and the angle doesn't show it, but his arm was way in front of him.

Now, next request would be, to achieve the focus on the hand and eyes, where would be the best focus point and/or rough Fstop (I like the legs being out of focus and would prefer to keep that).

[RLucas]

I like it as is. I wouldn't change a thing about it. The colors are great. The focus is on the eyes where it should be.
Even at that distance to get the hand more in focus you would have to stop down at least to F4, which would put more of the leg in focus, which you don't want. As a general rule the focal plane always extends 1/3 in front of focused subject, and 2/3 behind. If you increase the distance from the subject, it will still increase the overall dof.