Beware: Cutest Child Ever

[cameracrazy88]

I just attempted my first family portrait session, and I was super scared. Luckily for me, it was a family I am good friends with who knows my level of "expertise" and is amazingly photogenic.

Anyway, this adorable child was having none of me taking his picture and was glued to his mom for the first 15 or 20 minutes that we were on the beach. I managed to get a few shots of him anyway, and by the end of the night, he was smiling and laughing for the camera and making sure that before he did anything that I was watching.

Anyway, here he is -

From Alana Family Pictures

I know that I exposed a lot of the pictures (this one included) for them instead of the sea background so it seems like it is too bright. How do I avoid that? And please tell me what you think of my composition and post-processing (more or less needed?) This is my first official post on here, but I want you all to be brutally honest with me.

[MrJones]

I don't think you over exposed, I think you did a great job exposure wise.
same for the composition.
I do feel the focus is a bit out of place. his eyes don't seem to be sharp.
it would help if you post your exif here.

a tip for BW photos - push the contrast as high as you can and then start going back. you BW lack the basic BLACK & WHITE, they are mostly in the gray area.

[Swisstony10]

When I want to get the subject properly exposed but not lose the background, I expose for the background, and use a bit of fill flash to light the subject.

If the difference between the background and subject isn't too great, you can get away with using a reflector to get extra light onto the subject without having to overexpose the background. That said, on occasion, a slightly overdone background just looks right for the picture - certainly the one that you've posted here has quite a nice balance. Yes, the background is a little overexposed, but in my opinion that adds to the feel of the overall image.