exposure, exposure, exposure

[chulito71]

Need help with expsure. I feel a lot of my pictures appear on either the dark side, or over exposed. I am missing the sweet spot. Please assist, how could this picture have been made to really pop?



Taken with a nikon d40 and 35mm 1.8g lens
f; 3.5
1/60 shutter
ISO 400
no flash

[MrJones]

you're talking about exposure but I don't think that's the main problem here.
you've got your kid looking left, so try and include more space to the left of the subject.
right now you've got uninteresting space to behind the subject (on the photo's right side) and my eyes keep looking for what the subject is looking at.
try putting her on the right side of the photo.
other than that, try exposing it a little more, you're not too much off.

hope I helped.

[Labrosse]

I feel the same way as Mr. Jones. The exposure seems pretty close. I feel that the she needs to be placed off center (right or left) depending on what you want to convey as well as your background is a nit too busy. That being said, using f1.8 or 2.8 might help blur the background just a bit more.

I hope my advice helps!

[chulito71]

thank you for both responses. I totally agree with your advice. The composition looks off to me now. Also, good to know that the exposure is not that off, thanks for the critique

[Bobd20011]

I would like to see more detail in the eyes. Did you process them in post?

[chulito71]

I didn't do any PP. What could be done with the eyes? and how. I have photoshop like,,, 7 or something, very old. but works. I also just want to get my technique done so in the future not to have to do too much PP. But for now its definitely a technique i need to learn.

[chulito71]

LoL, ok my first attempt at PP. Added some flare in the eyes- looks a bit creapy to me now. Also used levels to fix contrast/ exposure, and also cropped the wasted space on the left. Any feedback is great, I really am trying to get my hands on this.

Thanks in advance

[Gunny]

The one thing I would look to do differently is to to bring the camera down a bit more to the level of the girl. For me, it seems as if the person photographing the child is simply standing over her. If the photographer squatted down a bit, highlights would have been picked up in the eyes and would be more engaging. I also agree with giving more room to the left of the frame. Cute girl!

[MrJones]

oh.. that's creepy now... take out the flames

[Bobd20011]

I agree, ditch the flames. The crop looks better, but you simply needed more room in the composition. I find the same problem all of the time . . . not enough room from one side or another in my favorite shot. The bench is great and the girl is beautiful!