Get Lost in My Baby Blues....

[Troy_Schwaller]

First post in the Critique Forum. Be gentle, but I am interested in how to improve.


EXIF:

Canon XT
ISO: 200
F-Stop: f/5.6
Exposure: 1/40sec
Min Flash

[BigFuzzy]

Hi Troy..
Ok.. being gentle especially since it's of a loved one which I tend to stay away from.

To me, there are two main issues with the image (maybe three).
One is the crop.. to me, it feels way too tightly cropped. I typically try to avoid cropping through the chin.. and it feels too tightly cropped near her right (our left) eye.
Second is your shutter speed, it's too long which has caused the softness in the image as well as the blurred motion of her mouth. Try to avoid going anything less than 1/60th of a second.. and with newcomers I suggest not even going under 1/100th if possible. And if you have no idea what I just said, there's a place to start with learning.

I know, in the end, this image will mean a lot because it's (probably) of a loved one. But make sure you step away from the "aaaw cute" factor (3rd possible issue) and try to analyze it in context of other portraits you see.

I don't know the kid, so I don't know how much of her personality comes out in this image, you may, but we as the viewer probably don't (I can't speak for others.. but I will haha).

In the end, I'm sure this is great for you, because it means something to you, but to me as a casual outside viewer, it's pretty much just a snapshot which I assume you tried to make better by cropping tightly?

Keep shooting, but always make composition, lighting and sharpness key elements in your mind with each shot.

[MrJones]

what BigFuzzy said...

BigFuzzy... I just love reading your critique regardless of who posted to photo, me or another.
you give a full analysis of the photo and I'm learning a lot.
thank you!

[BigFuzzy]

Originally Posted by MrJones

what BigFuzzy said...

BigFuzzy... I just love reading your critique regardless of who posted to photo, me or another.
you give a full analysis of the photo and I'm learning a lot.
thank you!

Thanks!

[kristenh]

it's a sweet photo, but i too thought it was cropped a little tight. esp b/c you can see wisps of pretty red hair- i personally wanted to see more of that!

can you show us a zoomed out version?

[Troy_Schwaller]

Here's the original.

Was just trying to crop out my mom's hair and capture the mischieviousness in that look.

Also it was among my first attempts to edit in RAW.

Thanks for all the comments.

[MrJones]

I hope you don't mind but I've taken the liberty of editing it a bit, I think it's nicer with this crop.
if you want me to take it off - let me know.

[conor5150]

I love the new crop......beautiful....

[Troy_Schwaller]

I dont mind. Any help is appreciated