A fall day . . . minus the sky.

[Bobd20011]

Camera: Canon EOS REBEL T1i
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 29 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Flash Off, Did not fire
Lens Model: EF-S15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Contrast +1
Saturation +2

I would love any critique that you may have, but I am particularly interested in the blown out sky. Does it take away from the shot? Should I try to fix the sky in post, and if so, how?

[MrJones]

actually the blown out sky don't bother me that much. naturally it would have been better to get blue sky but that would be hard during the fall when the sky are gray most of the time.
what takes away from the photo is the focus which seems to be falling on his hands instead of his eyes. you may be able to correct it in PP using sharpness and layers.
other than that I love it. great colors and a cute kid

[Peapod Photo]

Yeah, the sky doesn't really bother me, either. I think what stands out, though, is the lack of shadows to give any real depth... it kinda makes him look a tad flat...

[Bobd20011]

I have not checked yet, but I am sure the focus point ended up on his shirt. I tried to shoot stopped down so that I could get the shot even if the focus point was not exactly where I wanted it. Those smiles can be fleeting. I was shooting as fast as I could to get this shot.

As for the shadows, I agree that he looks a little flat. I took the shot when the clouds had covered the sun. This is not particularly my favorite shot from this shoot, but I selected it becuase I was wondering about the blown out sky look. Do you think that I should have tried to use a fill flash for this shoot.

Thank you both for the feedback.

[ctcook]

If I can just add to the above the first thing I notice about this picture is that the horizon line intersects him so that his head is above and his body is below. This really makes his head stand out. This can have an artistic effect, but in this case I find it distracting.

[Bobd20011]

ctcook,

Thank you for the comment. I have been trying to keep most persons heads below the horizon line so that I don't chop their heads in half, however, this can be tough when you are getting low to shoot a toddler. I guess that I will have to just keep practicing until it becomes second nature to check for the head positioning.

[cacorcoran]

the blown out sky doesn't bother me either, however, i would try shooting at a slight downward angle to eliminate the horizon, just endless leaves.