The sleep-bounce

[Julial1345]

I took this picture of my son as he was falling asleep riding his spring horse. I intentionally didn't use a fast shutter speed to freeze the action. He was doing that "I'm falling asleep but not there yet" bounce and I wanted to try to convey the movement, not a static sleeper.

So, does it work? Does it look like he's moving or like it's just a fuzzy shot? It's my first attempt at this kind of thing. I'm usually trying to freeze everything as much as possible.

Camera Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Exposure 0.125 sec (1/8)
Aperture f/2.0
Focal Length 50 mm
ISO Speed 100

(For those who are concerned, after taking the picture I pulled him off before he fell completely asleep and fell off. :-D)

[dvtldav]

For me it doesn't work. It looks like an out of focus snapshot. Sorry.

Dave

[Julial1345]

Originally Posted by dvtldav

For me it doesn't work. It looks like an out of focus snapshot. Sorry.

Dave

Thanks for the response. I was afraid that was the case.

[dvtldav]

Let me clarify my comment from last night. I was in a hurry and should have explained things better then. I am a newb to so you might not want to put to much stock in what I say. I have been looking at a lot of critiques the past week and have learned a lot. Look at my post in this section "Too Much Christmas" and see how it was critiqued. I thought it was a good picture but it got ripped and after reading the critiques I could see what they were saying, it is a picture to put in the "family memories album" but it is no show stopper. Your picture may be the same way. The out of focus to me does nothing. I think the effect you were going after could be done better in PP with soft focus. Also the color and or exposure looks a little off but that could be because of the focus. I would like to have seen a little more of your son maybe not zoom in as much or move back a little more.
Keep reading the critiques of other photos on here and you will learn what other people think makes a good photograph.

Dave

[JillM12]

Hi Julia-

I actually like this. I went onto your flickr and looked at it in large format...the area around the eye/eyelash is pin sharp, where did you focus? If it was here, it worked - it's certainly the part of the shot that draws my eye. Your son has beautiful long lashes

A pernickity thing - I'd have cloned out the spot just above his left shoulder, but it's hardly a big deal.

Keep experimenting and remember, if you like it, that's the most important thing.

Jill

[maxandlucky1]

I love it! Great job

[startlearn]

I agree with Dave and love a little bit more focus. such a cute boy

[Julial1345]

Originally Posted by dvtldav

Let me clarify my comment from last night. I was in a hurry and should have explained things better then. I am a newb to so you might not want to put to much stock in what I say. I have been looking at a lot of critiques the past week and have learned a lot. Look at my post in this section "Too Much Christmas" and see how it was critiqued. I thought it was a good picture but it got ripped and after reading the critiques I could see what they were saying, it is a picture to put in the "family memories album" but it is no show stopper. Your picture may be the same way. The out of focus to me does nothing. I think the effect you were going after could be done better in PP with soft focus. Also the color and or exposure looks a little off but that could be because of the focus. I would like to have seen a little more of your son maybe not zoom in as much or move back a little more.
Keep reading the critiques of other photos on here and you will learn what other people think makes a good photograph.

Dave

I don't know how to PP that way. I got Kelby's Photoshop Elements book for Christmas, so I'll be looking that one up. I thought zoomed in would be better because I was trying to hide the fact that he was hanging around in his diaper all day.

I'm also really struggling with color/exposure. I shoot RAW, tweak it in Elements, and convert to JPEG, but it always comes out looking so different from the way I had it! Also, I thought the light on his chest was a little blue, but couldn't figure out how to fix that without making the whole picture yellow.

Thanks for the response! I'll go check out "Too Much Christmas."

[Julial1345]

Originally Posted by JillM12

Hi Julia-

I actually like this. I went onto your flickr and looked at it in large format...the area around the eye/eyelash is pin sharp, where did you focus? If it was here, it worked - it's certainly the part of the shot that draws my eye. Your son has beautiful long lashes

A pernickity thing - I'd have cloned out the spot just above his left shoulder, but it's hardly a big deal.

Keep experimenting and remember, if you like it, that's the most important thing.

Jill

Yes, I was aiming for his eye. Hard since he was moving around so much. There is a bookshelf behind him that I cropped out but didn't think to get rid of the spot. I couldn't decide if I loved this shot or hated it. I think I'm still undecided. Thanks for the comments!

[LoveDSLR]

You can review you photo and try to see what would you do if you are painting it instead.

To pull the viewers' attention to the child's eye, I cropped it based on Rule of Thirds (the eye is placed at the top left intersection). Cropped out part of the horse (distraction) and slightly blurring it (simulating a shallower DOF).