Very new and want to learn!

[ChristinaW]

Hello all! I am new to photography and virtually self taught. I truly enjoy portraits. I would love any input anyone has pertaining to composition, exposure, ect. It's really taken a lot of encouraging from my husband to put myself out there, so here goes nothing!




Camera: Canon EOS REBEL T1i
f5.6
1/125 sec
ISO 400
55mm

Thanks in advance for any help! I've already learned a bit in the two days I've been on this forum and reading other comments. This place is fantastic!

[BigFuzzy]

Cool, I get to be the first to say welcome to DPS. It's a great place to learn and have a good time, but at times you also need a thick skin (and an ability to see through bs - mostly from me!). So please continue to post and contribute even if, in your own words, you're new to photography.

I tend not to comment on photos of children in case they're your children which means you're probably more attached to it than you should be due to the (rightful) emotional connection you have with it.

Having said that, here's what I'd say about this photograph.
The first thing I thought was that the crop was too tight. Normally, I like coming in on the subject, but because of where her left hand and right arm are cut off, the image feels..well..cut off for me.
I like that you didn't compose right in the middle, that's good.
Since you're using auto exposure, it tried to expose for grey which is why I feel it's a bit underexposed, particularly in her eyes.
Not sure how to feel about the background.. the stripes are either interesting, or distracting to me.. probably a bit distracting, but that's a subjective thing as they do add interest.

And in the end, I honestly feel that this a nice family snapshot that means a lot to you and captures a nice moment in the young ladies life but doesn't necessarily do anything for me photographically. There are a couple of your own images (below) that I feel are better "portraits" in the traditional sense. Still, you're making conscious decisions about how you take your shots as opposed to snapshot-ing everything, which is a great place to start.. keep it up, and again, welcome!

IMG_4958 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
IMG_3636 (2) | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[kristenh]

welcome to dps, christina! i often comment on child photos and i just love this one. to me, the exposure looks ok, but i'm on my laptop, so not entirely sure. but i think her eyes are nice and crisp and clear and i actually like the chair- ordinarily i'm a fan of a very plain background- but the adirondack chair and the watermelon give it a place and time kwim? i really like the vantage point you took here. if this is a cropped version, i'd like to see more of her hand- in this version it looks like the hand is out of nowhere. i think its a wonderful first try.

[NicolaB]

Hi - welcome.

I will comment on your subject - awwwww soooo cute!

Her eyes look in lovely sharp focus with nice catchlights - really important in portraits.

I agree with BigF that the exposure could go up slightly and that the crop is not quite right. The idea is to get your eyes to rest on your subject face - or the most important element in the image. On this one, you eyes go to hers then struggle to settlle - you are drawn up (or is that just me - lol ).

Have a look at the Rule of Thirds and The Diagonal Method. It will REALLY help when you choose where to crop.
http://www.digital-photography-schoo...rule-of-thirds
diagonal method wikipedia


Hope this helps.

Nic

[Naois]

My work monitor isn't calibrated, but the exposure looks okay to me. The crop does look a bit off, but it also looks like she's not wearing a top... I don't know the laws about that, but I would have cropped there too. I love how the grass you can see thru the back of the chair brings out the green in the watermelon skin, it makes it a nice balance. Very cool.

[danbaileyphoto]

Welcome! I like the nice tight crop, it really draws the viewer in to the picture. I think that your exposure could be bumped up a bit, it's just a tad too dark. Otherwise, you shot a nice subject with nice light, and that's what it's all about. Keep practicing and learning and you'll improve your craft at being able to create really compelling shots that tell a story to your viewer.

[ChristinaW]

Thanks everyone so much for the feedback. I brightened it up a bit. Hopefully this is better? Unfortunately this is the original frame, not cropped in at all. She indeed doesn't have a shirt on and it was a slight concern.

[Naois]

Now that I see the lighter image, I can see that the original one was too dark. This one looks much better. Well done. I still have a long way to go to "train" my eyes to see this stuff better.

[BigFuzzy]

Originally Posted by ChristinaW

Thanks everyone so much for the feedback. I brightened it up a bit. Hopefully this is better? Unfortunately this is the original frame, not cropped in at all. She indeed doesn't have a shirt on and it was a slight concern.

To me it's much much better now, but remember, I'm just one dude with a camera who thinks he knows something hehe.. so remember, while on this site to remember none of us know it all (except me of course ! )