little baby, my first try

[tomlinson]

ok so this was my first try at taking pics with my camera and the settings I think we off a bit. I'm bran new at all of this, I would love to hear your critiques as I need all the help I can get. thanks! it seems most of my pictures were either too bright or blurry not sure why



shot with fjui s3 pro
iso 400
18-50mm sigma lens
no flash
f/5.6

[RichardTaylor]

From purely a technical point:.

The image doesn't look over exposed on my monitor or when I look at the histogram.

The shutter speed of 1/45 may be a little slow if you were hand holding (this is an individual thing). This will cause softness due to camera motion.

Were you using a filter on the front of the lens. If so this may cause image quality to be reduced.

I don't know how well this lens performs at F4.2 (from the exif) but may perform better around F8.

The picture is rather grainy (ISO 400) and that may be contributing to the feeling of softness. Try a few test shots to see when the noise kicks in.

Did you sharpen the image when PPing?
Some selective noise reduction and sharpening may help.

[tomlinson]

I didn't use a filter, It has a clear piece over the lens thats removable. not sure if I should take this off ??
I will do some test shots with the iso.
also I didn't do any sharpening in pp. this was shot in p mode, so would it be best to be shooting in a different mode ?
Thanks for the tips!

[Guitarplayr34]

P mode on most camera's stand for "Portrait Mode". That will also soften the image. I usually shoot in AV (aperature priority) It starts off sharper, and you can bump up the sharpness even more. Are you shooting in RAW? If not I would suggest it.

P.S. I love this image!

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by Guitarplayr34

P mode on most camera's stand for "Portrait Mode"

Actually, P stands for "Program". The camera chooses aperture and shutter speed, but you have the option of choosing the ISO. You can also dial exposure compensation up or down. Basically, it's auto with a bit more control.

ETA: On a point and shoot, I don't believe you have exposure compensation, but on some models you can choose ISO.

To the OP:

Cute baby! Compositonally though, I think it could be better. The baby's face is dead center - shooting in portrait orientation and putting the baby's eyes in the top third of the frame would have been more appealing. Also, shooting up someone's nose isn't the most flattering - getting right over the baby and shooting straight down would have worked a bit better.

Watch your backgrounds - the wrinkles are a little distracting.

As for the post processing, I'm not a big fan of the desaturated look, especially on babies.

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by Guitarplayr34

P mode on most camera's stand for "Portrait Mode". That will also soften the image. I usually shoot in AV (aperature priority) It starts off sharper, and you can bump up the sharpness even more. Are you shooting in RAW? If not I would suggest it.

P.S. I love this image!

Please, when giving advice, make sure your information is correct. Sorry to say, but this is all incorrect info

[evphoto]

Originally Posted by SusanH1970

Cute baby! Compositonally though, I think it could be better. The baby's face is dead center - shooting in portrait orientation and putting the baby's eyes in the top third of the frame would have been more appealing. Also, shooting up someone's nose isn't the most flattering - getting right over the baby and shooting straight down would have worked a bit better.

Watch your backgrounds - the wrinkles are a little distracting.

As for the post processing, I'm not a big fan of the desaturated look, especially on babies.

+1 all the way. not a big fan of the nostril look